‘Sentimental Value’: A Warm, Hilarious Film About Family And Art

Norwegian cinema maestro Joachim Trier has achieved greatness once again with his Cannes Grand Prix winner Sentimental Value, a sincerely remarkable film that feels as though it has a living, beating heart right at its centre.

It’s a work that’s about a lot of things – what we pass onto the next generation, how we can communicate through art, where we find meaning in our lives – but never does Sentimental Value feel outright unwieldy. Trier’s deep understanding of how to draw cinematic drama out of daily life means that his latest film’s rumination on such a wide array of topics doesn’t feel flawed, but human.

The film follows the Borg family and the Oslo home where they spent much of their lives before the recent death of the family matriarch, Sissel. Nora (Renate Reinsve) is an actress, her sister Agnes (Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas) is an academic and mother, and their father Gustav (Stellan Skarsgård) is a notable film director.

After Sissel’s death, Gustav approaches Nora with a semi-autobiographical script about his own mother, who committed suicide. Nora outright refuses, leading him to cast American actress Rachel Kemp (Elle Fanning) in the role Nora he wrote for Nora. Drama ensues – but not in the way you’d think.

The amazing cast of Sentimental Value

What makes Sentimental Value such a knockout effort in a similar vein to Trier’s prior film The Worst Person in the World is the sheer depth of feeling each character possesses. We can thank Trier and co-writer Eskil Vogt for that, whose multi-decade collaboration ensures that the script for this film is practically airtight.

Nonetheless, it’s hard to overstate just how remarkable this cast of characters is. Nora is brought to life by the reliably amazing Renate Reinsve, who can effortlessly bring despair and joy into your heart at different points throughout. Between her roles in The Worst Person in the World and last year’s A Different Man, she’s given me reason to show up to every film she makes from here on.

Indeed, she’s far from the only incredible performance in the film. Elle Fanning has the hardest part, the only American in a Norwegian film where the fish-out-of-water nature of her character is ripe for both mocking and sympathy. She nonetheless handles it gracefully, much like the professional actress she portrays.

Then there’s Stellan Skarsgård, one of our greatest living actors giving one of his best-ever performances. He delivers both the deeply emotional and sincerely hilarious parts of his character deftly in both English and Norwegian, with much of the drama in Sentimental Value anchored on his remarkable ability to act incredibly. It’s hard to argue that he’s not deserving of an Oscar later in the year.

The most surprising performance in the film, though, has to be Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas as Agnes. I’d never seen Lilleaas in anything before this, but I was deeply impressed with her wonderful turn as a woman torn between pragmatism, dreams and doing right by everyone in her family. Many of Sentimental Value’s biggest emotional moments hinge on her, and Lilleaas is absolutely fit for the task.

Funny, emotional and deeply impressive

As mentioned earlier, the film is both extremely funny and emotionally resonant. These two tones never feel at odds with one another, which is another testament to the superb rapport between Trier and Vogt as collaborators and the talent of this amazing cast.

Sentimental Value is a film with deeply impressive craft; Trier and cinematographer Kasper Tuxen shoot the Burgs’ Oslo house with the love of a memory, and shoot some absolutely incredible sequences throughout the runtime. There’s a particularly impressive one-shot sequence about halfway through the film that had me practically scooping my jaw off the floor – you’ll know it when you see it!

Despite the very high expectations inherently set by The Worst Person in the World, I’m glad to say that Sentimental Value more than exceeded my expectations. It’s a warm, funny film that’s just as likely to make you cry from laughter as it is tears with its beautiful musings on human relationships and family.

★★★★½

Sentimental Value releases in Australian cinemas later this year.