Sentimental Value by Norwegian director Joachim Trier, is the most honest, poignant, and enthralling film that I have had the pleasure of seeing this year. It follows the release of Triers 2021 Oscar nominated film, The Worst Person in the World. The two films are tied together in several ways. A striking artistic style, backdrop of the urban expanse of Oslo, and even some of the cast members. The lead actress Renate Reinsve, who plays Nora, and Anders Danielsen Lie who plays Jakob, her love interest, are no strangers to working with Triers. They have both worked with him twice before, in The Worst Person in the World, and Triers’ 2011 release Oslo, August 31st.There are many such cases of a director and actor working together over multiple projects; David Lynch and Laura Dern, Yorgos Lanthimos and Emma Stone, Sofia Coppola, and Kirsten Dunst to name a few. In the case of Sentimental Value, the relationship between actor and director is especially interesting.
This film tells the story of absentee father and film director Gustav Borg, played by Stellan Skarsgård, coming home to his now adult daughters in the wake of their mothers death. He pitches a film to his daughter, Nora, a seemingly well established actress. She turns down the script, refusing to play the part he has written for her. Gustav finds another actress for the role and is faced with the challenge of reimagining his creative vision without his daughter.
As the film explores the relationship between Nora, her father, and her fathers work, it is notable that Trier chose to work with Renate Reinsve. Just as Gustav is inspired by and chooses to write a role for his daughter Nora, Trier took inspiration from Renate Reinsve and their time working together. In an interview with Deadline, Triers discusses meeting Reinsve at an open audition for his 2011 Oslo, August 31st and was drawn to her because “whenever she’s in frame she’s always doing something lifelike and interesting”. While she only had a small role, she made such an impact that Triers wrote The Worst Person in the World for her. After the undeniable success of the film, Triers came to Reinsve with the idea for Sentimental Value.
It is clear to see why Trier wrote this story for her. The film is heavily character driven and Reinsve carries the weight effortlessly. She reveals so much to the audience in every minute movement and expression. Her chemistry with Anders Danielsen Lie, while he has a more minor role in Sentimental Value, is undeniable and magnetic. While the relationship between Nora and Jakob is unstable in many ways, Jakob being married to someone else for one, it is easy to buy into because the pair are so at ease with each other.
The film explores several dysfunctional relationships, Nora’s relationship with her father Gustav being at the centre of the story. Stellan Skarsgård embodies the absentee father, and gives an utterly compelling performance of a man who is deeply conflicted and flawed, but trying in his own way to understand and connect with his daughters. And while the story, for the most part follows Nora and Gustav, what makes the film so successful, for me, is the relationship between Nora and her sister Agnes. I believe anyone who has siblings of their own will be moved by these women, as they show how no one understands you as well as a person you grew up alongside. Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas, who plays Agnes is new to working with Trier, but slots into his world with astounding ease. The only character who seems out of place in Sentimental Value is American actress Elle Fanning, but her inability to fit in with Nora and her family becomes the very crux of the film.
Sentimental Value is emotional storytelling at its finest. The story comes to life because Triers clearly treats actors as storytellers and artists in their own right, and not just vessels for his words. The film will be released in cinemas across Ireland and the UK on December 26th, and while it will likely be available on streaming platform Mubi at a later date, I would implore you to catch this on the big screen while you have the chance.
