Say nothing, say it all…..
At one level, it is very futile to comment about films. Write about films. Any film infact. I always have this feeling but it engulfs me when I watch a film that shuts me up by its brilliance. Who am I to comment? Do I have the right to? Whatever I want to say, does it matter much? I love the film. So what? Does it matter, singing paeans using a thousand words, wonderfully chosen? You know, I don’t think it matters. The maker made the film because, it was within him. He had it there, in his head, in his heart and then he chose the medium and gave form to it. He didn’t think of any other thing. He will not read my stuff and say ‘oh is it?’ and incorporate those in his next. Maybe also that whatever I put down is my take on it. Its mine. The maker has his intent intact. He isn’t even aware of my existence. Never is and will never be. It has to be that way.
But then I do write no. I have written here many times before. Why? Because these films elicited a certain response from me. And I had to put that down on paper. In words. It doesn’t happen all the time, not for all the films that I watch. For whatever reasons, good or not so good. So, I, in all likelihood, may continue to write, but only in response to that stimulus. Last night, I was shut-up completely. I have no qualms in saying that right now I am not finding any relevance in putting down whatever is in my head since I watched this film. About the story, technique, acting, blah blah….
It is all crap here, but within me, in my head, it has meaning. Just for me.
Autumn Sonata by Ingmar Bergman.
This is my first Ingmar Bergman (sensesofcinema link) film. I began with a lot of trepidation. The name Bergman was the reason. No, I was more apprehensive about my reactions. The nut I was. Never begin a film viewing such. You’ll never get involved in it. And then that defeats the very purpose of watching then. So I stopped, and began later. And today, here I am, writing this piece of inconsequence about the film.
Here people, this is the IMDb link for the movie. The eternal solution to many movie woes. You will get to know about the plot, the actors, the works….and ofcourse, the reactions. Its a request, please don’t read these. Just give this movie atleast one dedicated viewing. Then its your call. Whatever. That is all I can say. For me, I personally connected to this work of art. It has given me something, or rather, I took something from it. To each his own.
I know, you may be thinking, ya right, such crap, just for a movie name and a hyperlink. Hmmmm, maybe. But then, I just wanted to tell you what I felt. And let you about the existence of a film that isnt to be missed. Just isn’t to be. Nothing more this time. (I’ll be watching more of his films. What those experiences will be, I’ve no idea but I know one thing. I have to watch them.)
P.S. I am not putting up any trailer of the film here. Cannot. It isnt about only this. Hence so.
Tags: Autumn Sonata, Ingmar Bergman, World Cinema
Anurag Kashyap
Abhay Deol
Dibakar Banerjee
Hansal Mehta
Khalid Mohamed
Kundan Shah
Anish Kuruvilla
Jaideep Verma
Manish Gupta
Navdeep Singh
Bhavani Iyer
D. Santosh
Onir
Ashvin Kumar
Ramu Ramanathan
Sudhir Mishra
Pankaj Advani
Revathy
Saurabh Shukla
Shilpa Shukla
Sujoy Ghosh
Suparn Verma
Santosh Sivan
Shashank Ghosh
Shivajee
Pavan Kaul
Partho Sen-Gupta
Prroshant Naryannan
Sam Langoria
Satish Kasetty
First comes reaction. Then action. After prolonged action comes humility. After humility comes understanding. After understanding comes realization.
Writing about a films made by someone follows all these steps for any one who at least has a reaction.
The first paragraph describes exactly what i feel ….. i m surely reading each and evry post of urs from now on !
I have seen only one work Cried and Whispers and partly understood what he said about himself ….the manifestation of sex is very important, and particularly to me, for above all, I don’t want to make merely intellectual films. I want audiences to feel, to sense my films. This to me is much more important than their understanding them.
When commenting about a film, I do not write for the maker of the film. I write for other people who have enjoyed or would probably enjoy it soon. It is like telling a friend about say, last night’s party at this awesome restaurant.
It makes sense to write only when the film moves you in some way. That’s what makes the post powerful – like this one. Thank you.
No idea how and WHY the Hindi remake got it so wrong (Shabana Azmi was excellent though!) but ‘Autumn Sonata’ really, really moved me.
It literally felt as if a dam of emotions had burst open, flooding the characters and audiences alike!
I actually have 2 copies of it.
1 to loan out to others.
The other, to stay with me!
A heartbreaking, honest film with raw, intense performances.
This will be my first Bergman movie too.
After reading ur reaction, i decided that i want to watch this movie too. i planned to watch it tonight, but i am sad becoz of my friend’s sister’s illness. So i postponed it. i don’t think, i can bear this movie now. i am very vulnerable today. this may amplify my emotions.
The reason i am writing is, i wonder about myself. it looks like as i am scared to watch it now. though i am telling myself, that this will be my first movie, so i shud have a fresh mind. i should be in a little happy mood.
i am really afraid that it may trigger my emotions now.
This happened with me, first time, that before watching a movie, i am thinking like this.
Finally i watched it. I was stunned. i got goosebumps and shivers four-five times. Acting is brilliant, and now i don’t even feel that i watched this with subtitles. I felt, i am watching something, which is very good as a movie.
I want to see many movies like this one.
i want to write about direction,acting and script.
but i think, i will write after few years. now by mistake i may write something stupid.
now i am learning to be a good audience.
Thanks for ur article, and thanks for this site.