Autumn Sonata (1978)

Simply A Masterpiece

Highly Overrated But Still Good

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

I catch a Bergman movie anytime I can, I've loved all I've seen so far (Jungfrukällan, Nattvardsgästerna, Vargtimmen, Det Sjunde Inseglet). This - even tho good - was maybe the least favorite so far.I had zero knowledge of this movie before seeing it, a perfect way to see a movie, I only knew it was a Bergman movie which of course sets a certain expectation.The acting is quite good. I was quite impressed by Ingrid Bergmans performance (it actually took me a while to figure out it was her). Ullman's performance in my opinion is a bit over the top and she doesn't quite fit the role. She felt like a warm and kind loving wife rather than a woman not capable of loving due to unhappy childhood. I didn't find her believable in the role she was put in. She looked way too content with herself for a woman holding so much anger, sadness and suppressed feelings. Her performance has been praised, but even the key scene when she looks at her mother play the piano felt somehow awkward to me. Maybe I need to watch the movie again.Since I knew nothing about the movie beforehand, I felt at times that the movie took quite drastic turns. I don't know if it was structured as well as it could've been. Things came out unexpectedly - which may have been intentional also.I also wasn't too sure that the sick sister was a necessary character here. The scenes with her are quite sparse and she's left undeveloped as a character and her part in the whole was left a bit of a mystery. I also wasn't sure why it was implied that her sickness was caused by her mothers actions, that felt quite far fetched since her condition was clearly not (only) psychological, but rather neurological.The whole movie was a bit like watching a train wreck, it's not exactly fun watching tormented characters. Which leaves me to think what the purpose of this movie was. It's nevertheless a strong drama, but it left me mostly just feeling sad. I don't know if it would be wise to see this movie again and look for symbolic stuff that I've found in Bergmans other movies, they've felt deeper and more meaningful than this. I was left wondering if the fact that Ullmann's characters son died by drowning carried a more deeper meaning, because it was revealed at a certain point in the movie. Maybe I was just overwhelmed by the drama and couldn't see deeper, but I didn't find a true meaning in this movie, other than purification of some sort.

Ingrid is great as a totally self involved woman of great musical talent but no outward vision beyond how it serves her no matter how she tries. This was her final feature and second to last acting work and it's heartbreaking watching her full mastery of her craft to realize that while still in full command of her gift illness cut her down. The rest of the film is dour and terribly depressing which of course is par for the course with Ingmar Bergman. We are supposed to empathize with Liv Ullman's character but she seems stunted by her bad childhood unable to realize that at some point you have to accept people as they are and get on with the business of living.

Typical introspective Bergman film with exceptional performances by Liv Ullman and Ingrid Bergman.The latter plays a famous concert pianist visiting her daughter after a long absence. Both harbor a mutual hope for reconciliation from their estranged past but the emotional baggage carried by each may be too much to overcome.The film is beautifully photographed and the script is engrossing but it is extremely "wordy" even for a Bergman film. There is lots of voice over narration, lots of flashbacks, lots of static dialogue, and lots of static monologue (sometimes with the character talking directly to the camera.) The on focus mother-daughter relationship is sad in itself but the overall gloom is layered on pretty thick - loss of parent, loss of husband, loss of child, bad parenting, absentee parenting, repressed anger, forced abortion, disabled child, spastic cerebral palsy, disgust, hatred, emotional detachment and so on......This is the perfect movie to watch if you're a psychoanalyst but for the casual viewer it's pretty depressing stuff. A lot of reviews give this film very high marks but this is not grade "A" Bergman. It is superbly crafted and well acted but it comes across more like a filmed stage play than a movie.

This is the most harrowing movie I have ever seen. It is the tale of a mother and daughter, more specifically it is perhaps the first and final time the daughter confronts her mother. Liv Ullmann surpasses her performances in "Face to Face" and Persona to give what I believe to be her best performance. Ingrid Bergman also does a commendable job.The characters are very carefully etched. Even before the confrontation begins I could sense the change is Liv Ullmann when she is in presence of her mother. I could see in her a 12 year old kid desperate for her mother's approval without being told so explicitly. And mostly I remember her distraught face when she watches her mother play. Having already watched her in 5 other Bergman movies, I thought I knew her expressions. But that face will probably trouble me in the night when I try to sleep for a few days.Whenever I watched Ingrid rebuke Liv, I could see in my mind as if she was kicking her daughter in her gut. Watching this movie made me so thankful that I didn't had a parent like that and appreciate them much more.Another masterpiece by Bergman with some of the best performances I have ever seen.