She was dying in cancer when she filmed this movie, according to Bergmans introduction on the dvd I bought. He had no idea and only after the filming began found out that it had gone so far that she was restricted by the disease. This bit of information seems to shed a new light on the movie. She must really have played from the heart. It is typical Bergman too wright something that not only the audience but also the actors can feel and that hits so spot on.
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Yes, it was a remarkable performance but was she really ill while filming? Wow!
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Nice of me to return 2 years later, but I watched my DVD again. And that includes the intro where Ingmar Bergman discusses the movie and working with Ingrid Bergman ("She was great. Tough to work with, but great").
He says that shortly after filming began he found out that she had inoperable cancer. So she made this while terminal.
Bergman's battle with breast cancer began in the mid-70s, prior to AUTUMN SONATA, but the illness had not yet begun to take its toll on her appearance in this film or in A MATTER OF TIME, filmed the year before. The mature Bergman of AUTUMN SONATA is, to me, as irresistibly attractive of the Bergman of the 1960s, the 1950s, and the 1940s - I never tire of this woman's beauty.
"'Nature,' Mr. Allnut, is what we are put here to rrrrrriiiiise above!"
Maybe not. I was quoting Ingmar Bergman, who claimed that it had indeed effected her at this point.
shareJust watched the documentary on the newly-reissued Criterion, and was reminded that Ingrid Bergman portrayed her characters at about thirty years younger completely convincingly. She was a thorough professional. Even in the documentary, she commands your attention even when she's doing nothing and just sitting or standing still, listening to the director - it's called "Star Quality," and she had heaps of it.
"In my case, self-absorption is completely justified."
You said it.
shareWhat a remarkable lady. One could never tell she was so ill at that point, since her performance was so beautiful and powerful. I guess it must have been kind of hard for her to film the scenes in which her friend Leonardo was very ill and then died, since she was fighting herself with her own illness in real life at the time.
Animal crackers in my soup
Monkeys and rabbits loop the loop
Very true how great Ingrid really was and we are lucky to have her legacy. I still need to point out that the brilliance of Ingmar's directing captured all the detailed changes in Ingrid's express. How masterful and beautiful are those facial closeups.
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