Rating: 
Summary: One of the best films ever done
Review: There are lengthy reviews here already, so I'll imit myself to only say that this film is a masterpiece of cinema of all times. It does leave you indeed emotionally devastated, but this is Bergman and at his best. It had similar impact on me as Cries and Whispers, Persona, Through the Glass Darkly, Scenes from the Marriage. I worship these movies because you can't stop thinking of what you've seen over and over, and that, in my opinion, makes them art, not just entertainment. They do leave something in your soul, and you are not the same person as before you've seen it. The same effect of art is experienced with masterpieces in other fields, like literature of fine arts. This is for serious viewers only, give it a miss if you like Hollywood style productions.
Rating:
Summary: Bergman at his best
Review: This is probably one of the most underrated movies of all time.Maybe Bergman did stuff like this in the past,but that does not mean that isn't great.Ingrid Bergman gives so much ...You will never see her like that in any other movie.Maybe is the director...maybe she knew how special it was.
Rating: 
Summary: Just take a look!
Review: This is the first Ingmar Bergman film I have seen and I did enjoy it, although I know I would enjoy it more the second time through, and very likely raise the rating. It was amazing to me, the incredible tackiness of the decor in the house. Harvest gold walls, tangerine flowers, avacado green something else. And Ingrid and Liv Ullman's wardrobes left MUCH to be desired. Just look at the red sack Ingrid wears to dinner the first night and you'll know what I mean. The colour scheme in many ways added to the autumnal motif... but that doesn't change the fact that I would HATE to have my house look like that. I saw many parallels in the story with Ingrid's own life - her career getting in the way of her relationship with her daughter - which was very interesting. I must say I didn't understand the presence of the handicapped daughter in the story. It never explained what her illness was and I just didn't get what point she was to make. Just to call "Mama"? I liked the guy who played Liv's husband. Not a major character but he seemed like a nice person devoted to his wife's happiness. I was very tired when I started the movie and had to turn it off during the face-off between Liv and Ingrid because I was falling asleep - so the emotional impact didn't hit me as strongly as it could have - but one of these days I'll check it out again and see it over all in one sitting. And I also discovered that Ingrid has brownish eyes... not blue as I had thought... ...
Rating: 
Summary: an excellent but slow paced film.
Review: This review is for the Criterion Collection DVD edition of the film. In this film, the only movie that both Ingrid and Ingmar Bergman (no relation) were both involved in. In this film a woman visits her daughter at her home and attempts to reconcile with her. This film is definately not one thatmost people would find interesting and is almost like a soap opera. The DVD has a theatrical trailer and audio commentary by Peter Cowie.
Rating:
Summary: An emotionally draining but rewarding film.
Review: This was the second film by Ingmar Bergman that I have seen, the first was The Seventh Seal. I preferred this film by far and it is more typical of his work as a writer/director. I would thoroughly recommend it as an introduction to Bergman. The performances are uniformly excellent, with Ingrid Bergman (no relation) outstanding as Charlotte, the dysfunctional concert pianist and mother of Liv Ullmann's character. After the death of her lover (briefly but beautifully handled in flashback) Charlotte visits her daughter Eva, whom she has not seen for seven years. During the night the pair lay to rest the ghosts of their relationship while Eva was growing up. The script is excellent, with many memorable scenes. My favourite brief sequence is when Ingrid Bergman describes how one of her conductor collaborators reminisced about one of her earlier piano concerto performances in the 1930s. That passage is beautifully written and movingly acted. Many other parts of the script remain in the mind after the film has ended. As the confrontation reaches its climax the performances become more uncomfortable to watch, as if one is intruding on a family dispute, but that is a tribute to the quality of the performances of Ingrid Bergman and Liv Ullmann. Criterion's DVD is non-anamorphic, but the 1.66:1 image is very fine, in places excellent for a film made in 1978. A few brief flecks appear occasionally, and there is a slight touch of grain during the brief outdoor sequence when Charlotte arrives at Eva's house, but the warmth of Sven Nykvist's cinematography comes across marvellously. The soundtrack (which is of course speech-driven) is fine. There is also an excellent commentary by Bergman expert Peter Cowie. The subtitles are very good, and I would stick with them alongside the Swedish language soundtrack, rather than opt for the dubbed English soundtrack.
Rating:
Summary: Be sure to try out the dubbed English language audio track.
Review: To begin with, this is another outstanding transfer by Criterion of a Bergman film. I think other reviewers have made a formidable case both for the excellence of the film and of the remastered transfer. I would like merely to highlight for prospective buyers one possibly overlooked advantage to this DVD edition, namely, the alternative English language audio track, in which the voices are dubbed by the original actors. I usually avoid films that have been dubbed into English, but there are times in which dubbing is more desirable than subtitles, and "Autumn Sonata" happens to offer one of them. I realize many people understandably are suspicious of films dubbed into English, and as a rule I too prefer substitles to dubbing. And yet, I encourage you to try watching this film both with subtitles and the dubbed voices. Since the film has been dubbed using the original voices, one need not worry that Bergman or Ulmann's lines are being interpreted for them by someone else. In fact, the English translation in the dubbed audio track is far superior to the subtitled translation (probably because subtitles are meant to be READ and not SPOKEN). One day, I decided, just as an experiment, to try out the dubbed audio track, and was surprised to find that my experience of the film was enhanced for a couple of reasons. First of all, "Autumn Sonata" has so many passages of extremely dense dialogue, that I often found myself watching the bottom 1/3 of the screen rather than Sven Nykvist's superb photography. One of the most remarkable aspects of "Autumn Sonata" is Bergman's use of the close-up. At one level, this film, which is heavily comprised of close-ups, is a study of the human face, and it is no coincidence that this is probably the only film in which Ingrid Bergman appears without make-up (from what I understand, this was a constant point of contention between Ingid and Ingmar on the set). That we now know Ingrid Bergman was struggling privately with the late stages of terminal cancer during the filming of "Autumn Sonata" helps explain why Bergman's close-ups of her are among the most harrowing in cinema (I point to the scene in which she plays Chopin on the piano as but one example). To the person who criticized Bergman's direction of Ingrid in this film, I would pose the question of how else could he have achieved such an effect without undressing her of her characteristic glamor and elegance. It is interesting that this reviewer contrasts Bergman with Hitchcock because the latter made a career of heavy-handed, deprecating direction of his leading ladies, from Madeleine Carroll in "The 39 Steps" to Ingrid Bergman in "Notorious." To anyone who has reservations about the direction of Ingrid in the role of Charlotte, I encourage you to view the film again, this time with the dubbed English audio track. I just do not see how one fully can appreciate a film heavily comprised of slow, penetrating close-ups, if one has to spend time reading subtitles. As with many of their Begman films on laserdisc, Criterion's laserdisc release of "Autumn Sonata" also featured an alternative English track. However, in the case of the laserdisc, I could never watch the film with the English audio because the audio quality was so poor. Due to the possibility for storing more information on a small DVD, Criterion has been able to improve the quality of the English language track for this DVD issue. The sound, while mono, is very full, and the synchronization is excellent (not distracting at all). I highly recommend that you give the dubbed version of this film a try.
Rating: 
Summary: One of Bergman's weakest films.
Review: When Bergman made 'Wild Strawberries', about an old man looking back at the emotional failures of his life, he made the 'mistake' of having a hero too gentle and understanding to be a cold or bad person. In this film, Bergman makes little attempt to make Charlotte (Ingrid Bergman) sympathetic - her glamour and charm is noisy, superficially clever and phoney; her reactions to trauma damning. For some reason, people thought it a big deal that filmmakers with the same surname should work together; Ingmar, however, clearly doesn't have the same imaginative, creative, historical and personal sympathy for Ingrid as he did for Victor Sjostrom, hence the flimsiness of 'Autumn Sonata' compared to 'Strawberries'. There's nothing really wrong with it, the performances are pitch-perfect, the compositions are meticulous tableaux (the flashbacks are expecially beautiful), the narrative structure suitably elaborate and elusive. The film begins with the stolid complacency of Victor, spying and ruminating on his wife, trying to control our view of her; it proceeds by peeling back the politeness and civility and culture layer by layer, to reveal the festering, ugly scars beneath. It just seems perfunctory, to lack passion, as if Ingmar didn't trust Ingrid to reach as deeply into her soul as he's used to demanding of his actors, because she's a Hollywood actress (despite having starred in masterpieces for Hitchcock and Rossellini). The story is much soapier, more predictable, more Hollywood than we expect from Bergman, as if to condescend to his actress, as Ingrid stands there waiting for a genuine challenge. Even Liv Ullmann seems merely professional compared to her harrowing work in 'Scenes from a marriage' or 'Persona'. The whole thing plays like one of Ingmar's 40s films done in his 70s style - he'd moved on long ago from this. Disappointing.
Rating:
Summary: Dynamic, Memorable Film
Review: Writer/director Ingmar Bergman examines the strained relationship between a mother and daughter in "Autumn Sonata," starring Ingrid Bergman and Liv Ullmann. Eva (Ullmann) has not seen her mother, Charlotte (Bergman) in seven years; a successful concert pianist, Charlotte has spent a good portion of her life on the road, but after losing her long-time companion, Leonardo, Eva invites her to come to the parsonage where she and her minister husband, Viktor (Halvar Bjork), live, for an extended visit. Charlotte accepts, but soon after her arrival, old wounds and feelings begin to surface, and the film becomes an intimate character study of the life-long dysfunctional relationship between Charlotte and Eva, during which director Bergman intricately examines the causes and effects of all that has passed between them during their lives. It's an in-depth look at the emotional damage human beings are capable of inflicting upon one another, and how fragile the line between love and hate becomes when subjected to incessant neglect by even one of the parties involved. As the story unfolds and the principals bare their souls-- at last revealing a lifetime's worth of repressed feelings-- it becomes an emotionally devastating experience for the audience, as well, for there is much contained within the dynamics of this situation that most viewers will be able to identify with and relate to within their own lives. Ingmar Bergman is a Master of presenting life as it truly is; reality-- and portraying it on the screen-- is his domain, and throughout his career he has veritably created almost a genre of his own in doing so. With a microscope of his own design, he scrutinizes the basic instincts of the human condition, what makes people tick and how and why they relate to one another as they do. Much of what he presents is startling, and always emotionally involving, because he penetrates so deeply and succinctly into the heart of the matter, as he demonstrates so superlatively with this film. His methods and style are unique, his talent unequivocal; many others have attempted to capture the essence of that which Bergman has perfected, but few have succeeded. Interestingly enough, Liv Ullmann is one who, as a director, has probably come the closest to achieving that classic "sense" of Bergman, with her films "Private Confessions," and "Faithless," both of which were written by Bergman. In her role as Eva, Ullmann gives one of the best performances of her career, for which she should have at least been nominated for an Oscar; that she was not is nothing less than a gross injustice. She so skillfully conveys the depth and complexities of her character, and the differing emotional levels to which Eva is subjected, that it creates a lasting impression and makes her someone with whom it is easy for the audience to sympathize. It makes you realize, upon reflection, what a truly gifted actress Ullmann is. And, as good as Ullmann's performance here is, it is equaled-- though not, I would say-- surpassed, by Ingrid Bergman's portrayal (in her final theatrical appearance) of Charlotte; and in a renewal of faith that there is some justice in the world after all, she received an Oscar nomination for Best Actress for it. In retrospect, it seems somehow inevitable that the two Bergmans came together at last, though it's somewhat lamentable that their career paths did not cross sooner. There is some consolation, however, in the fact that when they did finally join forces the result was such a powerful, memorable film. The supporting cast includes Lena Nyman (Helena), Gunnar Bjornstrand (Paul), Erland Josephson (Josef) and Linn Ullmann (Eva as a child). An intelligent, thought provoking and emotionally wrenching film, highlighted by outstanding performances and beautifully photographed by Sven Nykvist, "Autumn Sonata" is an example of filmmaking at it's best; it's a lasting tribute, not only to the immense talents of Ingmar Bergman and Liv Ullmann, but to Ingrid Bergman, one of the most beautiful and gifted actresses ever to grace the silver screen.
Rating:
Summary: Gripping at the Least
Review: You could never call yourself a fan of film if you've never seen an Ingmar Bergman film. This would be a good on to cut your teeth on. He brings in Ingrid Bergman (in one of her final film roles, speaking in her native tongue) as a mother who has been out of town making a living. Ingmar Bergmans film touches are many: It is shot as near naturally as possible with hardly any lighting, many long takes, and the actresses wearing as little make up as possible. In the short time this movie runs it will grip you, forcing you two take sides in a no win situation. Touching and tragic. Another Bergman (and Bergman) winner.
Rating:
Summary: INTERIORS
Review: You'd better not to be depressive if you have in mind to watch Swedish director Ingmar Bergman's AUTUMN SONATA, a Criterion release. Shot only in brown, yellow and red tones, the movie relates the encounter of Liv Ulmann and her mother, played by a divine Ingrid Bergman, after a seven years separation. It is obvious, at the end of the movie, that they won't see each other for the next seven years to come. Like in a sonata, the first part of the movie is relatively quiet, the characters keeping their distances and trying to live with each other. But you can see in the attitudes of Liv Ulmann and Ingrid Bergman that something is not said, that the storm is approaching. There is another very important character in AUTUMN SONATA, Elena, the second daughter of Ingrid Bergman, who is suffering from a degenerative disease and can hardly speak. Well, the symbol is a little bit heavy but the scenes involving Elena are going to make you feel uneasy. The last part of the movie is a verbal duel between the mother and the daughter which goes crescendo and finishes in an explosion of hidden memories. As I said before, AUTUMN SONATA is not a comedy nor the psychological saturday night TV movie you are familiar with, it's one of the last movies of a genius of cinema, it's a movie which deserves to be rediscovered. An interesting commentary, a trailer and a dubbed version as bonus features. Unfortunately, the copy is not perfect and shows one or two huge black spots. A DVD dedicated to Woody Allen.
|
