Sentimental Value
Sentimental Value is a very sound movie in all categories - directing, acting, cinematography, writing, etc. It’s creative and unique. But the movie arched in such a way that it seemed to be headed towards more catharses than we got, and that felt like somewhat of a letdown. Subversive, but also disappointing. E said to this point that maybe that’s more true to life, and that’s probably true, but that knowledge still doesn’t help my enjoyment of this movie. Stellan Skarsgard is amazing as always, but I thought Renate Reinsve was the standout. While I have higher rated movies this year that didn’t receive Best Picture noms, this is definitely more worthy than F1, The Secret Agent or Frankenstein. Definitely worth a watch.
-Z
A very solid film that definitely feels deserving of its best picture nomination. The acting is exceptional. The story was much more complex than what the trailer seemed to depict. I really enjoyed the family home acting as a character of sorts throughout the movie. There were several peeks back through time scattered throughout, and I honestly think there could have been more of that to really help us understand the characters. While I don’t think it overly wowed any of the ZEJ team, I’m glad we were able to see this in theaters and would recommend it!
-E
This is a weird movie to review. It is objectively good but not a lot happens either. Then I look back on it and try to decide what I didn’t like about it and I have nothing. The acting was really good, the cinematography was really good, and you realize there is a reason it is nominated for quite a bit of Oscars. I think my biggest issue is that it is a bit slow and just not a story that I really liked. I would guess this is going to win the foreign film Oscar, meaning you need to watch it.
-J
