Love this film & agree with you completely. Beyond the wonderful dialogue, just watching Ingrid Bergman's face/reactions is a master class in acting IMHO.
I have seen this amazing,yet often agonizing movie from the great Ingmar Bergman. It's wonderfully so profound on so many levels, it would practically be like writing a novel to really explain. But one thing that jumps out is Ingrid's performance and the fact that this was the first time in over 40 something years she had acted in her native tongue, Swedish. She's absolutely dynamic as was Liv Ullman.
In July, I will be going to Sweden for the first time, I can't tell you how excited I am and its all because of Bergman! In the build up to my trip, Ive learnt some Swedish and so on, but the greatest education has been Bergman's films. Last year December, I had only ever heard of him, vaguely when I watched some Woody Allen interview... Since then I have diligently made my way through Bergman's films, coming now to the second half of his canon.. I fell in love with his works in every way and I would watch about two films per week. After this intensive course I took myself on, I started looking at his work more critically, noticing certain patterns.. Autumn Sonata.. there is so much Iove about the film, Ullman once again blows my mind with her superb acting chops, and now to see Ingrid Bergman, that was a total treat and there are many aspects that he gets right, just taking me into his world and keeping me there.. But then I am drawn back as I think to myself "Why does Bergman take every opportunity to dive deep into philosophical meditations? Why does he do this with these long soliloquies and right at the beginning of the story? Example when Ingrid Bergman's character goes up to Liv Ullman's belated sons room and asks a simple question to Liv, Liv's character suddenly starts musing on the meaning of life... I mean I love that I am always learning about life, but sometimes Bergman does these philosophy/ psychology stunts at the expense of a good plot. Often the lengthy soliloquies come put of nowhere and I'm like, huh, how did we get here so quickly? Well, with that said, I needed to watch your video to see that it is indeed a bloody brilliant film, and why!
Saw this on TCM last year. Must have been in May. Incredibly stirring, rich and complex, one of the great underrated films. Such a fascinating culture as well.
Bergman is my favorite director, and Autumn Sonata is a movie that goes deep in everyone's soul. If I have to interpret it, it is rather a movie about the mother-daughter relationship and soon or late everyone arrives to such a scene in real life. When we are mature, there is always a sort of a "court/judgement of daughters and sons".
Autumn Sonata, Fanny and Alexander, Scenes from a Marriage (TV series) and Smiles of a Summer Night (1955) are the only Bergman productions that were tolerated by a Swedish audience. I think Cries and Whispers (1972) is the last great Bergman film but the further I reach into middle age I can appreciate the normal drama Bergman presents in Autumn Sonata and F&A. Sometimes it's good to relax to some good acting and less insanity. I'm delighted of your Bergman reviews both as a Swede and a film buff.
by "tolerated", do you mean box-office success? My guess is by some point -- the late 1950s? -- Bergman didn't concern himself much with what the Swedes wanted. He sort of makes this obvious in "The Magician," if you think of him as the magician character.
There is a recurring question in this film about the process of learning how to live. Is growth more than the accumulation of memories and experiences? What do we do with these experiences? Is the act of living ones life a talent/ability that you either have or don't have?
Love this movie, a punch to your senses and feelings. Anyway, I think Serpent’s Egg is unfairly treated. Had it been directed by somebody else, it would have been applauded. The fact that Bergman made it seems to be unfavourable. It represents very well the hopelessness of the times of the Weimar Republic and the progress of Nazism, and the story is pretty good and horrifying. The footage and explanations of the medical experiments at the end of the movie still give me shivers. Great review regardless.
Excellent review of a spare movie that deftly tackles a poignant familial situation. I thought it less about woman per se, as every child and parent can see something of themselves in this film.
I saw this film this morning.. For the first time. Another Bergman Masterpiece. Just for cinematic information, there's a Homage to this film in Almodovar's" High Heels". Stay Safe and Greetings from Spain
To me, first and foremost, this movie is about intergenerational trauma and how it is passed on from a mother, who has not resolved her own childhood trauma, to her daughter. It is also about families and how family secrets, family myths and family lies are sustained over time in a desperate attempt of families not falling apart. People, to this day, prefer to live in a lie and pretend they had a great childhood, but then they go on in life depressed, anxious and angry, feeling unworthy, unloved and insecure. Well, because acknowledging that your mother never truly loved you is devastating (to the point that Eva wants to di3). And even if Eva despises her mother for how she treated her as a child, in the end, she takes it all back. Because it is too fkn hard to live in such a world.
I watched it at 19 and it made a poor impression, especially in comparison to the Burgess novel. I have been re-evaluating Kubrick this past year, and the only ones I have not rewatched are Clockwork and Full Metal Jacket. If I've written nothing about it on letterboxd, it's probably a vague impression of a movie I haven't seen in quite awhile, or before I studied anything seriously.
I would like to hear you try to find some redeeming qualities in Ingmar Bergman’s “The Touch.” I watched it on The Criterion Channel recently and the film seems pretty ugly and squalid. It’s got to be Bergman’s worst film.
Yes, it's far from his best. I kind of liked it, mainly because I found a couple of key frames by which to watch it: there's a Garden-of-Eden scenario attached to a classic foreigner-intruding-on-native-soil dynamic. I believe it's the first movie by Bergman with English in it, plus an American actor (Gould). He plays the serpent/seducer/American/foreigner. Not Bergman's best, but I thought it was better than the lowly scores it's been given on imbd and letterboxd.
This is a good movie for so many reasons, however, I felt the Liv Ullmann performance was just *a bit* over the top in the confrontation. It almost felt like Bergman doing Bergman.
could be. It's all pent-up anger after years and years of neglect on the part of the mother. I can see that manifesting itself in a lot of ways, perhaps including her outburst (though I forget exactly how the scene you mention is pulled off).
![Liv Ullmann on Autumn Sonata | Full Q&A [HD] | Coolidge Corner Theatre](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/4zPZGP3ab-c/mqdefault.jpg)
Ingmar Bergman, Ingrid Bergman and Liv Ullmann what to say another masterpice of all 3
indeed.
Love this film & agree with you completely. Beyond the wonderful dialogue, just watching Ingrid Bergman's face/reactions is a master class in acting IMHO.
indeed, thank you.
This film was really emotionally intense. It felt genuine, like you were eavesdropping into the lives of the characters
I really love this movie, and this movie has the best dialog i have ever seen
.
thank you.
I have seen this amazing,yet often agonizing movie from the great Ingmar Bergman. It's wonderfully so profound on so many levels, it would practically be like writing a novel to really explain. But one thing that jumps out is Ingrid's performance and the fact that this was the first time in over 40 something years she had acted in her native tongue, Swedish. She's absolutely dynamic as was Liv Ullman.
In July, I will be going to Sweden for the first time, I can't tell you how excited I am and its all because of Bergman! In the build up to my trip, Ive learnt some Swedish and so on, but the greatest education has been Bergman's films. Last year December, I had only ever heard of him, vaguely when I watched some Woody Allen interview... Since then I have diligently made my way through Bergman's films, coming now to the second half of his canon.. I fell in love with his works in every way and I would watch about two films per week. After this intensive course I took myself on, I started looking at his work more critically, noticing certain patterns.. Autumn Sonata.. there is so much Iove about the film, Ullman once again blows my mind with her superb acting chops, and now to see Ingrid Bergman, that was a total treat and there are many aspects that he gets right, just taking me into his world and keeping me there.. But then I am drawn back as I think to myself "Why does Bergman take every opportunity to dive deep into philosophical meditations? Why does he do this with these long soliloquies and right at the beginning of the story? Example when Ingrid Bergman's character goes up to Liv Ullman's belated sons room and asks a simple question to Liv, Liv's character suddenly starts musing on the meaning of life... I mean I love that I am always learning about life, but sometimes Bergman does these philosophy/ psychology stunts at the expense of a good plot. Often the lengthy soliloquies come put of nowhere and I'm like, huh, how did we get here so quickly? Well, with that said, I needed to watch your video to see that it is indeed a bloody brilliant film, and why!
excellent. thank you for this comment. I hope you have a great time!
What a fascinating description of Bergman and his work! Very touching words and how you found out about him...
Saw this on TCM last year. Must have been in May. Incredibly stirring, rich and complex, one of the great underrated films. Such a fascinating culture as well.
thank you.
Bergman is my favorite director, and Autumn Sonata is a movie that goes deep in everyone's soul. If I have to interpret it, it is rather a movie about the mother-daughter relationship and soon or late everyone arrives to such a scene in real life. When we are mature, there is always a sort of a "court/judgement of daughters and sons".
The piece from Chopin is not his sonata, but from Preludes op.28, namely no. 2. If anybody looks for the exact piece.
I love Bergman. all of his films are exquisite… wrenching at the heart!!
Autumn Sonata, Fanny and Alexander, Scenes from a Marriage (TV series) and Smiles of a Summer Night (1955) are the only Bergman productions that were tolerated by a Swedish audience.
I think Cries and Whispers (1972) is the last great Bergman film but the further I reach into middle age I can appreciate the normal drama Bergman presents in Autumn Sonata and F&A. Sometimes it's good to relax to some good acting and less insanity.
I'm delighted of your Bergman reviews both as a Swede and a film buff.
by "tolerated", do you mean box-office success? My guess is by some point -- the late 1950s? -- Bergman didn't concern himself much with what the Swedes wanted. He sort of makes this obvious in "The Magician," if you think of him as the magician character.
@@LearningaboutMovies As I recall it he saw the movie version of Fanny and Alexander as a gift to the Swedish audience for their patience with him.
Man ,Fanny and alexander and face to face are Great movies
There is a recurring question in this film about the process of learning how to live. Is growth more than the accumulation of memories and experiences? What do we do with these experiences? Is the act of living ones life a talent/ability that you either have or don't have?
This one was particularly heavy. Amazing.
I haven't seen this in twenty years or better, it's time for a revisit.
Actually before the serpents egg he made “face to face” which I highly recommend
Love this movie, a punch to your senses and feelings. Anyway, I think Serpent’s Egg is unfairly treated. Had it been directed by somebody else, it would have been applauded. The fact that Bergman made it seems to be unfavourable. It represents very well the hopelessness of the times of the Weimar Republic and the progress of Nazism, and the story is pretty good and horrifying. The footage and explanations of the medical experiments at the end of the movie still give me shivers. Great review regardless.
Excellent review of a spare movie that deftly tackles a poignant familial situation. I thought it less about woman per se, as every child and parent can see something of themselves in this film.
I saw this film this morning.. For the first time. Another Bergman Masterpiece. Just for cinematic information, there's a Homage to this film in Almodovar's" High Heels". Stay Safe and Greetings from Spain
thank you!
@@LearningaboutMovies.. You welcome 🚩
The piano scene is explicitly discussed in All About My Mother. Also, it's the second prelude (op. 23) that's played, not a sonata.
Great as always. Will you do the review of Face to Face (1976) by Bergman?
great suggestion. I haven't seen it because it was not in the Criterion collection set, yet I will seek it out.
One of the best films ever made
To me, first and foremost, this movie is about intergenerational trauma and how it is passed on from a mother, who has not resolved her own childhood trauma, to her daughter. It is also about families and how family secrets, family myths and family lies are sustained over time in a desperate attempt of families not falling apart. People, to this day, prefer to live in a lie and pretend they had a great childhood, but then they go on in life depressed, anxious and angry, feeling unworthy, unloved and insecure. Well, because acknowledging that your mother never truly loved you is devastating (to the point that Eva wants to di3). And even if Eva despises her mother for how she treated her as a child, in the end, she takes it all back. Because it is too fkn hard to live in such a world.
Just saw the movie and loved it. I had to watch it for a role I have coming up. Thank you for shedding more light on the piece! Subscribed.
thank you. Best of success to you in your role!
Excellent review
thank you.
can the mother be considered as an antagonist in the movie btw?
do you think that he used disable daughter as a metaphor for main character daughter? especially in the scene which mother asking for love?
actually, I don't know. what does everyone else think?
thanks for the video
you're welcome.
Great video
thank you.
How come you have a clockwork orange as 1 star on Letterboxd?
I watched it at 19 and it made a poor impression, especially in comparison to the Burgess novel. I have been re-evaluating Kubrick this past year, and the only ones I have not rewatched are Clockwork and Full Metal Jacket. If I've written nothing about it on letterboxd, it's probably a vague impression of a movie I haven't seen in quite awhile, or before I studied anything seriously.
@@LearningaboutMovies makes sense, thank you for your reply.
I would like to hear you try to find some redeeming qualities in Ingmar Bergman’s “The Touch.” I watched it on The Criterion Channel recently and the film seems pretty ugly and squalid. It’s got to be Bergman’s worst film.
Yes, it's far from his best. I kind of liked it, mainly because I found a couple of key frames by which to watch it: there's a Garden-of-Eden scenario attached to a classic foreigner-intruding-on-native-soil dynamic. I believe it's the first movie by Bergman with English in it, plus an American actor (Gould). He plays the serpent/seducer/American/foreigner.
Not Bergman's best, but I thought it was better than the lowly scores it's been given on imbd and letterboxd.
This is a good movie for so many reasons, however, I felt the Liv Ullmann performance was just *a bit* over the top in the confrontation. It almost felt like Bergman doing Bergman.
could be. It's all pent-up anger after years and years of neglect on the part of the mother. I can see that manifesting itself in a lot of ways, perhaps including her outburst (though I forget exactly how the scene you mention is pulled off).