![]() Maybe the problem is that it doesn't have the existentialism of "Seventh Seal" or introspectiveness of "Persona", but believe when I say that this is one of the most intense films I've ever seen. Bergman is by far one of the best screenwritters I've got the pleasure to enjoy and he really shines in this one. The next day, I told a friend of mine to watch this film and I ended up describing it as "imagine an Allen screenplay, but more expressive and in which everyone is as eloquent as him" we ended up laughing, but I really meant my words. That reminded me, it was a long since I've seen anything from Bergman, so, by many reasons I ended picking this one up, without the impressions that it would blew my mind, but it did. Some days ago, I was thinking about my absolute top 10 favorite films, and how I'd include Wild Strawberries as #2 spot. ![]() Watch and enjoy the one and only collaboration of the two great Bergmans. Nonetheless, Autumn Sonata is a fantastic movie that rides on an exceptional amount of drama provided by it's two exceptional actresses. As a musician myself I can't help but wonder if one is greatly dispositioned toward such screwed up relationships. There's no dramatic late night conversation, but many of the same emotional issues come up in this real life concert pianist mother and daughter relationship. On a more personal note, I can't help but be reminded of a relatively recent documentary Bloody Daughter where Stephanie Argerich provides a window into the incredibly private life of her world renowned concert pianist mother, Martha Argerich, and their family life. What makes Autumn Sonata a fascinating film is the incredible work of Ingrid Bergman and Liv Ullman, who though the strength their performances alone (There is no score in this film unless you count a couple brief excerpts of standard classical piano repertoire.), manage to completely validate the emotional dysfunction of their respective characters and hence the script itself which could have very easily fallen into the pits of soap operatic campiness in the wrong hands. The entire validity of such a condition is dependent on the emotional expressions of the one(s) suffering. When one deals with a topic such as emotional neglect, one deals in something highly subjective. From here the movie starts to build like a storm with there being one drop here, another there, and suddenly we're soaked in the Eva's absolute hatred of her mother via a lengthy late night talk interspersed with flashbacks. Through the interactions of Charlotte and her daughter Helena we find ourselves witnessing first hand Charlotte's general remoteness, and almost frustration, as she deals with her daughter much like how one would deal with a girlfriend they hadn't seen in a while than a loving compassionate mother. This hope is quickly tarnished when Charlotte finds that her younger daughter Helena, who suffers from some unnamed nerve disease, is living with and being taken care of by Eva. We watch the awkward but quite jovial exchange of mother and daughter who both seem to hope for reconciliation and an ending of their multi-year estrangement. Eva invites her mother over, and we're introduced to Charlotte who from the moment she's on screen is an endless well of chatter. Viktor tell us he loves Eva, though he thinks it's impossible to express this to her in words she'll believe, and so Eva's emotional stuntedness becomes immediately evident. ![]() I say this as we already get a feel for the dysfunction of Eva through her relationship with Viktor. From the beginning we're introduced to Eva from the perspective of Viktor, her.something. In Autumn Sonata, we face this topic head on through the relationship of Eva and her concert pianist mother Charlotte Andergast. Parental neglect and it's emotional issues is a topic that never ceases to be relevant.
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