Autumn Sonata: Use close-up shots to depict the furthest distance between us

In my previous article on "Autumn Sonata," I attempted to understand the plot of the film from the perspective of sonata structure(click here to read). However, this classic film is worth observing closely, not only for its plot structure and similarities to a sonata. In the following section, I will analyze the visual language used by director Bergman in this film and the emotions it conveys to me. I hope this analysis will be interesting to those who also enjoy Bergman's works.

The sense of oppression brought by the theatrical stage style setting

Ingmar was a theater director before turning to film, and "Autumn Sonata" sometimes feels like a movie adapted from a play. This is particularly noticeable in the spatial setting of the film, which is very similar to a theater stage design.

The overwhelming atmosphere that permeates the entire movie is partly due to the confined setting.The characters are mostly limited to a house, much like being restricted to a stage.

Only on two occasions do the characters leave the house. The first time is shortly after the beginning of the film, when the mother and daughter first meet and the daughter goes downstairs to greet her. The second time is at the end of the film, after the mother has left and the daughter is wandering alone in the cemetery.The first outdoor scene is like leading the audience into the theater. The second outdoor scene is like following the protagonist's perspective after the end of the play, leaving the theater and going outside.

Other scenes, including those in memories, all take place indoors. The characters are always trapped in dimly lit rooms. This means that as an audience, we are also trapped in this house just like the characters in the film. We watch each person in the house, all longing for love but unable to obtain it.

The film's theatrical style and its accompanying oppressive feeling are reflected in the scene where Charlotte recalls the death of her boyfriend, Leonardo. Leonardo is lying on the bed, while Charlotte stands in the center of the room. The light in the room keeps changing, implying the passage of time. The light from outside shines in, and in the eyes of the audience, Charlotte is almost invisible due to the backlighting, leaving only a silhouette.

Even when the room light is turned on, Charlotte is still facing away from the camera, and we still cannot see her expression, which makes it difficult for the audience to directly feel her emotions.

In scenes where characters express emotions, the director has also used some theater techniques. For example, when Charlotte, the mother, is alone, she directly expresses her inner thoughts by talking to herself. Eva also expresses her thoughts about her mother through dialogue with her husband. This straightforward way of revealing inner thoughts is typical of a stage play.Using close-up shots to portray characters' inner emotions and loneliness.

Using close-up shots to portray characters' inner emotions and loneliness

However, this film has two very distinct visual characteristics that differentiate it from theater, making it a classic movie rather than a stage play. First, it extensively uses close-up shots, and second, it has a low-saturation orange color tone. Bergman employs these unique cinematic techniques to convey the emotions of the characters to the audience through details other than dialogue and body language.

The "close-up" presents the character's face directly in front of the audience, allowing them to observe the expression and listen to them speak. This is something that theatrical art does not have; only movies do.

Through close-up shots, we can see every subtle expression of the characters. For example, when the mother first arrives, the mother and daughter sit on the bed and chat for a while, mostly about the mother. When she notices her daughter's loneliness and finally asks about her life, Eva's facial expression changes from melancholy to joy. She eagerly told her mother about her successful side of life: she has been playing the organ all the time, and she also hosted a music concert in the parish a while ago.

She waited for her mother's praise, but her mother turned the topic back to herself, talking about her five very successful concerts held at American universities, each attended by over 3,000 people, which were very successful. Upon hearing her mother's greater success, the daughter's expression became serious.

Therefore, although sudden, she directly interrupted her mother and stated the fact about Helena at home. The mother who was still proudly narrating her own successful experiences just a second ago suddenly fell silent and looked serious, not knowing how to respond. The close-up shot allows the audience to feel the seriousness of the matter between the mother and daughter just from Charlotte's change in expression.

However, in my opinion, Bergman's brilliance lies in using close-up shots to reflect the distance between the characters. Imagine if you were a director and wanted to show the distance between a mother and daughter who were talking, how would you shoot it? I considered using the mother and daughter's body language to show their discomfort, positioning them far apart in the frame to represent their emotional distance, or using an object to physically separate them.

But Bergman's approach is surprising. He placed the mother and daughter in close proximity, but only gave them a single-person close-up shot. He even allowed the characters to break the fourth wall and look directly at the camera, but rarely shot the scene where they looked at each other and talked. This single-person shot highlights the communication barrier between the mother and daughter, enabling me to feel their distance more deeply.

For example, in the scene where Charlotte recounts the death of her partner Leonardo, the director gave her a front face close-up shot. Although Eva was also present, she rarely appeared in the same frame as Charlotte. There was no Charlotte in Eva's close-up shot either. The distance between the mother and daughter, Charlotte's immersion in her own world, and her neglect of Eva began to show from here.

Generally, when characters have a conversation, the director will use over-the-shoulder shots to show the communication between them. However, in this dialogue-heavy movie, Bergman rarely uses over-the-shoulder shots. This gives the audience the illusion that the characters are not talking to each other, but rather to themselves. The characters do not look at each other and listen to each other, but are immersed in their own worlds.

This distance is also reflected in the scene where the mother and daughter confront each other in the middle of the night. Although it is a conversation between two people, the shots are almost all single-person close-ups. This seems to imply that the characters' confessions have not been heard at all. Eva and Charlotte are simply expressing their feelings from their own perspectives.

However, there is a very classic close-up shot of the mother and daughter playing the piano together in the film. This shot also shows the discrepancy in emotions between the characters. Charlotte faces the piano, in front, while Eva faces the camera, behind. But from beginning to end, Charlotte is always looking straight ahead, while Eva is always looking at Charlotte. After listening to her mother's playing, Eva's expression changes from a slight anger to sadness and despair.

This shot itself also points out the emotional relationship between the characters: Eva has been eager to be noticed by her mother and has been watching her all the time. However, her mother never looked back, just immersed in her own world. This concise language helped me understand a life lesson: confessing your feelings without receiving a response can be torturous and painful. The opposite of love is not hate, but rather being ignored and not receiving a response.

In addition to close-up shots, Bergman's use of color tone is also distinctive. For example, "Autumn Sonata" has an overall orange color, but it does not create a warm feeling. Instead, it evokes a sense of grayness and antiquity, like a home that appears welcoming but actually reveals coldness and loneliness.

As time passed, the relationship between the mother and daughter became increasingly tense. The colors in the scene gradually darkened, indicating this shift.

Their first conversation occurred in the morning, in the bedroom. The second took place in the evening, by the piano.The third happened in the dimly lit living room, at midnight. The changes in lighting and tone of the scene also conveyed changes in their relationship. Eva went from hopeful to angry, and finally settled into a state of calm disappointment. Charlotte, on the other hand, went from excited to ashamed and ultimately left the scene heartbroken.

Perhaps to showcase the characters' internal suppression and trapped state, Bergman extensively uses framed shots to confine them within small door frames. When Eva writes a letter, for instance, she is captured within three door thresholds when seen from Victor's viewpoint.

Shots of Eva with her parents in her memories are similarly framed within dark door frames, implying her entrapment since childhood and incomplete liberation from the dilemma of not being loved even after marriage.

The more carefully I watch Eva's memories from her perspective, the more I can feel the pain she experiences due to her mother's inability to provide her with love. In my opinion, maternal love is the earliest form of love that everyone can receive in their life and serves as the prototype for all other forms of love.

The mother's gaze and recognition help us understand that our existence is meaningful. Maternal love is so crucial that when we cannot feel it, we may question our existence and worth. Even if we can live normally and achieve success in our careers without our mother's love, deep down inside, there may be a place where our inner child is trapped, always crying and yearning for their mother, but never receiving a response. This is true for Helena at the end of the film, for Eva, for Charlotte, and for Bergman.

After watching Autumn Sonata, in addition to the characters' emotions, I also feel Bergman's doubts about the existence of love between people and God. However, Bergman did not provide a definite answer to this question, and everyone must search for their own answers from their own perspective.