Autumn Sonata is a 1978 Swedish drama film directed by Ingmar Bergman, starring Ingrid Bergman and Liv Ullmann. The film is a deeply personal exploration of a dysfunctional relationship shared by a mother and a daughter. Within a short 90 minute run time, Bergman explores the whole spectrum of human emotions ranging from neglect, pain and loss to death. He does so with extreme subtlety and charm, making a meaningful endeavour out of a completely dialogue driven film.
Charlotte is a successful pianist but on her path to glory abandons her children and husband. When she comes to visit Eva after seven years, she discovers that Lena, her disabled younger daughter has returned from the asylum and is being taken care of by Eva. What follows is a series of uncomfortable situations between the two, eventually building up to the final confrontation and a horrific revelation of an ugly and resentful past shared by the mother and the daughter.
Bergman portrays this conflicted relationship with utmost sensitivity and care. Bergman didn't believe in melodrama and it shows. Despite being a drama, there isn't an ounce of exaggeration in the film. The dialogues have a philosophical undertone and reflect the complex emotions the characters experience. Ingrid Bergman and Liv Ullmann fit in the role of mother and daughter with such ease that it makes the film almost hard to separate from reality.
In a particular scene, Eva plays the sonata on her mother's request and the camera goes on to show the mother's reaction. Here, the shot only comprises of Charlotte's profile. The camera shows the mother being moved by the performance, with watery eyes and a dazed look. Later, when she proceeds to show Eva how to play the piece correctly, the camera shows both of their faces. This positioning evidently portrays the tension and unease between the duo. The mother is lost in showing the correct way to play, while the daughter looks at her with visible contempt, devoured by feelings of shame and resentment. Hence, where the actors do a good job at portraying the characters, Bergman chooses the right angles and frames to help them do so effectively.
The film's colour scheme involves shades of autumn, mainly orange, ochre and brown. The protagonists sometimes wear bright colours to stand out in such a dull setting. Charlotte wears bright red robes for lunch, showing her grandiose and selfish personality. There is a sense of sophistication to her attire. Eva wears outfits which seem childish and odd on a grown woman like her. They portray her reluctance to move past her painful childhood, her refusal to grow out of it. Autumn is a season of withering and change before the dawn of winter. The film begins with such feelings of change but ends with coldness and pain.
Other characters, like Eva's husband and her sister, have a small but important role in showing us important elements of the story. During the confrontation between mother and daughter, Eva's husband witnesses them arguing but refuses to dive into their internal affairs. Lena's disease leaves her immobile to intervene among the two. She often wakes up in the night and screams for Eva, who then immediately rushes to her side. During the fight, she falls off the bed, crawls out of her room to scream "Mama" which remains unheard. Showing the way both the characters are completely engulfed in their own pain, oblivious to Lena. Here, Lena's disability not only disables her physically, but also emotionally deters her from freely expressing herself and from being involved in the argument with Charlotte.
The film is mostly shot in an indoor setting. In the memory sequence where Eva recalls her past to her mother, the house of Eva's past is similar to that of her present. It is huge with posh furniture and lavish bedrooms, yet it feels empty, sullen and dull. Eva's childhood feels sad and forlorn, a young girl playing on her own in a huge barren house. The only presence being that of her estranged father and sometimes his friend. Clearly depicting the feelings of abandonment she experienced as a child. These parts are shot from a distance, the way someone recollects events from the past, the character's expressions barely being seen until what remains is their actions, just like in memories.
Bergman's final theatrical masterpiece is similar to his 1973 film Scenes from Marriage. Both these films focus on dysfunctional relationships, with characters who resent each other until the final confrontation which is filled with anger, despair and hate. While Scenes from Marriage becomes a drag to finish with its endless meanderings, Autumn Sonata in its short run time delivers what it needs to, effectively. There is a lesser importance to symbolism in comparison to Bergman's other works, such as Seventh Seal and Cries and Whispers. Instead, through dialogue, we get an insight into the plot and the character's lives. This provides the film with a greater affinity to reality, where things are heard and said rather than shown.
The film portrays the fixation of a person over their difficult childhood, their inability to move past it. The cycle of pain which continues to be passed on from one generation to the other, quoting a line from the film "Is a mother's pain that of her daughter's?" We see Eva and Lena desperate for their mother's love and affection, the inability of their mother to provide for them, resulting from a difficult relationship she had with her own parents. How do we forgive the people who wronged us when we were young and innocent, how do we look them in the eye and hide the resentment that fills up inside, is it possible? Bergman doesn't give answers, he merely provides an experience.
Despite cultural differences and barriers of language, Bergman lays down something primarily innate and natural to the human condition. He lets the viewer step inside the shoes of his characters, to purge the unsaid emotions and unheard screams, making it a cathartic watch.