Sentimental Value

"Nothing is more beautiful than shadows" The performances here are absurdly good. Renate Reinsve was completely new to me, but what a fucking introduction. Stellan Skarsgård is unbelievable here. He plays this character oblivious, selfish, hopeful, and infuriating… sometimes all in one scene. Inga Ibsdotter Lilleas somehow walks off with entire stretches of the movie. She plays this role with the grace of someone who has spent years being the family’s emotional interpreter. Every time she steps into a scene, she brings this stabilizing force that makes the entire family dynamic snap into focus for the characters and the viewer. Elle Fanning plays the perfect wildcard for this movie. There’s this really meta feeling at one point where you’re watching her play a character who’s trying to channel emotions she hasn’t lived through. It’s so painful and awkward to watch but in a really fascinating way. She’s good, but she’s not Nora, and she knows that. Every character is fleshed out so well for a film with so many character studies. Each one lands. Meanwhile, the film-within-the-film is obviously about so much more than what everyone around him assumes: Gustav’s relationship with his daughter, his regrets, and his romanticized past. The layers stack on each other until the whole film becomes this gorgeous examination of how art and memory blur together, and how every story we tell, whether we know it or not, is some kind of confession.  The most impressive part of this film though is the way that Trier is able to carry so much momentum in a movie that’s almost entirely just normal people talking to each other. The film is edited so well with those chapter-like fades to black which gives the movie the rhythm of a novel without ever losing that momentum. By the time Trier gives you that final emotional beat, it hits with the full force of having lived a lifetime alongside the characters.