227 - Autumn Sonata, 1978, Sweden. Dir. Ingmar Bergman.

Tuesday, August 15, 2017

227 - Autumn Sonata, 1978, Sweden.  Dir. Ingmar Bergman.

Mother is coming to visit.

We have not seen her in seven years.

Why?

She is a concert pianist.  She has a busy schedule.  It is hard for her to take time away.

Or . . .

Maybe something else is going on.

Maybe there are walls between Eva and her mother Charlotte.

Walls built from past disappointments.

And pain.

This time it will be different.

It will be new.

We will get along well.

I will stay forever.

No.

It will not go well.

It will go poorly.

Very poorly.

We are inside a house.  A beautifully designed house.  With a frame within a frame within a frame.  A window in a dining room past a living room past a hallway.

Designed by Anna Asp.

Lit by Sven Nykvist.

Charlotte plays Chopin.  Prelude No. 2 in A Minor.

Her daughter Eva can play it too.

Sort of.

Charlotte tries to compliment her.

But then schools her.

Nothing has changed.

Eva is played by Liv Ullmann.  Of course.  And she is brilliant and delicious as always.

Her mother Charlotte is played by . . . wait . . . who is this?  Ingrid Bergman!

Really?

Yes.

Ah!  You mean Ilsa from Casablanca?

The woman who looked into Humphrey Bogart's eyes and called him "Rick."

The woman who turned to Sam the pianist and made the forbidden request: "Play it once, Sam.  For old time's sake.  Play it, Sam.  Play 'As Time Goes By.'"

The woman who pleaded with Rick, "Kiss me.  Kiss me as if it were the last time."

Or Paula Anton being driven mad by her thieving husband Gregory, played by Charles Boyer in Gaslight.

"I hear noises and footsteps.  I imagine things.  There are people over the house.  I'm frightened, and of myself too."

But no.  This is not Ilsa Lund from Casablanca.  This is not Paula Anton from Gaslight.  This is not Alicia Huberman from Notorious.

You may not even recognize her.  It is thirty years later, and she is speaking in her native Swedish tongue.

She came to prominence in 1939 with her American remake of the Swedish film Intermezzo.

Then she hit that golden period where she made eight great films in five years.

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1941), Casablanca (1942), For Whom the Bell Tolls (1943), Gaslight (1944), The Bells of St. Mary's (1945), Spellbound (1945), Saratoga Trunk (1945), Notorious (1946).

And so many more.

Including the Italian films made with Roberto Rossellini, which we have covered.

She was nominated for seven Academy Awards and won three.

Her work on this film, Autumn Sonata, was one of the seven.

Now she comes in like a whirlwind.  The mother who does not understand her daughters.  Who gave her life to her art.  And was frequently gone.

The film is beautifully shot and bravely acted.

Both the mother and the daughter have chosen not to forgive each other for their respective perceived grievances.

And they wallow in their consequential misery.

A little dose of forgiveness might go a long way.

And the choice to love one another.

But, alas . . .

They do not forgive.

In fact, the daughter delivers a three-page monologue accusing the mother of her faults.

Until maybe as Charlotte leaves on the train.

Eva writes her one last letter.

Of apology.

In search of forgiveness.

*                              *                              *                              *                              *

There is only one truth and one lie.  There can be no forgiveness.

So Lena's illness was my fault?
Yes, I think so.
You mean that her illness--
Yes.
You don't seriously mean--
When Lena was a year old, you deserted her.  Then you kept deserting both of us all the time.  When Lena got seriously ill, you sent her to a home.
It can't be true.
What can't be true?  Can you prove otherwise?  Look at me, Mama.  Look at Helena.  There are no excuses.  There is only one truth and one lie.  There can be no forgiveness.
You can't blame me entirely.
You expect an exception to be made for you.  You've set up a sort of discount system with life, but one day you'll see that your agreement is one-sided.  You'll discover you're carrying guilt, just like everyone else.
What guilt?'
Eva, darling.  Won't you forgive me for all the wrong I've done?  I'll try to mend my ways.  You've got to teach me.  We'll talk to each other.  But help me.  I can't go on.  Your hatred is so terrible.  I never realized.  I've been selfish and childish.  Can't you put your arms around me?  Touch me, at least.  Help me.

Mama!  Come!
Help me.
Mama!  Come!

Variety trade paper.

I feel so shut out.  I'm always homesick.  But when I get home, I find it's something else I long for.

I want to ask your forgiveness.
She speaks it to the camera.
like Marta in Winter Light

There is a kind of mercy after all.  I mean the enormous opportunity of getting to take care of each other, to help each other, to show affection.  I will never let you vanish out of my life again.  I'm going to be persistent.  I won't give up, even if it is too late.  I don't think it is too late.  It can't be too late.