1972 Oscar Viewing Project

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OVP: Autumn Sonata (1978)

Film: Autumn Sonata (1978)

Stars: Ingrid Bergman, Liv Ullmann, Lena Nyman, Halvar Bjork

Director: Ingmar Bergman

Oscar History: 2 nominations (Best Actress-Ingrid Bergman, Original Screenplay)

Snap Judgment Ranking: 4/5 stars

Each month, as part of our 2021 Saturdays with the Stars series, we highlight a different one Alfred Hitchcock's Leading Ladies.  This month, our focus is on Ingrid Bergman-click here to learn more about Ms. Bergman (and why I picked her), and click here for other Saturdays with the Stars articles.

Last week, we were discussing Ingrid Bergman and her infamous affair with Italian Roberto Rossellini, which resulted in one of the most successful (creatively) periods of her career, even if it also meant that she was essentially a pariah in Hollywood.  This didn't last though-scandal can destroy a career, but Ingrid Bergman wasn't an actress that could be brought down that easily.  In 1956, she made an unexpected comeback in Fox's smash hit Anastasia, which won her her second Oscar and made her employable in Hollywood again.  Bergman would then have a remarkable third act in her career, making a series of films that were consistently successful opposite major leading men like Cary Grant (Indiscreet), Robert Donat (The Inn at the Sixth Happiness), Rex Harrison (The Yellow Rolls-Royce), and Walter Matthau (Cactus Flower).  Bergman, always beautiful & sexual, but more in a timeless way than an "of her moment" beauty was able to buck much of the problems that other actresses of her generation had in staying relevant & continuing to gain roles.  She won a third (ill-advised, but that's a conversation for a different day) Oscar for 1974's Murder on the Orient Express, and then made today's film, which would be her last theatrically-released movie, and one in her native tongue.

(Spoilers Ahead) Autumn Sonata is something of a chamber play where Eva (Ullmann) has invited her famous, concert pianist mother Charlotte (Bergman) to stay with she & her husband Viktor (Bjork).  Initially, we get the sense that Eva is a bit mousy, intimidated by her mother's beauty & success, and her mother's forceful nature keeps Eva from being too forthright with her.  We also learn that she is keeping a secret from her mother, that her disabled sister Helena (Nyman) is staying with them, which upsets Charlotte who does not like to witness her other daughter's handicap & difficult life.  As the movie progresses, though, we see a switching of the power dynamic in their relationship.  Eva becomes more forceful, challenging her mother on the years of neglect she endured growing up, with Charlotte's singleminded approach to her career (and her laissez-faire attitude toward her marriage to Eva's father), as well as later hardships such as Charlotte's insistence that Eva get an abortion when she was 18, the death of Eva & Viktor's son who died years earlier (without any consoling from Charlotte), Eva's loveless marriage, and allegations that Charlotte's recently-deceased boyfriend had molested Helena.  The movie takes a look at these two women as broken, not able to find any sort of absolution within each other, even if the other one appears to be the root cause of much of their anguish.  The film ends on an ambiguous note, with Charlotte leaving for another concert, and Eva, potentially contemplating suicide but likely not going through with it, once again reaching out to her mother, understanding that their relationship might not be over yet.

Ingmar Bergman is my favorite film director, and this is one of his better-known films that I'd never seen.  A lot of the signatures are there, including some that others dismiss about the director's work (his preoccupation with anguish, family, & (in particular) death), as well as the the things that I love about his work.  Bergman is fascinated by closeups, and finding a way to frame the camera on an actor's face, waiting for nothing more than time to give away more secrets of their feelings.  With Bergman & Ullmann, he gets that.  There are scenes where he looks at Bergman, every inch the movie star, and waits as emotion or exasperation in Charlotte's eyes start to fall forward, a woman who has given so much pretense, so much performance, she doesn't entirely know how to play the next moment if she's just expected to be herself, not read what's on the page.  Bergman understands this about Charlotte, and both she and Ullmann give master class performances as a mother/daughter who are anguished by the past, but cannot move past it in order to find a future.  I'm going with a 4-star, mostly because I don't use halves on TMROJ (this would be a 4.5 on Letterboxd), principally because I thought the framing device with Viktor didn't work, but the acting is all extraordinary-it's a pity that this wasn't Bergman's late third-act Oscar and not Orient Express, and it is the best work she was ever nominated for.

Bergman was battling the breast cancer that would eventually kill her while she was filming Autumn Sonata.  Despite this, this wasn't her last film (though it was the final one to be released theatrically).  She would star in A Woman Called Golda in 1982, winning a posthumous Emmy before her death at 67.  She would also make a number of public appearances, including giving Alfred Hitchcock his AFI Life Achievement Award.  Bergman was an actress who starred in multiple Hitchcock movies, and nearly had a marriage destroy her Hollywood career, before returning triumphant.  Tomorrow, we'll kick off a new star and month with a different actress who became Hitchcock's muse, one who did escape his shadow, but only through a marriage that would end her Hollywood career.

Top 9 Countries Without an Oscar Win

Earlier this week we tackled the countries with the highest number of submissions to the Oscars without a single, solitary Oscar nomination-today, we’re going after those countries that were lucky enough to get a nomination, but are still waiting for that first taste of the gold.  Here are the Top 9 (well, eight plus a former country) still looking for a gold man to call their own:

9. India

Number of Nominations: 3

Most Recent Nomination: Lagaan, in 2001

Most Submitted Director: The legendary Satyajit Ray (who went on to eventually win an Honorary Oscar) received three submissions but none of his films were nominated.

Did They Submit This Year?: Yes-they have submitted Liar’s Dice, a motion picture that won a pair of National Film Awards in India.

A Wee Bit of Trivia: Kamal Haasan has been in seven submitted films from India, the most of any performer, but has never had one of his films nominated.

Fernanda Montenegro

8. Brazil

Number of Nominations: 4

Most Recent Nomination: Central Station, in 1998

Most Submitted Director: Caca Diegues, who has been chosen six times, but never received an Oscar nomination.

Did They Submit This Year?: The Way He Looks, a gay coming of age drama which looks like something I am seriously hoping is at least shortlisted because I really want to see it.

A Wee Bit of Trivia: Walter Salles’ Central Station lost to Life is Beautiful (one of those rare situations that in “any other year” he would have won), but he did gain a major coup with the film: Fernanda Montenegro became the first (and so far only) Brazilian actress to be nominated for an Oscar.

6. Greece (tie)

Number of Nominations: 5

Most Recent Nomination: Dogtooth, the absolutely bizarre film nominated in 2010 for the Oscar.

Most Submitted Director: Theo Angelopoulos, who has been submitted four times but has never won a nomination.

Did They Submit This Year?: Yes-they submitted Little England, a steamy looking period drama about two sisters in love with the same man.

A Wee Bit of Trivia: Michael Cacoyannis, twice nominated for his work in Electra and Iphigenia, had a far more impressive Oscar haul when he directed 1964’s Zorba the Greek, which won him a trio of nominations, including for Best Picture.

Liv Ullmann

6. Norway (tie)

Number of Nominations: 5

Most Recent Nomination: Kon-Tiki, in 2012 (if you’ll recall, it came very close to winning the OVP from me).

Most Submitted Director: Peter Vennerod and Svend Wam were submitted three years in a row in the early 1980’s, but continuing our odd streak here, never were nominated for an Oscar (so far this is clearly a “if at first you don’t succeed, skip them in the future” situation).

Did They Submit This Year?: Yes, 1001 Grams.

A Wee Bit of Trivia: Actress Liv Ullmann, who directed Kristin Lavransdatter, 1995’s submission, was a two-time Oscar-nominated actress in the 1970’s, receiving citations for The Emigrants and Face to Face, and is generally regarded as one of the greatest actors of her generation.

5. Yugoslavia

Number of Nominations: 6

Most Recent Nomination: 1985’s When Father Was Away on Business

Most Submitted Director: Velijko Bulajic, who was submitted seven times by the country and in a first in our countdown did in fact gain a nomination, for 1969’s The Battle of Neretva.

Did They Submit This Year?: Obviously not, as Yugoslavia is no longer a country.

A Wee Bit of Trivia: Yugoslavia joins the Soviet Union, East Germany, West Germany, and Czechoslavakia on the list of countries that no longer exist but were at one point nominated for an Academy Award in this category.

Marion Cotillard in Two Days, One Night

4. Belgium

Number of Nominations: 7

Most Recent Nomination: Last year’s The Broken Circle Breakdown (we’ll be getting to this race tomorrow in the OVP)

Most Submitted Director: The legendary Dardenne Brothers, who have been submitted four times, including both of their Palme d’Or winners (they have never bee nominated, however).

Did They Submit This Year?: Yes, they once again submitted a film from the Dardenne Brothers entitled Two Days, One Night, which is getting raves and stars Marion Cotillard.  This could be a legitimate shot at their eighth nomination.

A Wee Bit of Trivia: As French and Dutch are both spoken in Belgium, there is a solid mix between the two.  Oddly enough, there is an even split with AMPAS, with them preferring three French-language films, three in Dutch, and one (1992’s Daens) which was in both.

3. Mexico

Number of Nominations: 8

Most Recent Nomination: 2010’s Biutiful (which had to have come close to winning considering Javier Bardem got a Best Actor ciation for the film)

Most Submitted Director: Arturo Ripstein, and proving what a fluke Yugoslavia is, he has gone 0 for 5 in terms of getting a nomination.

Did They Submit This Year?: Yes, they did, submitting a biopic of Cantinflas, who is an extremely well-known Mexican comedian who won a Golden Globe Award for the Best Picture-winning Around the World in 80 Days.  Though reviews are tough, biopics are usually gold at the Oscars-I suspect this will be a surprise on the shortlist, though ultimately miss for a nomination.

A Wee Bit of Trivia: While Spanish is the dominant language in Mexico, not all of their submissions have been in Spanish: 2007’s Silent Light was in Plautdietsch, which is the language of the low-German Mennonites (the film didn’t get a nomination at the Oscars, but won the Jury Prize at Cannes).

Andrzej Wajda

2. Poland

Number of Nominations: 9

Most Recent Nomination: The brilliant In Darkness, which was nominated three years ago.

Most Submitted Director: Andrzej Wadja, who throws my entire theory about constantly being submitted out of the water.  With eight submissions, he has scored nominations on half of them.  Wajda is one of the most famous Polish directors of all-time, however, and in fact has won an Honorary Academy Award, so clearly he’s someone that’s safe to bet on.

Did They Submit This Year?: Yes, and what a doozy: Ida, one of the most discussed foreign films of the year, is not only a likely contender for a nomination (allowing Poland to tie for the top spot), but also may knock Poland off this list entirely-it’s the early frontrunner for the win.

A Wee Bit of Trivia: The very first submission from Poland was nominated for Best Foreign Film, and was directed by arguably the most famous director of any Polish film to eventually get nominated: Roman Polanski.  His later films like Rosemary’s Baby, Chinatown, Tess, and The Pianist would go on to dominate the Oscars, the latter winning him the Best Director trophy.

1. Israel

Number of Nominations: 10

Most Recent Nomination: 2011’s Footnote

Most Submitted Director: Joseph Cedar, who has been submitted four times, twice winning a nomination for Beaufort and Footnote (clearly he’s on a role).

Did They Submit This Year?: Yes-they have Gett: The Trial of Viviane Ansalem, yet another film that screened at Cannes (which is slowly but steadily become the best indicator of what films are going to be submitted for the Oscars).

A Wee Bit of Trivia: Moshe Mizrahi is one of those rare directors who has been submitted from two different countries.  In addition to his two Israeli submissions I Love You Rosa and The House on Chelouche Street (both nominated), he was also the director of Madame Rosa, which won France the trophy in 1977 (and also starred Oscar-winner Simone Signoret).

And there you have it-the most snubbed countries for the Oscar.  Which of these do you think will be the first to get off the list (the obvious answer to me is Poland)?  Which will continue to wrack up nominations without actually taking a trophy?  Share your predictions in the comments!