This is a beautiful and devastating film that I admire, love and am connected to. This was the first Liv Ullmann's film I've seen and the first Bergman's color film. It is considered to be Ingrid Bergman's film and she is phenomenal as a talented and world renowned pianist who had never been a good mother to her two daughters. It is much easier to make the whole world happy then your own child. One can be a brilliant artist and read the minds of the other great minds easily but the hearts and souls of one's own blood and flesh would be the unsolved mystery. I think the film was very personal for both Bergmans in their only work together. It is amazing how bravely they explore the themes and events that could've (and did) occurred in their own lives. For me, though, the film belongs to Liv Ullmann, the greatest actress I've seen, the best Ingmar Bergman's actress.

I was riveted to Liv's face; I'd never seen the face like hers. She played a plain daughter to the brilliant mother and she was supposed to look and feel awkward and gawky comparing to her mother but her face was like a magnet, her eyes - like two deep blue lakes. If ever the saying, the eyes are the soul's mirror, is true, it is about Liv's eyes. There are kindness, tenderness, strength, and something even more attractive than beauty itself in them - the goodness of her soul. Dostoyevsky said once that human face has to mean something - I always think of his words when I see performance of my favorite actress ever -Liv Ullmann.

PLEASE NOTE: This Ingmar Bergman movie starred Ingrid Bergman--it's easy to confuse the two when reading a review!

Unlike some Ingmar Bergman movies that focus on despair and hopelessness, this movie focuses on pain but does not necessarily leave the viewer with the same level of hopelessness they might feel after watching Persona or Through a Glass Darkly. These two films, I fear, are SO dark and depressing I could see them pushing a severely depressed person to suicide! Instead, this is a movie about unresolved anger and depression--not death and oblivion. For an Ingmar Bergman film, this is awfully upbeat! Ingrid Bergman plays an older woman who has spent most of her life traveling as a concert pianist--leaving her 2 daughters and husband at home most all the time. As a result, the depth of the relationship between her and her family is strained to say the least, but it apparently NEVER was talked about--just swept under the rug. Liv Ullmann is her older daughter who invites her to stay with her and her husband after Ingrid's longtime companion dies (what happened to Dad isn't too clear--it seems implied he had died many years earlier).

The first monkey wrench is thrown into the story when Liv tells her mom that Liv's younger sister now lives with them and not the institution where she had been placed many years before. It seems this woman is severely physically disabled and she has great difficulty taking or caring for herself. Ingrid's reaction is strange, to say the least. She is ANGRY she was not told that her younger daughter was there--it seems her way of coping with this disabled child was by having her "put away" years earlier. Reluctantly, she pretends to like seeing this woman when they meet again. She puts on a good act, but it's disturbing to see this indifference towards her own daughter.

Later that night, Ingrid wakes and goes to the kitchen. Liv is there as well and so they begin talking, while they have a bit of wine. As Liv drinks more and more wine, she begins to reveal more and more of her hidden hurt and rage towards her mother. Ingrid tries to explain herself, make excuses and even apologize throughout, but Liv is on a roll! YEARS of a physically and emotionally absent mother all come pouring out in their full intensity! It's ugly but sounds so real. Ullmann's performance during these scenes is EXTRAORDINARY--brilliant, real and heartbreaking. Although Ingrid Bergman got a lot of attention (she WAS the ultra-famous actress starring in her last movie, apart from a made for television movie),the show was easily stolen by Ullmann, though Bergman was excellent as well.

The next day, Ingrid cuts her extended stay short and leaves. Later, Ullmann writes a letter to her mother and retracts most of what she said! This isn't very satisfying, but when I was a therapist, I saw this type reaction many times.

This movie would be excellent for anyone but particularly for adult children dealing with abandonment issues. Ingmar Bergman does a masterful, though painful job.

PS--it is ODD that Ingrid Bergman would play this role, as in real life she, too, abandoned her kids to carry on the famous affair that pretty much ruined her career in the 1950s. Perhaps this was therapeutic and I admire her candor for doing such a role.

NOTE: Since writing this review, I have seen at least a dozen more movies by Ingmar Bergman. I still consider this to one of his greatest creations. A highly under-rated film.

Autumn Sonata was a movie that did move me a lot, but I'd hesitate in calling it one of Ingmar Bergman's best. I did find The Seventh Seal, Wild Strawberries, Fanny and Alexander, Cries and Whispers and Persona even better. This said, apart from an occasional over-load of speeches that come across as too theatrical, Autumn Sonata is still a remarkably good film. As ever with Bergman, it is wonderfully photographed(by none other than Sven Nykvist) and directed, and it has some lovely scenery too. The music is beautiful and haunting, I have to say as a life-long fan of classical music that the use of the Chopin prelude is one of the finest uses of classical music in film to me. The script is mostly thought-provoking and the story, which is essentially a study of guarded emotion, resentment and regret, has the Bergman darkness and harrowing moments like with the sister with the horrible degenerative disease and the drowned toddler. Charlotte's selfishness is also very powerfully conveyed as is Eva's sense of resentment, while the scene that moved me most was the two at the piano. Both leading ladies are outstanding, Ingrid Bergman's elegant but somewhat faded beauty is ideal for the selfishness of her character, but I was even more impressed by Liv Ullman, who has such intensity in her eyes and facial expressions. All in all, powerful and moving, and while it is not one of my favourites from Bergman it is still highly recommendable. 9/10 Bethany Cox