Autumn Sonata

I am always amazed by the ambitious scope of Bergman's films; even here, with 4 characters and 1 setting. Ingrid Bergman is, as expected, stunningly beautiful here; her character, Charlotte, outwardly exhuding elegance, confidence, wisdom, and artistry. Quickly, we begin to see Charlotte's true nature as weak, insecure, self-centred and entirely incapable of love. Contrastingly, Liv Ullman (who, as in most of Bergman's work, steals the show here) portrays a character who is seemingly frail, sad, volatile, and believes she is incapable of loving. Through her actions, she is revealed to be the entire opposite. A woman who carries deep trauma brought on by years of heavy burdens she never should have taken on but did regardless. This film's thesis resonates with me (or at least how I understand it), despite being fortunate enough to come from a perfectly loving family. We are not our parents' sins. We are not doomed to a perennial generational cycle of malice, hate, and neglect. But we carry these wounds deeply. We are 'free' to break from such cycles, but, for many, the pain is too much to bear.