Rachel’s Recommendation: Oslo on HBO Max
Coming to you on HBO MAX today is Oslo – just in time for the long weekend. In the beginning, it was a Tony Award-winning play written by J. T. Rogers that I was lucky enough to see at Lincoln Center. The film – directed by the genius Bartlett Sher, who also directed the play – is highly entertaining, intellectually-stimulating, and replete with universal truths about human nature. For Fleabag fans, you will be reunited with your “hot priest” Andrew Scott in a very different role. Ruth Wilson of The Affair and Luther stars as a woman whose strength and empathy anchors this true-life story. And if, like me, you are obsessed with the Netflix series FAUDA, you will get to see our friend Itzik Cohen. Oslo is the story of the back-channel negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO), which led to the 1993 signing of the Oslo Accords. Scott and Wilson’s Norwegian characters are the masterminds and facilitators of these negotiations. The timing is eerie after the news of the last few weeks. A narrative about people divided, who as “groups” have lost empathy for each other, can feel very close to home. Finally, it reminds us that in order for negotiations to be successful, it takes leadership, bravery, determination, and perhaps some delicious food and drink.
