Norwegian filmmaker Joachim Trier returns to Cannes with Sentimental Value, which had its world premiere Wednesday night in the festival’s Competition section.
Trier and his cast, including Renate Reinsve, Stellan Skarsgard and Elle Fanning, strolled up the famous steps of Palais des Festivals.
Cannes was bowled over by Trier’s Sentimental Value, giving it an astounding 15-minute loud, raucous and heartfelt standing ovation.
The audience at Wednesday’s Cannes competition screening was on their feet the moment the house lights went up.
Trier’s follow-up to Worst Person, which won Reinsve the best actress prize in Cannes four years ago, wears its heart on its sleeve.
Sentimental Value, the Norwegian director Joachim Trier’s return to Cannes, debuted in the Competition section of the festival on Wednesday night.
Trier and his ensemble, which included Elle Fanning, Stellan Skarsgard, and Renate Reinsve, walked up the renowned steps of the Palais des Festivals.
Trier’s sequel to The Worst Person in the World, which debuted in competition at Cannes in 2023 and launched the international career of Reinsve, the festival’s best actress winner, is this film. Trier and co-writer Eskil Vogt’s Worst Person became a crossover art house hit and received two Oscar nominations, including best international feature and best original screenplay.
A family drama, Sentimental Value revolves around the strained relationship between Gustav (Skarsgard) and his two daughters, Agnes (Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas) and Nora (Reinsve). Filmmaker Gustav tries to reestablish contact with Nora by offering her the part of a young mother in his upcoming movie, which is obviously based on the tragic tale of his own mother. When she turns him down, Gustav offers the role to Rachel Kemp (Elle Fanning), a Hollywood actress. Painful memories and long-suppressed resentments surface as they start getting ready to film the project in the family home.
Trier’s Sentimental Value gave Cannes a tremendous 15-minute standing ovation that was loud, boisterous, and emotional. The cast received almost equal amounts of adoration, with reinsve and Skarsgard receiving especially loud applause. Additionally, Lilleaas’s turn as Angnes may prove to be her big break abroad.
When the house lights were turned on at the Cannes competition screening on Wednesday, the audience immediately stood up. Even as the Trier and the cast, in a reserved Scandinavian manner, seemed embarrassed by the attention, the audience, obviously moved, kept cheering, whooping, and clapping.
Its heart is on its sleeve, as is Trier’s sequel to Worst Person, which four years ago earned Reinsve the Cannes award for best actress. Although the title suggests sentimentality, the story of a family and their attempts to connect evokes Ingmar Bergman, Ibsen, and even a little bit of Chekhov in its poignant portrayal of the power of art to heal, the anguish of loss, and the attraction of memory.
“What’s the Bunuel quote? ‘I make films for my family,'” Trier asked, quoting Adrian Brunel, as the applause eventually subsided. I feel like you are all my family now. “”.
