Autumn Sonata (Höstsonaten, Swedish;1978)
Director: Ingmar Bergman
How long can you go on blaming your parents for your behaviour, misbehaviour and emotional wellbeing? Sure, they provided the building blocks upon which you blobbed up to a multi-billion celled organism but did they not undergo all that psyche and physique altering 9 months. Then there were the phenomena of maternalistic instinct and the ever embracing comfortable bosoms that she provided. What about the story of the mother and the burning house? She would rush in to grab you from the raging fire even when the beam of the house is in the verge of collapse and even jump into a lake without knowing to swim, just to save you.
And the sleepless days and nights caring for you during your time of being under the weather. All these were done without any expectations of return. Now, you are big and strong and you blame all your failures and underachievements on her. And you say that it was not your choice to be born but your parents had a choice...
Bergman's movies as always make you think about life and you end up more confused than ever as there are no self-help and no directions in the voyage of life.
This film is the ramblings of a daughter to her seemingly aloof mother on the turn of events in her recent life and the horrible childhood that she had. Eva (Liv Ullman) is living with her pastor husband (Victor) in a lonely home and in a loveless relationship. Eva invites her mother, Charlotte (Ingrid Bergman), to stay with her after the demise of her partner.
Charlotte, a renowned pianist, spend a lot of time during Eva's childhood away performing much to the chagrin of little Eva. The lonely days that Eva spent with her father, a quiet man, resulted in her in having a resentment to her mother. During the time the mother is back home, she is too busy practising for hours on end. Eva also has a sister, Helena, who has been inflicted with some neurological condition needing constant care, whom she feels her mother had abandoned when she left her in a nursing home.
Being constantly left alone, Eva had apparently befriended a guy who impregnated her. Charlotte decided that this would not do for an 18year old lass. The ensuing termination further infuriated the young mind against her mother.
Charlotte, this time around, has to face the bitter truth of reckoning. She finds that Eva had taken the severely handicapped Helena into her home to care for. Charlotte had to answer to her now-grown daughter, after staying away for 10 years. She had to 'face the music' to all her actions or inactions.
On her defence, Charlotte had to bring in the money and the joy and the attention that she received at the keys. Eva's marriage had also become unhappy after the drowning of her 4year old boy.
This showdown did not really end with a kiss-and-all forgotten kind of finale, however.
After the confrontation, the mother left the house after facing the demons. She is quite happy just corresponding with her daughter. Absence does not really make the heart grow fonder. Out of sight, out of mind is more like it. Time heals.
We do not choose our relationships, we do not choose to be born. The relationships and bonds that come to us can good, bad or ugly. It is up to us to sieve the favourable to the undesired ones and make the best that what life has in store for us...
https://www.facebook.com/groups/riflerangeboy/
How long can you go on blaming your parents for your behaviour, misbehaviour and emotional wellbeing? Sure, they provided the building blocks upon which you blobbed up to a multi-billion celled organism but did they not undergo all that psyche and physique altering 9 months. Then there were the phenomena of maternalistic instinct and the ever embracing comfortable bosoms that she provided. What about the story of the mother and the burning house? She would rush in to grab you from the raging fire even when the beam of the house is in the verge of collapse and even jump into a lake without knowing to swim, just to save you.
And the sleepless days and nights caring for you during your time of being under the weather. All these were done without any expectations of return. Now, you are big and strong and you blame all your failures and underachievements on her. And you say that it was not your choice to be born but your parents had a choice...
This film is the ramblings of a daughter to her seemingly aloof mother on the turn of events in her recent life and the horrible childhood that she had. Eva (Liv Ullman) is living with her pastor husband (Victor) in a lonely home and in a loveless relationship. Eva invites her mother, Charlotte (Ingrid Bergman), to stay with her after the demise of her partner.
Charlotte, a renowned pianist, spend a lot of time during Eva's childhood away performing much to the chagrin of little Eva. The lonely days that Eva spent with her father, a quiet man, resulted in her in having a resentment to her mother. During the time the mother is back home, she is too busy practising for hours on end. Eva also has a sister, Helena, who has been inflicted with some neurological condition needing constant care, whom she feels her mother had abandoned when she left her in a nursing home.
Being constantly left alone, Eva had apparently befriended a guy who impregnated her. Charlotte decided that this would not do for an 18year old lass. The ensuing termination further infuriated the young mind against her mother.
Charlotte, this time around, has to face the bitter truth of reckoning. She finds that Eva had taken the severely handicapped Helena into her home to care for. Charlotte had to answer to her now-grown daughter, after staying away for 10 years. She had to 'face the music' to all her actions or inactions.
This showdown did not really end with a kiss-and-all forgotten kind of finale, however.
After the confrontation, the mother left the house after facing the demons. She is quite happy just corresponding with her daughter. Absence does not really make the heart grow fonder. Out of sight, out of mind is more like it. Time heals.
We do not choose our relationships, we do not choose to be born. The relationships and bonds that come to us can good, bad or ugly. It is up to us to sieve the favourable to the undesired ones and make the best that what life has in store for us...
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
A lesson to be learnt....
ReplyDelete