Autumn Sonata (1978)

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After having neglected her children for many years, world famous pianist Charlotte visits her daughter Eva in her home.

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Directed By: Ingmar Bergman

Written By: Ingmar Bergman

Starring: Gunnar Björnstrand, Liv Ullmann, Erland Josephson, Ingrid Bergman, Lena Nyman, Marianne Aminoff, Halvar Björk, Arne Bang-Hansen

Genres: Drama, Music

AKA: Höstsonaten

Country: France, Sweden, West Germany

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Autumn Sonata belongs to 66 collections

1. Criterion Collection (collaborative: moderated by caffe - 166 stars)

2. Fuck my life (collaborative: moderated by Dorkovsky - 38 stars)

3. Passed the Bechdel Test (collaborative: moderated by geohawk - 30 stars)

4. Best of criticker: Top 250 (collaborative: moderated by avgcrtckr - 26 stars)

5. Female protagonist (collaborative: moderated by djross - 25 stars)

6. Academy Award - Oscar - ALL Best Picture, Directing, Acting & Screenplay Nominees (collaborative - 22 stars)

7. Criterion Collection (Blu-ray) (collaborative: moderated by epiphany - 20 stars)

8. Best of criticker: Drama (collaborative: moderated by avgcrtckr - 18 stars)

9. Fourth wall (collaborative: moderated by djross - 16 stars)

10. Doubling The Canon (collaborative - 13 stars)

11. TimeOut's 1000 films to change your life (collaborative: moderated by ppinocchio - 11 stars)

12. Criticker top 250 (collaborative: moderated by avgcrtckr - 11 stars)

13. Cinema Discusso Yearly Consensus (2008) (public: PeaceAnarchy - 10 stars)

14. David Thomson's 1000 Films (collaborative: moderated by MMAlpha - 7 stars)

15. Scandinavian (public: cankutozturk - 7 stars)

16. List: Taschen (collaborative: moderated by KasperL - 6 stars)

17. Ekşi Sinema "Alternatif" Top 250 (collaborative - 6 stars)

18. Best by different standards (public: sesito71 - 6 stars)

19. Sisters (collaborative: moderated by djross - 5 stars)

20. Doubling The Canon (2010 update) (collaborative: moderated by MMAlpha - 5 stars)

21. Very Small Cast (collaborative: moderated by shalev - 5 stars)

22. Capsules, guest reviews, list candidates... (366weirdmovies) (collaborative: moderated by sesito71 - 5 stars)

23. Average Percentile >70 (collaborative: moderated by peyrin - 4 stars)

24. Unconventional Cinema (public: holsgr - 3 stars)

25. Criterion Collection (Blu-ray and 4K) (public: PepeCamello - 3 stars)

26. Djross film as art (public: djross - 3 stars)

27. Sven Nykvist, Cinematographer (collaborative: moderated by CCLZA - 2 stars)

28. Female Shower Scene (collaborative - 2 stars)

29. IMDb Top of The 1970's (collaborative: moderated by PeaceAnarchy - 2 stars)

30. Swedish Cinema (collaborative: moderated by Svengali - 2 stars)

31. The Criterion Channel (public: caffe - 2 stars)

32. Movies not submitted in their original titles (read description before adding) (collaborative - 1 star)

33. "Seasons: Autumn" (collaborative - 1 star)

34. 30. istanbul film festival (collaborative: moderated by parcaliham - 1 star)

35. Doubling the Canon (2011 update) (collaborative: moderated by MMAlpha - 1 star)

36. Doubling the Canon (2012 update) (collaborative: moderated by Cinephile - 1 star)

37. gork movies to get (public: gork - 1 star)

38. Top Film of Each Year (public: Judge Holden - 1 star)

39. Cinetheque (public: allegreller - 1 star)

40. Göz Nuru (public: Ozancan - 1 star)

41. Ingmar Bergman (public: kendell - 1 star)

42. The Greatest Movies of All Time - Filmweb's Alternative Top 500 (public: Hadleyreis - 1 star)

43. Autumn (public: saudade - 1 star)

44. Roger Ebert's Top 10 Films of 1978 (collaborative)

45. National Society of Film Critics: Best Actress (collaborative: moderated by CCLZA)

46. New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress (collaborative: moderated by CCLZA)

47. Versátil Home Video (collaborative: moderated by allegreller)

48. Classical Music (collaborative: moderated by Hadleyreis)

49. Foreign language films on Divicast (collaborative: moderated by Dunstan-xxx)

50. Best of the Year (public: MartinTeller)

51. Djross 1978 top ten (public: djross)

52. 1978: Year in Review (public: polanski28)

53. BF-70 (public: caffe)

54. Movies to See: Ingmar Bergman (public: Lady Moe)

55. Foreign - Swedish (public: NhanLa)

56. Movies I Own (public: Farzan)

57. KENDELL'S MASSIVE LIST (public: kendell)

58. Djross Swedish feature films I've seen (public: djross)

59. Filmstruck Wishlist (public: kendell)

60. Films Dunstan Owns (public: Dunstan-xxx)

61. seen (public: gamzeknc)

62. 2019 (public: gamzeknc)

63. Blu-Rays (public: katatonic)

64. C-1970 (public: cantahta)

65. Knoroz watchlist (public: knoroz)

66. Djross top 300 movies (2023 edition) (public: djross)

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All Ratings | With Reviews

Order by:

TCI | Percentile | Date Rated | # Stars (Reviews)

Stars	User	Rating
7	Moribunny	95 _98th
An immensely harrowing chamber drama. Not only does the awesome text reach emotional extremes, but these extremes are successfully delivered through absolutely masterful acting from the entire cast, which Bergman incessantly shoots in closeup. This choice of cinematography grabs you by the throat, pulls you very near and never lets you distance yourself. It constantly, forcefully confronts you with expressions, feelings and reactions. Watching this is one strong experience.
4	Suture Self	10 _96th
If you want to watch a movie about a strained relationship between a parent and child, Autumn Sonata is without peer.
4	Jeb	98 _93rd
Ingmar Bergman = god
3	Alex Watkins	3 _38th
It's a good movie on the whole...but I didn't feel it entirely. For one, Eva seems a bit bratty and I found her more than a little unsympathetic as a character, and there are some pacing issues as well, with the characters expending all of their energy in the last 20 minutes of the film. What makes it solid are the (as usual) excellent photography from Nykvist and excellent direction from Bergman, as well as its thematic ambiguity.
3	Nathan S	4 _74th
On familial alienation, maternal resentment, and airing grievance. With the intensity of Ingmar Bergman's text and the relentless proximity of Sven Nykvist's camera, Ingrid Bergman delivers perhaps the greatest and most heartfelt performance of her already impressive career. It's a testament to Liv Ullmann's talent as well, that she is able to match the iconic actress toe-to-toe.
3	Farzan	93 _94th
Autumn Sonata is such an amazing picture. It really grasps you and holds on to you, and forces you to listen to every detail of characterization. The close up's on the faces really give off the vibe that certain character is feeling at the moment, in the most extraordinary way. When I heard that Autumn Sonata had Ingrid Bergman in it as well, I forced myself to get it, and her performance was nothing short of masterful, along with the rest of the cast in this film. Extremely thought provoking.
3	JooJoo	6 _95th
Pure intensity. Pure Bergman.
3	KasperL	80 _86th
The script, though occasionally close to being thematically too spelled out, is remarkable. But I thought it unneccesary to add the tragedy of the sick little sister; it's a bit much and, frankly, very uncomfortable viewing. Liv Ullmann and Ingrid Bergman are, on the other hand, a pleasure to watch. They both give powerhouse performances, and the latter's role as the former's mother is particularly memorable.
3	Judge Holden	9 _98th
Bergman continues to impress. This reminded me of Cries & Whispers, both in terms of its themes of familial discord and its vibrant use of color. I think what really struck me, aside from the brilliant acting, is the script, which is strong even by Bergman's standards. The conversations between Charlotte & Eva are among the best he's ever written. I didn't care much for the fourth-wall breaking, but it works much better here than it did in The Passion of Anna, and everything else is golden.
3	P u l p	82 _91st
Is it the same for everybody? Do some people have a greater talent for living than others or do some people never live, but just exist?
2	MartinTeller	93 _97th
Bergman always does confrontations between women so well. Here it is in its most direct and raw form, a furious outpouring of deep-seated resentment and bitterness, exquisitely realized by the actresses. Helena is a particularly brilliant counterpoint, struggling physically to express herself as the others struggle with it emotionally. The film is done with a minimum of fuss, a little fourth wall-breaking at the start but otherwise very straightforward in the usual Bergman chamber drama style.
2	Magb	90 _85th
Ingmar taps into some incredibly true things about the relationship between parent and child. It should go without saying that the acting is excellent. Ingrid Bergman inhabits her role to an uncanny degree. Liv Ullman is very good, too. And Sven Nykvist, he's also great. And Ingmar Bergman is great.
2	CCLZA	90 _95th
You can't go wrong with the master Bergman Ingrid Bergman, Liv Ullmann and Sven Nykvist all in one film. And this one is proof.
2	Boyd Crowder	89 _91st
harrowing. but masterful, in every single aspect.
2	jmarkthespot	60 _54th
Europeans are weird.
2	aaronwhat	90 _79th
It took me ten minutes to cry. Ten minutes, that's it. Ullmann and Bergman were both absolutely perfect and their incredible chemistry is undeniable. I wasn't impressed with the direction Bergman went with the final ten minutes or so but as a whole it is such a beautiful film. Ulmann's performance will haunt me for a long time to come I can tell.
2	Calabria	82 _64th
I'm watching this old woman (Eva's mother, Charlotte) and I'm thinking "Damn, she must've been a knockout back in the day" when there's this side profile shot of her and it hits me: "That nose. INGRID BERGMAN." So what we have is Ingrid Bergman vs. Liv Ullman in a no holds barred act-off with Ingmar Bergman as the referee. gtfo. The early piano scene where they both unwittingly show all their cards is eerie-good.
2	lisa-	7 _92nd
you know that watching a bergman will be an intense experience, but this was even more harrowing than normal, with an utterly phenomenal script delivered with extreme power by the mother and daughter. not sure about the narrated bookends, but that's the only thing that really sticks out to me.
1	djross	82 _93rd
When Bergman writes about the genesis of this tale of an artist's parental guilt and a child's resentment, he repeatedly says that it is mysterious and unconnected with anything he was thinking about, even though it occurred to him at the very moment his tax troubles were resolved, which had led him to leave his country for long periods (just like Charlotte). Seems like he protests his ignorance too much: perhaps his own guilty feelings led him to stack the deck against the mother a little here.
1	JakeAesthete	27 _24th
I should probably just accept that i don't really care for Bergman that much and move on, because all of his movies are exactly the same and they never get better...
1	edkrak	60 _43rd
I find it rather unsubtle. Way too much verbal emotional drama. Almost silent gazes during piano scene were way more impressive than all those "you did that" quarrels. Too much substance over style.
1	Timon88	14 _4th
Easily the worst Bergman movie I've seen. "Harrowing" is certainly a good word to describe the experience, but in no sense is that a good thing... watching this is like being raped, emotionally.
1	Obdurate	100 _99th
Oh look a Bergman masterpiece, screw it, it gets a 100. Bergman and Ullmann were powerhouses and their exchanges were mesmerizing, but everyone did well. For example: the look on Ullmann's face in the final exchange with her mom is genuinely haunting.This was emotional and beautiful, with a lot of emphasis on filming the faces of the actors/actresses, but also had some awesome imagery outside of the people. The colours, the shot of Liv walking to her house... brilliant.
1	filmdot	92 _86th
Gorgeous dialogues. Loved it.
1	Okkervil	99 _99th
A gut-wrenching, emotionally draining, jaw-droppingly brilliant masterpiece. Just beautifully performed, with complex, emotionally ravaged relationships, explored masterfully by Bergman and the sensational cast. "Autumn Sonata" absolutely grabs you from the very first second, and doesn't let you go until its very last. Liv Ullman is all kinds of amazing, with the central exchanges between her and Ingrid Bergman truly incredible. My favourite Ingmar Bergman experience to date. Stunning.
1	Judo Koala	84 _87th
The eruption of unforetold feelings between an estranged mother and daughter is brought to the fore under the hysterical presence of (Ingrid) Bergman & Ullman, captured in Nykvist's excruciatingly personal framing that nearly threatens their bursting forth through the screen, and commanded with the utmost of confidence by Bergman in his final year as a filmmaker. Yikes.
1	burakc	95 _95th
Probably this film includes the most powerful dialogues in the film history.
1	Rufam	85 _93rd
"Höstsonaten" is the quiet triumph of two Bergmans: Ingrid, whose sublime performance is a masterpiece of delivery and precision and Ingmar, whose structurally unadorned but emotionally complex script contrasts his direction that is characterized by sharp simplicity. The result is a tense, involving, relentlessly bleak and highly emotional masterwork that offers plenty of memorable dialogue, compelling characters and masterful acting to more than compensate for its being so utterly depressing.
1	damil	80 _90th
The emotion was very palpable. The dialogue was brilliant and was fantastically delivered by the actresses. I thought it was a really great film.
1	Shellish	87 _93rd
Devastating.
1	dardan	80 _86th
The downside of seeking to continuously maximize resolution is that the most minor flaws in acting or characterization, flaws which wouldn't have been and aren't noticed in other films employing lower standards, introduce a disequilibration enough to break dynamic, snapping one out of immersion. In the first half Ullmann is forced into a character she doesn't possess the nature required to act and, when finally relieved of that in the dragged, soapy middle, the progression is implausibly abrupt.
1	rebeccalex	85 _85th
Powerful, emotional, and real.
1	k177105	80 _58th
Not a masterpiece, but showing as always Bergman's talent in exposing the complexity and ordeal of psychological drama and emotional tensions between people. And noticeable that in Bergman's dramas of this kind, the ending never easily boils down to a "happy" resolution. People with an unhappy family life might feel quite some resonance with this film: so much pain and desperation in the impossibility of connection and mutual warmth, and such a late parrhesia.

Average Percentile 76.64% from 1553 Ratings