Autumn Sonata
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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Autumn Sonata (Template:Lang-sv) 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.
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Plot
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.
Cast
- 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
Production
The film was shot in Norway because of Ingmar Bergman's tax problems with the government of Sweden.
Soundtrack
The piano piece played in the film is Chopin's Prelude No. 2 in A minor.
Awards and nominations
The film won the 1979 Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film. It was also nominated for Academy Awards for Best Actress in a Leading Role (Ingrid Bergman) and Best Original Screenplay.
Remakes
- Rituparno Ghosh's Unishe April (1994), an Indian film in Bengali, is loosely based on this movie.
- Tehzeeb (2003) is a Hindi film based on Autumn Sonata.
- The film was mentioned in Pedro Almodóvar's film "High Heels" that also deals with a troubled mother-daughter relationship.
- In September 2008 a theatrical version entitled Sonata de otoño was performed in Madrid.
- In April 2011, a new theatrical adaptation of Autumn Sonata, based on Bergman's original screeplay, will have its World Premiere at Yale Repertory Theatre in New Haven, CT, directed by Robert Woodruff.
