LIVE, LEARN, & LOVE
Do you take delight in watching films or
listening to pop music? For English learners, movies, songs, and books are one
of the most wonderful sources to explore the language! You can indulge in your
favorite pastime and still learn some expressions, words of wisdom, and
oftentimes good lessons while you’re at it.
#16. SENTIMENTAL VALUE (film, 2025)
ð This
line is spoken by Gustav Borg, the famous film director in the movie, when he
meets his estranged daughter Nora at his wife’s wake. He is aware of, and tries
to understand, the deep resentment Nora carries toward him, largely because he
abandoned the family when she and her younger sister were still children.
Although he expresses a desire to have a “proper talk” with her, such a
conversation seems nearly impossible, since he lacks the ability to communicate
in the way others would consider meaningful or sincere. I found this to be one
of the film’s most ironic moments: a man who remained emotionally distant from
his own family suddenly attempts to reconnect with his angry daughter while
working on a deeply emotional film about family relationships.
"I
can't work with him. We can't really talk. My father is a... very difficult
person."
ð Nora
immediately turned down his father’s proposal for the movie and refused even to
look at the script. She could not imagine collaborating with her father and
believed that doing so would only further damage what was essentially a
nonexistent relationship. Nora worried that, for a brief period, she would
become the focus of her father’s attention, only for him to leave again just
when she might start believing their bond had improved. She was unwilling to
allow him to play with her emotions. She had already witnessed the impact this
had on Agnes, who had appeared in one of Gustav’s films as a child. After the
filming ended, Agnes was left longing for her father’s love and attention, but
he had already moved on.
** Jean’s Small Thoughts:
As I see it, and perhaps as director Joachim Trier
intended, the film tells a story about the many complicated and deeply
connected emotions within families that people often struggle to discuss
openly. Is there any family that doesn’t carry some form of past resentment or
painful experiences that must be faced? For some people, bringing those
feelings into the open may feel overwhelming. For others, it might be healthier
to prepare themselves for the moment when they finally choose to confront the
grief and sorrow they have long carried.
While watching the film, I kept replaying the scene where
the two sisters lie next to each other and recall memories from their
childhood. In that moment, they share an honest conversation and express
tearful gratitude for having supported each other during the hardest times of
their youth. When the younger sister, Agnes, tells Nora, “You were there for
me,” it deeply moved me. It reminded me of my own childhood, when I would
sometimes sleepwalk into my mother’s room and cry while holding her pajamas to
smell her scent while she was away on business abroad. During those nights, my
sister would always comfort me and guide me back to bed, reassuring me by
saying, “Mom will be home in a few days.” Even now, I sometimes have a
recurring nightmare in which I suddenly find myself in an unfamiliar place,
lost and unable to return home. I believe my sister may also carry her own
memories and emotional wounds from the lonely moments we experienced as
children.
This film made me reflect on an important question: what
responsibilities do parents have toward their children, and what do children
owe their parents in return? It also raises another thought—are we truly ready
to face the less pleasant parts of our past and mature enough to accept them
and make peace with them?
