Sentimental Value is a Norwegian film (Joachim Trier) that follows the complicated relationship of two sisters and their father, Gustav (Stellan Skarsgård), a world-famous movie director, soon-to-be-retired. The girls were mostly raised by their mother, Sissel, in a house owned for generations by Gustav’s family. As they grow older, Agnes, played by Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas, becomes a historian and a mother, while Nora, Renate Reinsve, the eldest, is a professional actress who struggles to live past her childhood traumas.
Nora
Currently working on the last movie of his career, Gustav invites Nora to play the main character. Without even reading the script, she refuses the role, claiming they can’t work together. Frustrated, the father tries to find a replacement and encounters Rachel Kemp (Elle Fanning), a beautiful American actress who is willing to play on his movie. The film, set in the home he grew up and raised his children, appears to narrate Gustav’s traumatic childhood, one where his mother, Karin, committed suicide when he was only 7 years old. The original script, in Norwegian, is translated specially for Rachel. However, she soon realizes that no matter how much she studies her character, there is only one person who can play her role: Nora.
Complexities
Sentimental Value is Joachim Trier’s sequel to the award-winning The Worst Person in The World. Once again, he creates a beautiful and emotionally powerful film that reflects the complexities of human relationships. Nora, a troubled character, who has taken on the trauma her parents caused to protect her sister; Agnes, a mother fighting to raise her son differently from her own parents; and Gustav, a decaying director estranged from his two daughters, living a solitary life. In getting Nora to play his character, Gustav hopes to connect with his daughter (who, in his opinion, is very similar to him), as his movie is actually written for her.
Sentimental Value shows that without using words, art can reconcile and redeem the generational trauma both Nora and Gustav endured. More than just silence, the dialogues lie brilliantly in the unspoken words and emotions of its characters.
Sophia Meewis