Denmark-born Norwegian filmmaker Joachim Trier is one of the world’s most singular cinematic voices in a landscape overwhelmed by lazy writing — probably a result of filmmakers being endlessly asked to bear in mind that their films are watched by viewers simultaneously scrolling Instagram on their phones. Such notes to the director also often urge them to consider rounding off edges that create a sense of place in order to better appease international streamers.
By contrast, Trier’s breakout Oslo Trilogy (2006-21) — comprising Reprise; Oslo, August 31st; and The Worst Person in the World — were each meticulously constructed, and patient, character studies demanding that we take the time to get to know these people, and as a result perhaps ourselves.
His latest film — the Oscar (eight, including best picture, director and three acting nods) and BAFTA (eight, again) nominated, and Cannes Grand Prix-winning — Sentimental Value is exactly the kind of precise, human storytelling that we’ve come to expect from Trier. Cleaving closely to his preferred topics of memory, emotional connection, identity and forgiveness, Sentimental Value is a mature examination of generational trauma and parental absence, and how they impact two sisters from youth into adulthood.
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Gustav Borg (Oscar nominee Stellan Skarsgård) is a celebrated film director on the downside of his long career. When his ex-wife passes away, he returns to the family home in Oslo for the funeral and in doing so reunites with his estranged daughters. Agnes (Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas) is a relatively stable, settled historian, with an emotionally available husband and an adorable young son. Older sister Nora (Renate Reinsve, Worst Person) followed in her father’s footsteps into the arts, and is a successful theater actor with occasional raging stage fright. Gustav’s reemergence in the sisters’ lives dredges up long-forgotten but still lingering feelings of abandonment, resentment and fury, feelings that Agnes is more willing to set aside and work through than Nora is.
Though both Nora and Agnes expect him to leave as soon as possible, Gustav is hoping to make one last film before he calls it a career, a subject he awkwardly broaches with Nora. Would she star in his new film? When she says no, he brushes aside his disappointment, feigning indifference, and finds himself circling Rachel Kemp (Elle Fanning, Predator: Badlands) to take her place. Kemp is an American superstar looking to be challenged, and she jumps at the chance to star in Gustav’s last masterpiece. Her name above the title results in substantial funding from Netflix.
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Not an awful lot happens in Sentimental Value. The forward momentum relies on the Borgs’ internalized introspection and reckoning with personal and shared pasts that Trier never feels the urge to lay bare. He doesn’t connect the dots for us. That’s done by pitch-perfect, naturalistic dialogue and organic, believable interactions among the characters that are revealed in layers and eventually add up to a satisfying, graceful whole. Each of the central trio earned scores of accolades for good reason. Reinsve is heartbreaking but relatable as a woman who resents wanting her father’s attention, and as the one who bears the scars of protecting Agnes from his disinterest. She and Lilleaas bring unspoken depth to their relationship that’s rare in cinema. Skarsgård, of course, is flawless as an artist unable to communicate with daughters beyond film language, no matter how much he wants to. But the surprise is Fanning, whom Trier never reduces to the cliche of self-involved movie star, and who in many ways is the key to knitting the Borg family back together. Richly detailed, universal in its themes and wholly engaging on a narrative level, Sentimental Value is a film for a mature audience.
The writer is a freelance contributor to China Daily.
