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Poster for Autumn Sonata

Autumn Sonata

A mother and a daughter. What a terrible combination of feelings, confusion and destruction.

1978 · 1h 33m · PG Drama
Directed by Ingmar Bergman

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Overview

After a seven-year absence, Charlotte Andergast travels to Sweden to reunite with her daughter Eva. The pair have a troubled relationship: Charlotte sacrificed the responsibilities of motherhood for a career as a classical pianist. Over an emotional night, the pair reopen the wounds of the past. Charlotte gets another shock when she finds out that her mentally impaired daughter, Helena, is out of the asylum and living with Eva.

Director and cast

Critics on Rotten Tomatoes

Top critics, in their words

All reviews
85%
Tomatometer
Fresh

The movie makes good chamber music: it's a crafted miniature with Bergman's usual bombast built, for once, into the plot requirements.

Dave Kehr, Chicago Reader
Rotten

Of course Bergman's actresses suffer superbly in microscopic close-up, but the nagging doubt persists as to whether this is incisive psychodrama or just those old nordic blues again.

Geoff Andrew, Time Out
Fresh

Autumn Sonata can finally be seen as an austerely beautiful meditation on death and the not-always-realized possibility of reconciliation across generations.

Keith Phipps, AV Club

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