Joachim Trier's 'Sentimental Value' captivates Cannes with family drama

By Hanna Rantala

CANNES, France (Reuters) - Acclaimed director Joachim Trier said his new Cannes competition entry "Sentimental Value" is centred on reconciliation and family, topics the 51-year-old reflected on while working on the script with long-time collaborator Eskil Vogt.

The movie also marks a reunion for Trier and his "The Worst Person in the World" star Renate Reinsve.

Reinsve plays stage actress Nora, who has a complicated relationship with her estranged and past-his-prime filmmaker father Gustav Borg, portrayed by Stellan Skarsgard.

Borg, a Swede, returns to Oslo, hoping to make his comeback movie and cast Nora in the lead role. When Nora refuses, Borg reaches out to young Hollywood star Rachel Kemp, played by Elle Fanning, who soon finds herself in the midst of difficult family dynamics and a challenging film set.

"Since the last time I wrote a film, I've had two children, so I'm actually asking more questions about transference" and things left unspoken in a family that are then never resolved, Trier told Reuters on Friday.

"How do we cope with that? How do we grapple with that, this melancholy that we have a limited time with each other and we have to accept what we get?" said Trier.

"Sentimental Value" shot up the ranks of possible Palme d'Or top prize winners after it received a standing ovation lasting over 15 minutes following its premiere on Wednesday evening.

Reinsve said she was happy with the film's reception considering how high expectations were after "The Worst Person in the World," which the Norwegian actor said changed her life.

"I got so much confidence by doing that role, my first lead, and really being very personal and honest with that role," she told Reuters.

The vulnerability shown in Trier's film strikes a much-needed chord in a tough world, said Fanning, who was nominated for a Primetime Emmy for "The Great."

"It's cool to be sensitive and tender and soft, and that should never go out of fashion," she said.

Borg's difficulties juggling family and a film career were familiar, Skarsgard said, as any successful actor is required to give themselves over to their project.

"You cannot say, 'Well, I'll go home instead and be with the kids' because you won't be you anymore. And that's difficult if you have kids. And I have eight of them."

Seven of Skarsgard's children work in the entertainment industry, including sons Alexander, Gustaf and Bill.

(Reporting by Hanna Rantala and Miranda Murray; Editing by Leslie Adler)