{"id":273898,"date":"2025-11-05T22:38:11","date_gmt":"2025-11-05T22:38:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/273898\/"},"modified":"2025-11-05T22:38:11","modified_gmt":"2025-11-05T22:38:11","slug":"in-sentimental-value-art-imitates-life-and-vice-versa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/273898\/","title":{"rendered":"In ‘Sentimental Value,’ art imitates life and vice versa"},"content":{"rendered":"

NEW YORK (AP) \u2014 Joachim Trier, Stellan Skarsg\u00e5rd<\/a> and Renate Reinsve have gathered in a backstage room at Lincoln Center\u2019s Alice Tully Hall. A screen on the wall shows the crowd inside, raptly watching their film, \u201cSentimental Value.\u201d They have all consciously sat facing away from the movie.<\/p>\n

But if there\u2019s one moment from the film they sometimes sneak in for, it\u2019s the final scene. At festivals, they\u2019ve sometimes taken the stage for a Q&A with tears still in their eyes.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe ending always moves me,\u201d Skarsg\u00e5rd says. \u201cOn the paper, it really scared me. It could have been sentimental hell, not \u2018Sentimental Value.\u2019 What was important to me was that nothing was resolved. I hate the word closure. There\u2019s no closure in life. But there\u2019s something more beautiful.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSentimental Value,\u201d written and directed by Trier, builds its emotional power subtly through scenes that, like much of the acclaimed Danish-Norwegian filmmaker\u2019s filmography, pulse with the rhythm of life. By the time the film reaches its crescendo, a simple exchange of looks is enough to leave you stirred to your core.<\/p>\n

That effect isn\u2019t new to fans of Trier\u2019s previous films, like \u201cOslo, August 31st\u201d or his previous one, \u201cThe Worst Person in the World,\u201d<\/a> which starred Reinsve. But \u201cSentimental Value,\u201d which Neon opens in theaters Friday, is uniquely personal statement for Trier that also happens \u2014 because it\u2019s so much about the intermingling of life and art, and how one enriches the other \u2014 to resonate deeply with his two stars.<\/p>\n

Skarsg\u00e5rd plays the venerated filmmaker Gustav Borg, who has long been estranged from his family. But after the death of his ex-wife, Borg comes back into the lives of his daughters Nora (Reinsve) and Agnes (Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas). Like her father, Nora is tough and stubborn, and her outlet is in performance. Gustav wants her to star in his new and highly autobiographical film, a project that also draws the interest of an American starlet (Elle Fanning).<\/p>\n

Both Reinsve and Skarsg\u00e5rd have direct similarities to their character. Reinsve, 37, experienced a breakthrough in \u201cThe Worst Person in the World.\u201d Skarsg\u00e5rd, 74, is the father of eight, many of them actors. But \u201cSentimental Value,\u201d the Grand Prix winner at the Cannes Film Festival<\/a>, has deeper reverberations for them, and for Trier. In a conversation that, like one of Trier\u2019s films, featured embraces and tears and the gratification of feeling seen, the three reflected on making a film poised between life and fiction. <\/p>\n

\"Stellan<\/p>\n

\n (Photo by Rebecca Cabage\/Invision\/AP)\n <\/p>\n

(Photo by Rebecca Cabage\/Invision\/AP)<\/p>\n

Read More<\/p>\n

\"Renate<\/p>\n

\n (Photo by Rebecca Cabage\/Invision\/AP)\n <\/p>\n

(Photo by Rebecca Cabage\/Invision\/AP)<\/p>\n

Read More<\/p>\n

AP: Like Gustav does for Nora, Joachim wrote this with both of you in mind. What did you think?<\/p>\n

REINSVE: For me it was nerve-racking because he knows me so well. I didn\u2019t know what he was going to find. He\u2019s very smart and very wise, so what he finds is probably the truth.<\/p>\n

TRIER: The revealing of something in art is what interests us. So one might think I know too well what to do, but it\u2019s a compliment to these actors that they\u2019re able to come into a position of control and craft and yet (laughs) unhinge themselves in unusual ways in front of the camera. You want that. You yearn for it. What, you were worried I\u2019ll reveal something you don\u2019t want to show?<\/p>\n

REINSVE: Yeah.<\/p>\n

TRIER: But you are so brave.<\/p>\n

REINSVE: But I became brave with you. In the theater, I worked on a lot of characters that you build and construct. You\u2019re making it big for the audience. Playing Julie in \u201cThe Worst Person in the World,\u201d you encouraged me to let go of that. I remember one of our first conversations, I was worried because I didn\u2019t know how to build her. And you said, \u201cBut do you have to? Can\u2019t you just find it in you?\u201d For me that was so scary.<\/p>\n

AP: How did you respond, Stellan?<\/p>\n

SKARSGARD: It\u2019s flattering in a way, but you\u2019re not sure if it\u2019s flattering. The character on the paper wasn\u2019t really what he is in the film. I remember I said to you, \u201cCan\u2019t you get over your problems with your father?\u201d<\/p>\n

TRIER: And I said, (voice intentionally squeaking) \u201cI\u2019m over them!\u201d<\/p>\n

SKARSGARD: The hard edges of the character were very obvious in the script, but the compassion wasn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

TRIER: When you came into it, that solved it. I mean, character is something that happens with actors.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Stellan<\/p>\n

Skarsgard (Photo by Rebecca Cabage\/Invision\/AP)<\/p>\n

Skarsgard (Photo by Rebecca Cabage\/Invision\/AP)<\/p>\n

Read More<\/p>\n

AP: Renate, did you connect with a character that lets her emotions out in acting? To me, the film deepens when everything pours out of Nora, but it\u2019s for a scene.<\/p>\n

SKARSGARD: Oh, that\u2019s the best.<\/p>\n

TRIER: We love that scene.<\/p>\n

REINSVE: Before I worked with Joachim, I played a lot of characters that keep their emotions really inside and aren\u2019t able to let them out. Joachim built that trust because of how he worked and how he sees people. It was safe to let go of something in there. He sits beside the camera and whispers. He can tap into the actor\u2019s instinct. I\u2019m a person or an actor who has a lot of resistance, which is good for the dynamic in a character. But it can also hinder you from letting go of something you need to. Joachim sits there and knows what the actor wants to do and he says, \u201cLet yourself do it.\u201d It feels like we\u2019re doing it together.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"This<\/p>\n

Renate Reinsve, left, and Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas in a scene from \u201cSentimental Value.\u201d (Kasper Tuxen\/Neon via AP)<\/p>\n

Renate Reinsve, left, and Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas in a scene from \u201cSentimental Value.\u201d (Kasper Tuxen\/Neon via AP)<\/p>\n

Read More<\/p>\n

AP: In \u201cSentimental Value,\u201d art can be a solution to the character\u2019s real problems. Has it been that way for you?<\/p>\n

SKARSGARD: I\u2019ve always seen acting as a way of being able to do what you can\u2019t do in your private life. I\u2019m pretty reserved, in a way. I am!<\/p>\n

REINSVE: Not with us.<\/p>\n

TRIER: I hear you say that!<\/p>\n

SKARSGARD: But it\u2019s fantastic to have this art where you can also test everything. Can I feel that? Wow! Yeah! It\u2019s like a child playing in a sandbox. It\u2019s the same mechanism. They play other people from day one. Maybe it\u2019s evolutionary: mimicking the adults to survive.<\/p>\n

REINSVE: We\u2019re still children mimicking the adults.<\/p>\n

AP: Joachim, you had your first children while making the film. That must have played a role in such an intergenerational story. <\/p>\n

TRIER: It\u2019s funny because a lot of people have trouble making art of a personal sort. They sing a strange, sensual love song in a band and they\u2019re shy that their parents will hear it. Or you write a book that\u2019s transgressive. I\u2019m the opposite. I\u2019m rather proud that I\u2019ve done personal films because my kids will see them. Maybe they\u2019ll see them and think they\u2019re stupid or my opinions are weird. That\u2019s OK, but they were me. I think this film came out of a climate in my life when I was thinking about these things.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Director<\/p>\n

Trier poses with Elle Fanning, Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas, Renate Reinsve and Stellan Skarsgard at the Cannes Film Festival. (Photo by Scott A Garfitt\/Invision\/AP, File)<\/p>\n

Trier poses with Elle Fanning, Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas, Renate Reinsve and Stellan Skarsgard at the Cannes Film Festival. (Photo by Scott A Garfitt\/Invision\/AP, File)<\/p>\n

Read More<\/p>\n

AP: Your films have a way of breathing, of allowing for time. The ending of \u201cSentimental Value\u201d is that way.<\/p>\n

TRIER: That was when I knew I had the film I wanted to make, when I had the idea of ending. We were all nervous about it. The last day of the shoot. I\u2019m so proud of you two. My dream came true.<\/p>\n

AP: That moment includes a lot of back-and-forth. It has a rhythm, though, Stellan, you have your own rhythm in every scene I\u2019ve ever seen you in.<\/p>\n

SKARSGARD: I\u2019m glad that you say I have a rhythm because I really care about rhythm. Scenes are to me like music pieces. He wrote this for me and the (expletive) and he\u2019s seen what I\u2019ve been longing for: the acting between the lines. (Skarsg\u00e5rd begins tearing up.) I\u2019m getting emotional.<\/p>\n

TRIER: I think you are incredibly smart with screenwriting, so much so that I was nervous going in. You\u2019re very blunt in a very warm way. You say \u201c(Expletive) this\u201d or \u201cYou don\u2019t need this.\u201d<\/p>\n

SKARSGARD: It\u2019s being allowed to do a film that\u2019s not written in a head of a director. He\u2019s exploring it. There\u2019s nothing like it. (Again Skarsg\u00e5rd gets emotional before shaking his head.) Enough!<\/p>\n

AP: Renate, how do you relate to that final moment?<\/p>\n

REINSVE: This is it. I feel this moment is it. It brings to the surface something we\u2019re longing for. The human mind needs to create a narrative and make things black or white to protect itself. That\u2019s a problem in the world, being so polarized. The wisdom is being safe enough to create a space to let anything happen and see the nuances between people. There are no sets like Joachim\u2019s sets. It\u2019s a process \u2014 what is it? Art creates life, imitates\u2026<\/p>\n

SKARSGARD: You never get it right.<\/p>\n

REINSVE: I never get it right. But it\u2019s both ways! Here, art imitates life, life imitates art. It\u2019s both ways.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NEW YORK (AP) \u2014 Joachim Trier, Stellan Skarsg\u00e5rd and Renate Reinsve have gathered in a backstage room at…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":273899,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[56],"tags":[228,226,227,3172,84821,229,25102,88,793,146141,85494,206,85495,134588,965],"class_list":{"0":"post-273898","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arts-and-design","8":"tag-arts","9":"tag-arts-and-design","10":"tag-artsanddesign","11":"tag-celebrity-interviews","12":"tag-childrens-entertainment","13":"tag-design","14":"tag-elle-fanning","15":"tag-entertainment","16":"tag-general-news","17":"tag-gustav-borg","18":"tag-joachim-trier","19":"tag-movies","20":"tag-renate-reinsve","21":"tag-stellan-skarsgard","22":"tag-world-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/273898","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=273898"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/273898\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/273899"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=273898"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=273898"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=273898"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}