Cinema
Autumn Sonata
Höstsonaten
Ingmar Bergman · 1978
Synopsis
Charlotte, a famous concert pianist, comes to spend a few days with her daughter Eva, whom she has not seen for seven years and who lives with her husband in a rectory. Eva has taken in her sister Helena, who is ill and paralysed, and whom their mother had placed in an institution. The first evening is pleasant; once night has fallen, the daughter at last tells her mother everything she holds against her, a childhood sacrificed to career and absence.
Context
Shot in the studios near Oslo, outside Sweden, by a filmmaker who had left his country after a tax accusation since dropped, the film is a West German production in the Swedish language. It rests on two main characters and a single evening. Ingrid Bergman, who bore the same name as the director without being related to him, played her last film role in it; the shoot was tense, the two having opposite ways of working. The cinematography is by Sven Nykvist and the music by Chopin.
Who it is for
Ninety-three minutes, ninety-nine according to some sources, in Swedish. A two-voice chamber piece, with no way out.
Prizes and reception
Two Oscar nominations, for the screenplay and for Ingrid Bergman, a César in France and a Golden Globe in the United States.