Directed By Bartlett Sher; Teleplay By J.T. Rogers; Starring Ruth Wilson, Andrew Scott, Itzik Cohen, Salim Daw, Sasson Gabay, Dov Glickman, Rotem Keinan, Igal Naor, Jeff Wilbusch, and Waleed Zuaiter.​
Based on J.T. Rogers' 2017 Tony-winning stage play of the same name, Oslo tells the little know true story of Norwegian diplomat Mona Juul (Ruth Wilson) and her husband, Terje Rød-Larsen (Andrew Scott), who together coordinated top-secret peace negotiations between Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Palestine Liberation Organization Chairman Yasser Arafat in the early 1990s. Their efforts culminated in the signing of the Oslo Peace Accords in 1993.
Whenever I see a film adaptation of a stage play, one thing I always like to observe is how cinematic and/or stagebound the final product comes across to me. With Oslo in particular, I thought it actually did manage to feel more movie-like as opposed to a filmed play. Bartlett Sher, who in my opinion is one of the best theatre directors working today, does a pretty admirable job for his first directing credit behind the camera. He and cinematographer Janusz Kamiński were able to craft such a unique color scheme that was present throughout. I'd definitely be interested to see what Bart was able to learn from the making of Oslo that he could carry over to any following film projects (if he ever does more).
The two leads of the story may be the husband-and-wife team of Terje Rød-Larsen & Mona Juul, although this movie actually begins and ends with the latter character. Ruth Wilson provides such strong work as Mona while Andrew Scott is very compelling as Terje. I thought Sasson Gabay was quite good as the Foreign Minister of the State of Israel, Shimon Peres. However, the standout to me was Jeff Wilbusch as the Director General of the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Uri Savir. He in my opinion gave such a commanding performance as that character. It was easy for me to recognize how his role on paper was able to gain traction during awards season for the original play's run in New York (where actor Michael Aronov ended up winning a Tony).
The story of the 1993 Oslo Peace Accords is one I was previously not familiar with, but that all changed thanks to this movie. Oslo is currently available to stream on HBO Max.
​Rating: 3.5/5