What an incredible film. I love the basic idea of following a happy couple (Tom and Gerri), who are surrounded by less fortunate friends and family members, for a year. The character of Mary in particular, a divorcee and co-worker of Gerri's who’s afraid of dying alone, is particularly heartbreaking, and powerfully played by Lesley Manville, who really manages to bring out the desperate and destructive sides of the character in a masterful way.
But the happy couple aren’t portrayed…
Watching this documentary it becomes clear just how much of the real Ingrid Bergman went into the character she plays in Ingmar Bergman's Autumn Sonata, which is further proof that Ingmar Bergman was no dunce.
I need to watch Autumn Sonata again now.
What do you say about films like this? They evoke so many deep emotions in you that are hard (if not impossible) to put into words and leave you shellshocked. This is what good art can do to a person.
I always get a kick out of films and books that manage to do a lot with very little, and this is certainly one of those films. I mean, if you boil this down it's just a guy driving around…
I just absolutely love this film. I think part of the reason why it works so well (and paradoxically why it's one of Fellini's least-known films) is that Cabiria herself isn't immediately likeable. She's boastful and rude and bad-tempered, and a chatterbox to boot. So you kind of have to put a little bit of effort in (or at least I had to) before you start to feel any real empathy for her. But when she finally does win you…
