In partnership with the production company Neon, A&O Productions screened the new film “Sentimental Value” on Wednesday at AMC Evanston 12. About 80 students came to watch the film, which will be released on a limited basis to the general public on Friday.
“There’s nothing like a moviegoing experience surrounded by your peers,” Communication senior Maeren Quirke, who attended the screening said. “The funnier moments were even funnier, and then the sad moments were even sadder because everyone around me was experiencing the emotions just as strongly.”
“Sentimental Value” follows two sisters as they navigate a fraught relationship with their father, a film director whose latest script is based on their tumultuous family history. Starring Renate Reinsve, Elle Fanning and Stellan Skarsgård, the spoken dialogue is primarily in Norwegian, with some English.
Although the movie included some comedic elements, and the audience rumbled with laughter several times, the conclusion elicited a teary-eyed reaction from a few attendees. Attendee and Medill senior Kennedy French recalled sobbing during the last 10 minutes when the film’s two sisters shared a bittersweet moment.
“It was a cliche a little bit when she was like, ‘Well, it’s because I had you,’ but it was just the way it was done. I can’t even explain it,” French said.
French thought one of the final scenes, where the historic childhood home that acted as a pivotal symbolic image was remodeled to become sterile and modern, was one of the film’s most poignant.
The feedback for “Sentimental Value” was not entirely positive. Although the film was emotionally resonant for Quirke and French, other attendees found it dull and disappointing.
“I thought it was really banal. I feel like half the movie was just actors looking into the camera,” Medill sophomore Joseph Wang said. “I feel like the director thought that it was going to be a deeper emotional thing where you could really feel what the character is thinking, but it ends up just being a character staring blankly at you for, like, 15 seconds with no dialogue… All of it just felt really superficial; I never felt moved at all.”
A&O Productions, a student-run entertainment club that organizes guest speakers, concerts and film screenings, worked in tandem with the major film production company Neon to arrange the screening. For its next event, A&O is hosting actresses Mary Beth Barone and Wally Baram on Nov. 12 as fall speakers.
According to Communication senior Verónica Silvosa, who is the Neon Campus Ambassador for NU and largely organized the event, Neon is in the process of planning another film screening for Winter Quarter.
“I think the main reason why Neon does this is to get people in theaters to watch movies together, because it’s such a beautiful communal experience,” Silvosa said. “It’s so nice that students can come for free and watch these movies, and in a big audience like this one.”
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