Autumn Sonata (Swedish: Höstsonaten) is a 1978 Swedish drama film written and directed by Ingmar Bergman. The film stars Ingrid Bergman, Liv Ullmann and Lena Nyman. It tells the story of a celebrated classical pianist who is confronted by her neglected daughter. It was Ingrid Bergman's last performance in a major theatrical feature film, and the film won a Golden Globe for Best Foreign Language Film at the 1979 Golden Globe Awards.
Plot [edit][]
The plot focuses on a prominent concert pianist, Charlotte Andergast (Ingrid Bergman), who has been neglectful and dismissive of her children, whom she has not seen in over seven years. Charlotte decides to make a visit to her eldest daughter, Eva (Liv Ullmann) at her remote house, where she lives with her husband, Viktor (Halvar Björk). Upon arrival, Charlotte discovers that her other daughter, Helena (Lena Nyman), who is mentally and physically disabled (and was placed in an institution by Charlotte) is living with and being taken care of by Eva. Wounded by the neglect and selfishness of her mother, Eva begins to spill all of the things she has ever wanted to say to Charlotte, and as the evening progresses, the tension culminates to a wave of harsh words and exposure of true feelings that change their mother–daughter relationship forever.
Production [edit][]
Due to his battle with the Swedish tax authorities at the time, Ingmar Bergman produced Autumn Sonata through his West German company, Personafilm GmbH, with main financing fromLew Grade's British ITC Film, and shot the film in an old film studio outside Oslo in Norway. Although formally a German production (with the German title, Herbstsonate, being the official original title), the dialogue is in Swedish, most of the crew and actors were Swedish, and the world premiere was in Stockholm.
Cast [edit][]
- Ingrid Bergman – Charlotte Andergast
- Liv Ullmann – Eva
- Lena Nyman – Helena
- Halvar Björk – Viktor
- Marianne Aminoff – Charlotte's private secretary
- Arne Bang-Hansen – Uncle Otto
- Gunnar Björnstrand – Paul
- Erland Josephson – Josef
- Georg Løkkeberg – Leonardo
- Mimi Pollak – Piano instructor
- Linn Ullmann – Eva as a child