Autumn Sonata

Date: 2015-10-07; view: 448.

Exercise 41. Read the article “Autumn Sonata”. Then write your own short film review for the Film Review magazine.

REVIEW

Newspaper review.

Exercise 40. Read the information below advertising a new movie. Fill in the gaps in the

NOW SHOWING: THE TEETH OF THE WOLF!!!

Starring Brad Bold as The Wolfman

With Clarisse Calvados, Frank Holder and Jemma Young

Written by Deborah Bradman (after the novel by Ken Wylie)

Original music by Frieda Holtmeyer

Producer Wilbert Greenberg

Director Sidney Reed

If you want to see a terrifying new ______________ film, go and see “The Teeth Of The Wolf”. Sidney Reed, who also made “Eyes of the Vampire” and “Claws of the Dragon” ________________ this movie. Brad Bold ______________ as Dan Kovic, a quiet, gentle village doctor with a terrible secret… At night he becomes the Wolfman, searching the forest for victims! The film is ____________ in Transylvania in the 19^th century. It is ______________ on a novel by Ken Wylie, and has an excellent ____________ by Deborah Bradman. Appearing in her first major film is young French _______________ Clarisse Calvados, who gives a superb _______________________ as Martina Kovic, the doctor's daughter. There are some amazing ______________effects, especially in the _______________ where Dan Kovic changes into the Wolfman – it looks so realistic, you want to run out screaming!

Conclusion: I'll give this one 8 out of 10. Go and see it, but don't go alone.

An iconic Swedish director Ingmar Bergman shot “Autumn Sonata”, a psychological drama, in 1978.

He didn't only direct the film, but also wrote the script. Two brilliant actresses played the main parts in the movie. One of them was Ingrid Bergman, certainly one of the most beautiful women to ever appear in a film, but that is not the source of her mysterious appeal. There is something there, in that voice and those eyes and in the way her mouth thinks words before she says them in the movies. It took Ingmar Bergman thirty-five years to finally cast her, and then, in her fortieth year as an actress, Ingrid Bergman called “Autumn Sonata” her last film. It was “Autumn Sonata” that paired the two celebrated Sweden's film artists for their only joint effort; and Ingrid gave nothing less than the performance of her lifetime.

Ingrid Bergman performs opposite Liv Ullmann, who is herself good enough to meet her on the same very high level. They play mother and daughter and the plot focuses on their relationship. The mother, Charlotte (Ingrid Bergman) is a world famous pianist. She last saw her daughter Eva (Liv Ullmann) seven years ago. She's too busy and always travelling and booked up almost every night of the week ... , it's small wonder she's terrified of coming face to face with her daughter. There are, in fact, two daughters: the one played by Ullmann, who is serious and introspective, filled with guilt, blame and love; and then, the other daughter Helena (Lena Nyman), who lives with her, and who suffers from a degenerative nerve disease. The mother's solution to this daughter's illness was to place her in a "home"; Eva took her out of the institution two years ago and is taking care of her at home. So, one day in early autumn when the mother arrives for her visit, she has no idea that the sick daughter is going to be there. Her response, when she learns about it, is dismay. She realizes she can't deal with the illness and in fact she can't be a mother at all. She doesn't merely reject the responsibility; she flees from it.

The action of “Autumn Sonata” takes place over one long day and night in which the pleasantries of the opening hours give way to deeper and deeper terror and guilt, accusations and renunciations, cries and whispers. And Ingmar Bergman, detaching himself from this material refuses to come up with any solutions. He only depicts two people, each demanding love from the other, each doomed by the past to lose the ability to love. This is very difficult material. Ingrid Bergman and Liv Ullmann address it with courage and skill that are astonishing. Besides, it was very important to Ingrid Bergman to play in her native language for the first time and to work with one of the most outstanding film directors. It is not just that “Autumn Sonata” was Ingrid Bergman's last film. It's that she knew she had to make it before she died.