Review of Autumn Sonata (1978) by Iowa B — 27 Dec 2014

I admit I can't be unbiased when it comes to Bergman. There is something about his films that appeals to me, so few are the times when I really don't like something he did("Tystnaden","Through a glass darkly" and "Vargtimmen" are the "exceptions"). Apart from this, before Tarantino gave it a modern spin or Woody Allen used it in his comedies, Bergman and Tarkovsky were the two directors that mastered the art of writings insightful dialogues and monologues. Because this is what shines in most of Bergman's films, since more often than not, he was a minimalist so as much as you could admire Sven Nykvist's camerawork, there is little much else to admire from an aesthetic standpoint.

Somehow, Bergman appeals more to me than Tarkovsky does, at least in terms of dialogue: Tarkovsky is a bit too "sweet" for my liking.

There are two other aspects: one of them is linguistic and the other revolves around performances.

I have seen other Swedish films as well("Let the right one in", "The girl with the dragon tattoo" etc) yet in none of them have I found the Swedish language so appealing. In Bergman's films it has a particular melody almost tailored to fit their gloomy atmosphere.

Also, in terms of performances there is a contrast between what those performances depict and how they depict it(sometimes) and this is something some directors could learn from Bergman: sometimes moments of great emotional impact are best delivered in a cold manner and I am targeting especially those sappy melodramas in which the "dramatic" performances are laughable instead of dramatic.

"Autumn Sonata" fits best the description above, so I can't really say much else.