|
The thing
I like the most about Ingmar Bergman films is the way they
lend themselves to thought provocation about personal motivations.
Watch a Bergman film if you are in the mood to reexamine your
life and values. Don't watch a Bergman film and stop reading
now if you are captivated by the thought of Jerry Bruckheimer
making a film about Pearl Harbor, assuming of course that
you can read.
Eva (Liv
Ullmann, veteran of many Bergman films) decides to invite
her mother Charlotte (Ingrid Bergman, fellow native of Sweden
in her next to last film) to live with her and her husband
after Charlotte's companion dies. Charlotte is a nationally
renowned concert pianist, and perhaps her work has played
a role in her not seeing her daughter for SEVEN(!) years.
At first it seems that Eva misses her mother, but her real
motive is to confront her mother about her past inadequacies
in caring for her and her bedridden sister.
Bergman is
a magical filmmaker. If Ernst Lubitch had a special touch
for comedies, then Bergman has a special touch for personal
dramas. He induces great performances from his actors (Ingrid
Bergman is quite impressive, and she was deservedly nominated
for Best Actress for this film), writes his characters with
the kind of fullness that allows the audience to look beneath
their surface, and maximizes the script by photographing everything
masterfully. The photography was aided by Sven Nykvist (THE
UNBEARABLE LIGHTNESS OF BEING, CELEBRITY), who is one of the
best cinematographers in the business.
Ingmar Bergman
films are occasionally joyful and a celebration of life. Autumn
Sonata is not. Ingmar made AUTUMN SONATA during a time when
he had abandoned his home country of Sweden due to some tax
problems. This movie was filmed in Norway. Ingmar could not
have been very happy during this time, since Autumn Sonata
is pretty damn depressing. AUTUMN SONATA is best not described
as entertaining. Instead it is more accurately described as
holding your attention.
The emotion
and breadth of the characters are compelling elements as their
past unravels before us. Ingmar makes an interesting choice
by having the husband talk to the camera, in other words having
the character speak to the audience as an aside. This can
be disruptive to the flow of the film, but since it takes
place at the very beginning, the narrative is not harmed.
More conventional (but still out of the ordinary) is the soliloquy
that Ingmar employs later in the film. These choices reflect
an attempt on Ingmar's part to let the audience know what
is going on in the minds of the characters, and I think these
choices work very well.
Video: How Does The Disc Look?
The image
is soft. This could very well be the way Ingmar wanted it
to look. This quality seems to fit with other visual qualities,
such as the use of autumn colors that conveys a warm but decaying
mood. Most directors stay away from the "warm but decaying"
genre, but Ingmar obviously had no compunctions about this
area. Specks and reel change markers are present in the picture,
but not enough to greatly detract from the image.
Audio: How Does the Disc Sound?
The mono
sound contains few qualities worth commenting on. The Swedish
dialogue and classical piano are clear and unhampered by any
impairment. Ingrid Bergman does have a few lines in English,
and it is a credit to the film that I did not even notice
at first that she was speaking English, as I was that involved
in the story.
Criterion
has also included an English dub track. For those people that
hate subtitles, this is an adequate translation and dubbing
job (although I only listened to a few minutes of it). It
even includes Ingrid Bergman's voice, or someone who sounds
a lot like her.
Supplements: What Goodies Are There? The commentary
track (or audio essay as Criterion calls it) is dry but informative.
Obviously Bergman expert Peter Cowie (who also did a commentary
track for Bergman's THE SEVENTH SEAL) is reading the commentary,
but this does allow him to cover many areas over the span
of the film. One thing he talks about is the stormy association
between the Bergmans (no, they are not related). Ingrid was
unused to working for someone like Ingmar, and Ingmar found
Ingrid's acting style to be very dated. Cowie also speaks
extensively about the autobiographical aspects of the film.
The other extras are a liner essay (also by Cowie and thus
a little repetitive of the commentary) and a trailer. Considering
the high price tag I was hoping for a little more in the supplements
area.
Parting Thoughts
Ingmar Bergman
and Hershell Gordon Lewis (director of the horror/gorefest
TWO THOUSAND MANIACS) have one thing in common-their movies
are for select audiences. AUTUMN SONATA is one bleak movie.
You definitely won't be singing frothy tunes after watching
this one. Somewhere over the rainbow bitterness and insensitivity
await you. This film takes its place in one of my favorite
categories-if you think your life sucks, then watch this movie,
and you'll realized your life is made up of bright sunshine,
sweet, sweet lollipops, and resplendent rainbows.
What I am
trying to say is that even if you like AUTUMN SONATA, then
you probably are not going to watch it too many times during
a year, excluding those people in need of institutionalization.
Considering what you are getting, I think Criterion has priced
this movie too high for anyone but those who used to drop
$100 for one laserdisc, which might be the DVD's intended
audience anyway.
|
