Sentimental Value

"why didn't our childhood ruin you?" so many quotes from the film i don’t know which to choose. i want to use them all. and i dont even know where to begin. everything i thought and felt during this film and even after, i’m just struggling to put into the right words. it feels indescribable, but i’ll try my best. this film hit home and feels so personal. breathtakingly beautiful. to me this is deeply meaningful, and judging by the tears in the auditorium, i’m sure it was for a lot of others too. it shows how universal it really is. this film portrays emotion and the cycle of trauma and mental health so perfectly and with such sensitivity. i really think it captures the cliche but very real truth that to be loved is to be understood. being understood by someone who loves you can feel like oxygen, something we need to live and breathe. the perception a loved one has of you can shape everything. the emotions do not hit you all at once. they unravel, creeping up like a tense conversation with someone you love, when you feel choked up and tight in your throat. i was moved to tears during the film, and after, my chest felt heavy even as i’m writing this now. as the youngest sibling, certain moments were almost too much. i thought of my sister constantly. when i left the theatre, i literally stepped into an alley just to call her. it was a short conversation, but it meant so much to me. i know i will be rewatching this with her. it begins light and playful, but tiny details and subtle moments accumulate slowly until you realize how much has built up inside you. my relationships with people mean everything to me, so i kept thinking about the people i love. this film did some emotional damage, and i will be thinking about it for a long time. i genuinely feel a little sick in the aftermath. cannock fucking chase. just wow. i already knew about it, but it still stunned me, even though i told myself i was prepared. i was still not prepared. i love you Labi Siffre. Trier’s vision and Renate’s performance are incredible. i already adored them from the worst person in the world, but this cemented it. it is easily one of my favorite films of the year. i so badly wish i understood the language, because i don’t think the subtitles could ever give full justice to the emotional nuances of this film. i walked out feeling like something inside me had shifted. this is really just the inner workings of only one house and one family, but it opens a whole emotional universe. when real life communication fails, art speaks for us. this is really just a big ramble, but that is exactly how my mind feels while trying to articulate all of this. Joachim Trier summer might be over, but there’s also autumn and winter.