The
winner of the Grand Prix Award at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival,
Joachim Trier's “Sentimental Value” was a film that I was sure
would turn up on the MIFF programme later in the year. However, very
similar to what happened two years ago with Aki Kaurismaki's “Fallen
Leaves”, I luckily happened to notice that “Sentimental Value”
was actually playing as the centrepiece film of the Scandinavian Film
Festival which is currently taking place in Melbourne across Palace
Cinemas. This immediately ruled out a bow at MIFF, so whilst it
would make seeing the film more difficult, there was no way in the
world I was going to miss out on seeing this on the big screen,
particularly after all the high praise it received at Cannes.
The
Hurtigruten Scandinavian Film Festival guide describes the film like
so: “Nora Borg is an established Oslo stage actress while her
younger sister Agnes has chosen family life with her young son.
Though markedly different, the two are close, having been raised by a
single mother after their filmmaker father’s departure years
earlier. When the once renowned Gustav attempts to cast Nora in his
comeback film, old wounds reopen. Nora rejects his offer, prompting
the isolated patriarch to cast American star Rachel Kemp instead.
Suddenly, the two sisters must navigate their complicated
relationship with their father and as Gustav and Nora attempt
rapprochement, the already shaky foundation of the family unit is
under threat of toppling.”
Going
into my screening of “Sentimental Value”, I had just finished a
ten hour shift at work and was also very unwell, so I was quite
worried that if the film did not connect with me immediately, that I
was going to struggle to focus on it and ultimately not like the
film. Thankfully, I had nothing to worry about, as I was with this
film right from the opening scene, and loved every second of
“Sentimental Value”. For mine, this is Joachim Trier's best film
to date, and the script that he and Eskil Vogt have put together is
one of the most emotionally rich and thematically complex that I have
seen in a very long time. It is also very raw and honest, and
despite the title of the film, isn't overly sentimental either. The
film tackles many things but it all feels so organic within itself
and thanks to Trier's direction, it never feels heavy handed or too
dark for the audience to handle or connect with. “Sentimental
Value” is ultimately about family, grief, getting older, making
peace with death, and the healing power of art. Each of the
characters in the film are in so much pain, or dealing with a lot
internally, but the drama comes from how each of these characters
actually deal with what they are going through and how this affects
all the relationships within their lives. Probably the best facet of
“Sentimental Value” is that none of these characters are
demonised for the choices they have made in their lives (at least,
not by the filmmakers), but rather their stories are told honestly,
flaws and all, which makes it feel so human and real. Something else
that I must mention about the script, is that what isn't said by the
characters is just as important as what is being said at times.
To
pull off such a wonderful script, Trier needed to cast well and he
has done just that, seeing him re-team with his “The Worst Person
in the World” star, Renate Reinsve, who plays Nora, the older
sister who is dealing with a whole lot of emotional baggage. Reinsve
is outstanding in the role, as we get to see so many facets of this
fascinating character, from when she is light and giggly while
playing with her nephew, to the nervous and panicked actress before
she steps out onto the stage, to the girl dealing with dark thoughts
due to the neglect she felt from her father whilst growing up, to
mention but a few. It is the flashiest role in the film, but she is
so good at keeping it grounded and making it feel so real, wherever
she may be on the emotional spectrum in any given scene. The scenes
with her dad are so painful because you can feel how hurt she is, but
you can also sense that all she wants is for her father to “see”
her. She needs that recognition from him despite how much she says
the opposite. One of the best scenes in the film is at the premiere
of her play. She stands backstage focused (unusually for her),
bathed in red, as she bursts on stage determined to give the
performance of her life, because her dad will be in the audience.
After the show, she is getting plaudits left, right and centre, but
all she wants is some sort of praise from her father, which never
comes because he never showed up for the show (convinced that Nora
didn't really want him there in the first place). It is such a
heartbreaking moment, which also devastates her sister Agnes, who can
see the truth behind her sister's eyes, and which forces her to
finally confront their father, which is something that is not
normally within her nature to do. This brings me to Inga Ibsdotter
Lilleaas, who plays Agnes, and whilst I am sure Reinsve will likely
get all of the attention when “Sentimental Value” actually is
released (and for good reason), personally I believe that Lilleaas is
the film's secret weapon and the glue that holds it all together.
Yes, her role is less flashy than Reinsve's but it isn't any less
important, as Agnes is going through just as much as both Nora and
Gustav, (particularly due to the fact that she is always stuck in the
middle of them both), she just seems to be able to deal with her
issues in a healthier fashion then the rest of her family. Because
of this though, she is able to see just how much pain her father and
sister are actually going through despite their efforts to hide it.
Until this film, I was unfamiliar with Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas as an
actor, but again, she is absolutely brilliant here, and holds her own
beautifully when sharing the screen with both Reinsve and Stellan
Skarsgård, who plays their father. In other lesser films, you would
think that Skarsgård's character would be demonised as he is the
essentially the cause of all the pain in the film, but instead
Joachim Trier explores Gustav's own childhood pain which enlightens
the audience to the reasons behind his cold upbringing of his own
children. Again, Gustav feels real, human and yes, very flawed, but
through delving into his past we are at least given reasons why he is
like this, and once his children begin to understand exactly what he
went through himself, they may realise that maybe life wasn't as easy
for their father like they initially felt. Through Skarsgård's
performance though, he makes Gustav an absolutely charming character;
very flirty around the ladies, a serious artist when it comes to the
making of his films, and a bit irresponsible when it comes to family
matters. This last part actually leads to one of the funniest
moments in the entirety of “Sentimental Value” when, at his
grandson's eighth birthday party, he gifts him a handful of dvds.
All of us film nerds in the audience roared with laughter when the
titles are revealed as none of them are close to being appropriate
for an eight year old, with Gaspar Noe's “Irreversible” and
Micheal Haneke's “The Piano Teacher” being just two of the
titles.
As
of yet, I have failed to mention Elle Fanning and her character,
Rachel Kemp, and if ever a character was going to become a caricature
within the film and be made fun of, it would be her, but like all of
his characters, Joachim Trier treats her with absolute respect and
honesty. Yes, Trier does make fun of her entourage, clearly mocking
the “hanger-on ers” that must exist in Hollywood, but he never
makes fun of Kemp herself or her want to make the best film she can
with Gustav, even when she is struggling to understand the true depth
of his script. It is also in this part of the film that Trier makes
a few salient points about how hard it is to get movies financed in
today's landscape, where financiers are unlikely to put up cash for a
movie without a “name” in the lead, as well as the demands
streamers put on productions when they put money in to finance it.
There is a scene where Gustav is horrified when asked if his new film
will go out to theatres (as Netflix is co-funding it), and he says
“of course it is! Where else would it play?”, whereas his
producer interjects that they are trying to work something out with
Netflix now so it will at least have limited screenings in theatres.
As
I mentioned at the beginning, “Sentimental Value” is such a rich
film, and there are so many elements about the film that I could
still talk about, which would make this review go on forever, but one
aspect I really must touch on is the healing power of art, and the
way that both Nora and Gustav use their art to explore the pain they
have experienced in their lives and give it an outlet. In a way, it
is only through their art that both these characters deal with their
pain honestly, as outside of it, they both hide behind the facades
and walls they have built around themselves over the years. We are
witness multiple times to Nora breaking down emotionally, and Trier
often waits a while before he exposes the truth that she is just
acting on stage and that this isn't a “true” breakdown, and yet,
we also understand that Nora needs this because she is so reticent to
let these emotions boil over in her real life. She tends to bottle
everything up, and try to push through, so this release has to be
good for, despite how brief a period it may only really help for.
Gustav on the other hand, often tackles directorial projects that are
personal to him and his life, and give him a chance to make sense of
his childhood and the events that happened during them, particularly
with his mother. He also uses his films to make a connection to his
family members, casting them in roles, so he gives himself some time
with them which he normally wouldn't have in his “real” life.
One of the greatest scenes of “Sentimental Value” is during a
screening of one of Gustav's older films, where a young Agnes played
a key role in the film. Gustav is mesmerised by a close up of his
daughter in the film, and we understand later why the scene is so
important to him, and interestingly why it was so important to Agnes,
with both being so different from one another. Finally, the power of
art and it's healing capacities are also explored in the film's
excellent finale, which I will not talk about or ruin.
Overall,
I feel like I have barely scratched the surface about what makes
“Sentimental Value” such a great film, it is so rich in content
and emotion. Joachim Trier has created his best film to date here,
in a story about multi-generational trauma, and the effects this
trauma has on family relationships, as well as looking at how art can
be used to begin to heal these relationships. It sounds like an
incredibly heavy drama, and it does deal with a lot of deep subject
matter, but it is never heavy handed nor a chore to sit through and
the characters, as flawed as they all are, are a delight to be in
their company for the entirety of the film. “Sentimental Value”
has also been incredibly well written and performed by the whole
cast. Whilst I admit that I am a sucker for stories that deal with
father / daughter themes, there is so much else going on in
“Sentimental Value” that I have no qualms about recommending this
film to anyone who loves cinema. This is such a fantastic film that
I am sure will be one of the best of this year.
4.5
Stars.
