Hania Rani - Sentimental Value

Recorded between Abbey Road and Polish Radio studios, Hania Rani’s original music for Joachim Trier’s Sentimental Value emerged through an unusually open and intuitive collaboration. The score was written before editing began, shaped instead by an early script and extended dialogue between composer and director.

Rather than responding to fixed scenes, Rani approached the music as a parallel narrative. Working free from visual cues allowed her to explore sound independently, creating abstract sequences that act as a counterpoint to the film’s evolving relationships and emotional tensions. Central to the score is a sense of instability: three characters, one house, and connections that remain fluid rather than resolved.

To capture this delicacy, Rani embraced mediation and transformation, subtly altering material through re-orchestration, re-recording, and changes in acoustic space. These small gestures helped form a sound world that holds past, present, and future in balance.

In September 2024, Rani and sound engineer Agata Dankowska spent time inside the film’s Oslo house, recording its objects, rooms, and piano. While most of these sounds do not appear directly in the soundtrack, the experience deeply informed the score, grounding it in the physical and emotional presence at the heart of Sentimental Value.