Robert Kojder chats with Sentimental Value director Joachim Trier…
Back with Sentimental Value after turning the relatively unknown Renate Reinsve into a must-watch name with The Worst Person in the World, this collaboration once again sees her playing another messy character with her life in disarray. However, this time it’s a family affair, as Nora’s estranged filmmaking father, Gustav (Stellan Skarsgård), has returned home in the wake of his ex-wife’s passing. Not only is there also a rocky relationship between sisters, as the younger Agnes (an impressive turn from Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas that will hopefully make her a bigger star in the same vein as Reinsve) who has a family and her life together, but Gustav wants Nora to star in a deeply personal film about a family tragedy that will be shot inside the generational home. Still upset over essentially being abandoned in favor of a filmmaking career, Nora understandably declines the offer, which causes Gustav to bring in a Hollywood actress played by Elle Fanning, further complicating matters in ways that are undeniably compelling.
What follows is a moving study of a relatively broken family putting some of the pieces back together. It’s the story of sisterhood, the sacrifices of the filmmaking industry, generational homes, father-daughter relationships, communicating heavy feelings through art, outsiders questioning whether they belong on the inside and what they want to do with their career, and all-around dysfunction. This is a beautifully layered film with complex characters and rich emotions, and it was a joy to speak to Oscar-nominated director Joachim Trier about it. Enjoy the interview below:
It’s nice to meet you. The movie is incredible and very moving.
Joachim Trier: Thank you.
I really believe the home is another character in this film. Can you talk about what you looked for when choosing a house to shoot inside?
It was almost like casting an actor. And the irony is that I shot in this house many, many years ago. I looked at like a hundred other houses, and then I thought, “wait a minute, should we just look at this once more?” After 30 seconds in this house, it was perfect. And I took my co-writer, Eskil Vogt, to the house, and we tailored the story to fit it, which was an exciting process.
I was also a little surprised at how much of an ensemble piece this one is compared to The Worst Person in the World. So, can you talk about your process for ensuring no single character overtook the story and for finding the right balance among the characters?
One of the main challenges that you’re onto here was how to create what you, in musical terms, would call a polyphonic character, where many instruments do one tune in a way. That was the art of it. That’s what we, together, as an ensemble, struggled and, perhaps, hopefully figured out is how surprising it is, for example, that the character of Elle Fanning, who at the beginning just seems like someone coming from the outside, actually becomes a catalyst in understanding this family. And also how the younger sister played by Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas becomes the heartbeat of the ending, and how she opens the story up. The balancing of that was really what we worked on the most.
Renate Reinsve is such an extraordinary talent, but what specifically about her has you writing roles for her and wanting to work with her consistently?
She’s just really good. On one level, she’s a star. She can be beautiful on screen, charismatic and funny, but she also has no vanity. She goes to very vulnerable, difficult places when she acts, letting go completely in front of the camera. And I think that moves us when we see her.
On the flip side, how did you find Inga? What made you believe that they would have great chemistry together?
We did a lot of casting chemistry tests. It was obvious that they could really play well as sisters, and they’re also different and the same. Inga has this grounded earnestness, this honesty. It’s interesting, when we were editing, we were looking at the material, and Inga had no false notes. Inga can’t do wrong. She’s just really straight and truthful about how she performs, which is very impressive.
The structure of a family home and the memories it reflects are obviously important to this film. How did the film cause you to reflect on your own memories of childhood?
I think I’m always dealing with personal stuff when I make movies, but in indirect ways. It’s almost like I make the story just far enough removed from my biographical life so that I can treat it without being scared of throwing someone under the bus, or shielding or avoiding things, to be very honest about the characters we’re talking about and their good and bad sides. I’m interested in expressing things that question the meaning of it all and the difficulty of being parents and children.
There’s a great scene where Stellan’s character buys the kid a bunch of inappropriate movies. Were there any other options that you had thought would be in that stack?
No, not really. I think that was it. That was really what we wanted to do and how it went. Stellan is so much fun to play humorous scenes as well. He’s such a playful guy and such an inspiring person to work with.
That scene was like the hardest. I’ve heard a festival audience laugh, and I saw Irreversible in high school, so that’s what got me the most.
That’s funny! It was interesting because we were in Cannes premiering in the main competition, nervous as hell as always, and sitting in that room when everyone broke into laughter when they saw The Piano Teacher and Irreversible, I realized both those film premieres were in that same room. So I suddenly felt that I was engaging in the bigger picture of cinema history there for a second.
That’s so cool. Thank you for your time.
Thank you so much.
SEE ALSO: Read our ★★★★ review of Sentimental Value here
Many thanks to Joachim Trier for taking the time for this interview. Be sure to check out our other interviews with Renate Reinsve and Inga Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas and Stellan Skarsgård and Elle Fanning.
Robert Kojder
