Sentimental Value

I JUST WANT TO CONCLUDE MY COMMENTS ON "SENTIMENTAL VALUE" BY SAYING THAT I AM DISAPPOINTED THAT STELLAN SKARSGAARD LOST BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR TO SEAN PENN. (THE ONE GOOD THING ABOUT THAT LOSS WAS THAT MR. PENN WASN'T THERE TO ACCEPT THE AWARD IN PERSON. I STILL REMEMBER HOW HE DISGRACED HIMSELF ON THE NIGHT THAT HE WON FOR "MILK" BY MAKING A JUVENILE REMARK ABOUT PRESIDENT BUSH. APPARENTLY, MR. PENN WAS MORE CONCERNED ABOUT CONDUCTING HIS OWN PETTY PERSONAL VENDETTA AGAINST PRESIDENT BUSH THAN HE WAS IN HONORING THE COURAGEOUS MARTYR, HARVEY MILK). ALSO, WHEN I WROTE IN ONE OF MY PREVIOUS COMMENTS ABOUT MORGAN FREEMAN LOSING BEST ACTOR, I NEGLECTED TO MENTION THAT THE ACTOR TO WHOM HE LOST WAS DANIEL DAY LEWIS FOR "MY LEFT FOOT." WITH ALL DUE RESPECT TO MR. LEWIS, I STILL THINK THAT MR. FREEMAN SHOULD HAVE WON!

IF THESE REALLY ARE THE LAST WO DAYS TO SEE "SENTIMENTAL VALUE" AT THE CINEMA VILLAGE, THEN I HOPE THAT AS MANY PEOPLE AS POSSIBLE WILL SEE IT. I AlSO HOPE THAT THE CINEMA VILLAGE WILL ALSO SHOW THE OTHER FOUR FILMS THAT WERE NOMINATED FOR BEST INERNATIONAL FILM: "SIRT," "THE SECRET AGENT," "THE VOICE OF HIND RAJAB," & "IT WAS JUST AN ACCIDENT" (I THOUGHT THE LATTER FILM SHOULD HAVE ACTUALLY WON INSTEAD OF "SENTIMENTAL VALUE," BUT I SUPPOSE IT WAS A TOUGH DECISION). I ALSO HOPE THAT THE CINEMA VILLAGE WILL ALSO SHOW MORE DOCUMENTARIES SUCH AS THE ONE ABOUT VLADIMIR PUTIN & "THE ALABAMA SOLUTION." I REALIZE THAT YOU HAVE ALREADY SHOWN THAT ONE, BUT IT WOULD BE GOOD IF YOUI BROUGHT IT BACK. IT WOULD ALSO BE GOOD IF YOU BROUGHT BACK "MARTY SUPREME" & "ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER"). I REALIZE THAT IT'S GOOD TO HAVE THE CINEMA VILLAGE. WHERE ELSE CAN YOU SEE QUIRKY INDEPENDTLY MADE FILMS LIKE "THE DREADFULS"?

I WANT TO BEGIN BY CONGRATULATING EVERYONE INVOLVED IN MAKING "SENTIMENTAL VALUE" FOR WINNING BEST INTERNATIONAL FEATURE. (HOWEVER, I HAVEALWAYS THOUGHT THAT "BEST FOREIGN FILM" WAS A MORE ACCURATE TITLE BECAUSE IT EMPHASIZES THAT THE FILM REPRESENTS A CULTURE THAT'S DIFFERENT FROM THE UNITED STATES WHEREAS THE WORD "INTERNATIONAL" HAS A MUCH BROADER DEFINITION). I ALSO THOUGHT THAT MICHAEL B. JORDAN DID A REMARKABLE JOB OF PLAYING TWO DIFFERENT CHARACTERS IN "SINNERS" IN SUCH A DISTINCTIVE WAY, SO I GUESS THAT IT DID MAKE SENSE TO GIVE HIM BEST ACTOR. HOWEVER, "SINNERS"- LIKE "GET OUT"- IS A PROBLEMATIC FILM BECAUSE ALL OF THE DEPICTIONS OF WHITE PEOPLE IN BOTH OF THESE FILMS WERE NEGATIVE. I GREW UP AT A TIME WHEN FILMS LIKE "GUESS WHO'S COMING TO DINNER," "HURRAY SUNDOWN," "IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT," & "TO SIR WITH LOVE" WERE ABLE TO DEPICT HOW BLACKS WERE SUBJECTED TO RACISM WITHOUT DEMONIZING WHITE PEOPLE. AND, MORE RECENTLY , "DRIVING MISS DAISY" DEPICTED HOW A WHITE WOMAN WHO THOUGHT OF HERSELF AS A LIBERAL HAD TO ACKNOWLEDGE HER OWN RACISM & HAD TO LEARN HOW TO TREAT HER BLACK EMPLOYEE IN A MORE RESPECTFUL MANNER. (I HAVE ALWAYS WISHED THAT MORGAN FREEMAN COULD HAVE WON BEST ACTOR FOR THAT FILM , BUT I GUESS THAT THE OSCAR VOTERS HAD A MORE DIFFICULT JOB SINCE HE PLAYED A PHYSICALLY CHALLENGED MAN IN HIS FILM). I REALIZE THAT RYAN COOGLER & JORDAN PEELE ARE TALENTED DIRECTORS, BUT I WISH THAT THEY COULD EXPRESS THEIR TALENTS WITHOUT MAKING NEGATIVE GENERALIZATIONS OF WHITE PEOPLE. IT'S ESPECIALLY IRONIC IN MR. PEELE'S CASE SINCE HE HAPPENS TO BE BIRACIAL.

I HAVE ALWAYS BELIEVED MR. SKARSGARD SHOULD HAVE WON A BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR OSCAR FOR "BREAKING THE WAVES" & THAT EMILY WATSON SHOULD HAVE WON BEST ACTRESS & LARS VON TRIER SHOULD HAVE WON FOR BEST DIRECTOR. FOR SOME REASON, MS. WATSON WAS THE ONLY ONE OF THE THREE WHO WAS NOMINATED, & THE FILM WAS INEXPLICABLY OVERLOOKED FOR A NOMINATION FOR BEST FILM. ALTHOUGH "SENTIMETAL VALUE" DOESN'T HAVE THE SAME CATASTROPHIC DILEMMAS THAT WERE DEPICTED SO BRILLIANTLY IN "BREAKING THE WAVES," DIRECTOR/SCREENWRITER JOACHIM TRIER, HIS CO-SCREENWRITER, ESKIL VOGT, MANAGE TO BEAUTIFULLY DEPICT THE TENSIONS THAT INEVITABLY ARISE BETWEEN PARENTS & CHILDREN. THIS WAS ESPECIALLY TRUE IN THE SCENE BETWEEN GUSTAV & NORA IN WHICH HE TRIES TO CONVINCE HER TO STAR IN THE FILM THAT WAS INSPIRED BY HIS MOTHER, A RESISTANCE FIGHTER WHO COMMITTED SUICIDE WHEN HE WAS SEVEN. DIRECTOR TRIER PANS THE CAMERA BACK & FORTH BETWEEN MR. SKARSGARD & MS. REINSVE SO THAT WE GET AN UNDERSTANDING OF WHY EACH CHARACTER FEELS THE WAY THAT THEY DO. AND, WHEN WE SEE THE LOOK OF DISTRESS ON MR. SKARSGARD'S FACE, WE SEE THAT GUSTAV REALIZES HOW HE HAS FAILED HIS DAUGHTERS. THAT SCENE DEFINITELY SERVES AS A GOOD BALANCE WITH THE ONE BETWEEN GUSTAV & RACHEL KEMP (ELLE FANNING) WHEN THEY MEET AT THE DEAUVILLE FILM FESTIVAL. MS. FANNING PERFECTLY CONVEYS THE AWE THAT RACHEL FEELS AT MEETING SUCH AN ACCLAIMED DIRECTOR, BUT SHE ALSO GRADUALLY MAKES US AWARE OF HOW CONFLICTED RACHEL FEELS AT BEING THRUST BETWEEN THE DIFFICULTIES BETWEEN GUSTAV & HIS DAUGHTERS. ALL OF THIS CONTRIBUTES TO US HAVING AN EMOTIONAL EXPERIENCE THAT IS MUCH MORE THAN JUST SENTIMENTAL!

THE SCANDINAVIAN DIRECTORS & SCREENWRITERS SEEM TO HAVE A SPECIAL KNACK FOR DETAILING THE COMPLEXITIES OF THE RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN PARENTS & THEIR CHILDREN. (CAN ANYONE THINK OF A MORE BRILLIANT DEPICTION OF THESE COMPLEXITIES THAN INGMAR BERGMAN'S "AUTUMN SONATA"? THAT FILM WAS DEFINITELY MR. BERGMAN'S FINEST HOUR. IT WAS ALSO INGRID BERGMAN'S & LIV ULLMANN'S FINEST HOURS). I ALSO WANT TO COMMEND DIRECTOR JOACHIM VON TRIER FOR CASTING STELLAN SKARSGARD AS GUSTAV, THE FILM DIRECTOR WHO HAS A STRAINED RELATIONSHIP WITH HIS TWO DAUGHTERS, NORA (RENATE REINSVE) & AGNES (INGA IBSDOTTER LILLEAAS).