This movie tears at the heart of anyone with unresolved issues with their parents from childhood. The fortunate thing the women in this movie had was that they could discuss, shout, get angry at and have things out with each other. Most people carry guilts and hatreds with them all their lives until their parents are dead. Then, there is no opportunity to deal with the issues. Keep the tissues handy when watching this one. Besides the gut-wrenching dialog, the cinematography is splendid.
Powerful experience. It touches the 'big themes': solitude, desperation, hopes, affection, disappointments and grace, all in a very delicate but intense way. It felt like I only watched it for 5 minutes, so moving was the dialogue. One of my absolute favorites.
Oh man, I was not ready for Bergman's Autumn Sonata (in which he finally gets to work with that other famous Bergman, Ingrid). A simple, could-be-a-play, family drama about mothers and daughters, its structure is subtle but complex, its key being Chopin's Preludes, which early on is used as a motif. The piece tells us this family is pretty on the outside, but ugly on the inside, and boy, does it deliver. Bergman herself plays the other, a vain concert pianist more or less estranged from her daughters, but invited to stay at their house after the death of the mother's close friend. Right away, the situation is a ticking time bomb and it will explode, but before it does, we get a lot of incredible acting from both Bergman and the eldest daughter played by Liv Ullman. Even though the characters talk a lot, even to themselves, their expressions tell different, more varied, and more ambiguous stories. In Bergman's face, we read turmoil: a mix of pride, love, disappointment, and in the case of the daughter wasting away from a degenerative motor condition, repulsion. The character is a performer, first and foremost, mother isn't even in second place. And she's fostered a lot of resentment. In the middle of the night, things boil over and Ullman lays it all on the line. You'll feel the daughters isn't being fair, and yet this is the one time she's ever spoken any of her grievances aloud. We side with her, but with Bergman too. It's all so raw, and if you've ever had mommy or daddy issues (or inversely, had trouble connecting with your children), this will hit home hard. And the tragic cycle will continue, one doesn't change overnight, perhaps ever, so here the director may well be broaching his usual existential themes of pointlessness. I teared up often, sobbed through the emotional climax of the piece. Powerful, well-observed, if slightly heightened, drama.
This comes in as my 2nd fav. (Ingmar) Bergman film out of the 8 that I've seen. "The Virgin Spring" is better, though this is more original. Ullman spitting of her troubles near the end is quite amazing; These are the only 2 Bergman films that I liked actually.
Moving (forces oneself to think about its own life) but especially the parts before the main dialogue started were too long and kind of boring. I don't have to watch that one again.
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ClassicLady
This movie tears at the heart of anyone with unresolved issues with their parents from childhood. The fortunate thing the women in this movie had was that they could discuss, shout, get angry at and have things out with each other. Most people carry guilts and hatreds with them all their lives until their parents are dead. Then, there is no opportunity to deal with the issues. Keep the tissues handy when watching this one. Besides the gut-wrenching dialog, the cinematography is splendid.kombelpeter
Powerful experience. It touches the 'big themes': solitude, desperation, hopes, affection, disappointments and grace, all in a very delicate but intense way. It felt like I only watched it for 5 minutes, so moving was the dialogue. One of my absolute favorites.frdirector
Powerful dialogue. I love it!Camille Deadpan
This movie is... so sad and so perfect.dpka
I could not recognize Ingrid Bergman.Siskoid
Oh man, I was not ready for Bergman's Autumn Sonata (in which he finally gets to work with that other famous Bergman, Ingrid). A simple, could-be-a-play, family drama about mothers and daughters, its structure is subtle but complex, its key being Chopin's Preludes, which early on is used as a motif. The piece tells us this family is pretty on the outside, but ugly on the inside, and boy, does it deliver. Bergman herself plays the other, a vain concert pianist more or less estranged from her daughters, but invited to stay at their house after the death of the mother's close friend. Right away, the situation is a ticking time bomb and it will explode, but before it does, we get a lot of incredible acting from both Bergman and the eldest daughter played by Liv Ullman. Even though the characters talk a lot, even to themselves, their expressions tell different, more varied, and more ambiguous stories. In Bergman's face, we read turmoil: a mix of pride, love, disappointment, and in the case of the daughter wasting away from a degenerative motor condition, repulsion. The character is a performer, first and foremost, mother isn't even in second place. And she's fostered a lot of resentment. In the middle of the night, things boil over and Ullman lays it all on the line. You'll feel the daughters isn't being fair, and yet this is the one time she's ever spoken any of her grievances aloud. We side with her, but with Bergman too. It's all so raw, and if you've ever had mommy or daddy issues (or inversely, had trouble connecting with your children), this will hit home hard. And the tragic cycle will continue, one doesn't change overnight, perhaps ever, so here the director may well be broaching his usual existential themes of pointlessness. I teared up often, sobbed through the emotional climax of the piece. Powerful, well-observed, if slightly heightened, drama.JimEastwood71
Not really a music category film, very good thoughKaramAkerfeldt
Favs: 420PaulC138
This comes in as my 2nd fav. (Ingmar) Bergman film out of the 8 that I've seen. "The Virgin Spring" is better, though this is more original. Ullman spitting of her troubles near the end is quite amazing; These are the only 2 Bergman films that I liked actually.nager
Moving (forces oneself to think about its own life) but especially the parts before the main dialogue started were too long and kind of boring. I don't have to watch that one again.Skyscore
http://www.afisha.ru/movie/165944/review/146562/MrCarmady
Shit film.