Like the other Trier movies I’ve seen so far (Oslo, August 31, and The Worst Person in the World) the formal structures sometimes feel like Trier sampling/remixing techniques, and I got the feeling that he could have stripped some of those away — or at least carried them through with more consistency. (I’m thinking in particular of how he and co-writer Eskil Vogt love voice-over narration.) I also feel like Trier and Vogt should try writing with a woman sometime, and soon.
The three leads (Stellan Skarsgård, Renate Reinsve, and Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas) and supporting player Elle Fanning all give great performances, and there are moments when the formal artifice drops and a looser, more playful style emerges.
Mostly, though, I found that my reservations didn’t blunt the impact of Triers reserved sentimentality. Maybe it’s because I (like Stellan Skarsgård’s Gustav Borg) have two daughters, but I found myself crying in the middle of the AMC Lincoln Square theater. Sometimes heartbreak really does feel good in a place like this.