Ingmar Bergman is one of the most serious filmmakers ever. He never made films only for entertainment or good times. His films move us and take our thoughts on roller coaster rides. They confront the viewers with difficult scenarios and numerous questions. His films are filled with multiple sensitive and painful yet important issues like death, separation, torment, sexual abuse, suffering, loneliness, and negligence. However, he was always in search of love and connections in this world through his films. As an artist, he never escaped from enormous human suffering. After Summer Interlude, he started digging deeper into women’s psyche. In Autumn Sonata, he portrays the suffering and pain of the two neglected daughters of a world-renowned pianist. When the elder daughter confronts her mother with multiple difficult and sensitive questions, she does not have an answer and breaks down in tears. In Autumn Sonata, Bergman shows that life is greater than art. Art should be inspired by life rather than dictating it. In the film, the lady pianist might have won in her art but has lost in life. Without life, art seems to be futile and feeble.
Eva (Liv Ullmann) and Viktor (Halvar Bjork), a minister, had not known each other for a long time. They met at a Bishops’ conference in Trondheim where Eva was present as a journalist. Victor instantly fell in love and proposed to her to marry him on the way while returning from the conference. She did not answer instantly but when they entered the room in the parsonage, she said, “Oh, how nice! I feel at home here.” Since then they have been living a quiet happy life at the parsonage. Eva told Viktor about her personal life. After finishing school and college education, She got engaged to a doctor, lived with him for several years, and wrote two small books. Then, she suffered from tuberculosis and broke off the engagement. Then, she moved from Oslo to a small town in the south of Norway where she began to work as a journalist. She wrote in one of her books, “One must learn how to live. My biggest obstacle is I don’t know who I am.” Viktor confirms that he loves her wholeheartedly. However, he does not know how to express it in words. Eva invites her mother Charlotte (Ingrid Bergman), a world-renowned pianist, to stay with her for a few days after the demise of her live-in partner of thirteen years Leonardo. Charlotte approves Eva’s request and arrives at the parsonage. Eva has not seen her mother for seven long years. They unite closely, however, Charlotte gets utterly surprised and embarrassed to see her disabled and paralyzed daughter Helena (Lena Nyman) there. Eva has been taking care of her for the last two years.
Charlotte has the worst nightmare during her sleep. She sees that someone is trying to choke her to death. She wakes up and goes to the living room. Hearing her screaming, Eva goes there too and an emotional battle breaks out between the two regarding their past relationship. Eva complains to Charlotte that the family and the daughters were never her priority. She was more focused on her career and even cheated on her husband Josef with Martin. When Eva and her father Josef would patiently wait for Charlotte’s return, she would write long and elaborative letters describing her lavish foreign tours. She was nothing more than a doll to her mother to play with whenever she liked. Charlotte was so self-centered that she wouldn’t allow her daughter to enter the room during her piano practice. Whenever Eva was sick or a little naughty, Charlotte would hand over her to the nursemaid. Eva says that Charlotte might have succeeded in her career but failed as a mother.
Motherly love was absent in Eva’s childhood days. It was so cold that Eva was even worried that Charlotte did not like her appearance. She was ugly, lean, and angular with big cow’s eyes, wide lips, and no eyebrows. Her arms were too thin and her feet too big. It was so pathetic and heartbreaking that a daughter was concerned about her looks in front of none other than her mother. Charlotte once said that Eva should have been a boy. Only a mother without motherly affection and love can comment like this. She never really felt what she communicated to her daughter and husband. Everything was hollow and a lie. When she hated her husband Josef, she would call him “my dearest” and when she was tired of Eva, she would say “darling little girl.” Eva had a relationship with Stefan and got pregnant but had to go for an abortion as Charlotte guided her that way. Eva and Stefan did not want to abort the baby. Charlotte compelled Eva to wear teeth braces, dress as she liked, and read long books. She forgot how to live independently and had nightmares as if the freedom of choosing preferences was stripped off her life. She is so frustrated that she refers to the holy relationship between mother and daughter as a “terrible combination”. Viewers get tormented by how a mother can ruin her daughter’s life. Bergman’s Autumn Sonata is a painful story of children devoid of parental love and affection.
Charlotte seems to be the main villain in Autumn Sonata and the only responsible person for the enormous pain and suffering of Eva and Helena. This may be true, however, Charlotte’s childhood was also filled with suffering and trauma. She was raised without parental love and affection. So, she never really felt the value of relationships, not even with her daughters. She can remember very little of her childhood and can’t recall her parents touching her or caressing her with love. She was quite ignorant of everything to do with love, tenderness, contact, intimacy, and warmth. She had the chance to express her feelings only through music. She felt multiple times that she only existed in this world without living. She can’t recall the faces of Eva, Helena, Leonardo, and her mother. What she remembers is that the deliveries hurt. She is so self-centered that she asks Paul on the train why Helena can’t die. She refers to her partner Adam as an idiot as he tried to commit suicide.
Even though Autumn Sonata looks like a stage drama, Ingmar Bergman raises multiple important issues through this film. He shows how children suffer without parental love, affection, and care. He is not against the fame and fortune of women. The only concern he raises in the film is taking care of children. They should not pay the price for their parents’ fame and fortune. It is revealed later that Leonardo raped Helena and she became disabled and paralysed after that incident. It is heartbreaking to see a daughter being raped by her mother’s partner. The fate of a child can’t be worse than this. Bergman vividly shows how the lack of connection and love can affect society. Charlotte was devoid of parental love and affection since childhood, which is repeated for her daughters. Love spreads love and negligence only spreads negligence.
Autumn Sonata is an incredibly well-written and well-acted film. Bergman’s screenplay is outstanding. The emotional conversation between Charlotte and Eva after Charlotte’s nightmare reaches the supreme level of the human psyche wherein a daughter breaks down her mother’s conscience. Viewers can’t hold their tears when Eva says that she still can feel the presence of her son Erik in her life. Bergman analyzes each character in detail as part of the screenplay.
Autumn Sonata is and will always be remembered for Liv Ullmann. As a neglected daughter and bereaved mother, her portrayal of Eva is exceptional. Viewers can feel Eva’s pain when she delivers her dialogue. Liv’s calm, composed, and restrained yet incredibly dynamic acting stands out in front of an actor like Ingrid Bergman. Autumn Sonata features one of the most iconic actresses of all time Ingrid Bergman. She requested Ingmar Bergman to cast her in his upcoming films. Ingmar Bergman did not forget the request from an evergreen matinee icon like Ingrid Bergman and cast her in Autumn Sonata. However, it was not a good experience for both of them and they fought bitterly during the filming. Ingrid contradicted Ingmar’s writing multiple times, which nobody dared to do before her. Charlotte’s character is nothing but a reflection of Ingrid Bergman herself. Despite being a world-renowned actress, she went through multiple ups and downs throughout her life. Her tumultuous personal life probably inspired Ingmar Bergman to make Autumn Sonata. Ingrid Bergman incredibly portrayed Charlotte, an utterly successful pianist but a miserably failed mother. Lena Nyman as a disabled and paralyzed daughter and sister delivers a brilliant performance. Erland Josephson as Charlotte’s helpless husband and Gunnar Bjornstrand as her agent Paul justify their characters.
Even though Autumn Sonata looks like a stage drama with a limited setup, Sven Nykvist creates his mark through magnificent cinematography. His yellowish color palette gives it an autumnal look with flowers, color, and vigor. The look of the film matches with the iconic aura of Ingrid Bergman. Nykvist’s camera mostly remains static and moves only when the characters move. The small setting of the film gives it a claustrophobic look. However, Nykvist also uses a washed-out color palette that matches early winter. His world-renowned closeups reveal the pain and trauma of the characters. When Charlotte plays Chopin’s prelude on the piano, Nykvist’s camera meticulously captures Eva’s admiration for her mother, and her insecurity and pain. When Eva plays the prelude, his camera captures Charlotte lost in the thought of the saga of her and her daughter. Nykvist’s camera vividly reveals the enormous pain and suffering of Eva, Helena, and Charlotte.
Music is an essential element of Bergman’s films. He contemplated films through music. The word ‘sonata’ in the title indicates to the viewers that the film is closely linked to music. Bergman uses the music pieces of Handel, Bach, and Chopin in Autumn Sonata. Handel’s The Sonata in F major, Opus 1 from the early Classical Period is used in the credit roll. It feels calm, composed, and restrained and matches the early sentiment of the film when Eva’s life with Viktor is shown. In the middle, Eva and Charlotte play Chopin’s Prelude No. 2 in a minor of the Romantic Period. The music contains romantic but suppressed torment. Then, viewers get to know the traumatic past life of Eva and Helena. Bergman also uses Bach’s Suite No. 4, E flat major in the film. Each piece of music used in the film swings the moods of the viewers in a certain direction. Autumn Sonata is an example of the precious use of music in films.