Visually, it lacks the aesthetics of Bergman's black and white movies. Theatrically, it's melodramatic. Both Ingrid and Liv overact their parts (Liv's ridiculous, oversized eyeglasses are a distraction.) Ullmann's climactic monologue of woes is the most powerful part of the movie but too long. In general, it lacks subtlety and the ending is a weak attempt at transformation which lacked credibility for me. Maybe in its day it was groundbreaking psychologically but I think better acting and editing was needed for greatness. The subplot with the disabled sister and especially the cryptic flashback to her youth seem unneeded to me, just a thickening rather than a new flavor. The scene where daughter and then mother play the same piano work by Chopin is quite original and well done. It merits seeing as a work by Bergman with Bergman as lead for your fund of film experience.

I catch a Bergman movie anytime I can, I've loved all I've seen so far (Jungfrukällan, Nattvardsgästerna, Vargtimmen, Det Sjunde Inseglet). This - even tho good - was maybe the least favorite so far.I had zero knowledge of this movie before seeing it, a perfect way to see a movie, I only knew it was a Bergman movie which of course sets a certain expectation.The acting is quite good. I was quite impressed by Ingrid Bergmans performance (it actually took me a while to figure out it was her). Ullman's performance in my opinion is a bit over the top and she doesn't quite fit the role. She felt like a warm and kind loving wife rather than a woman not capable of loving due to unhappy childhood. I didn't find her believable in the role she was put in. She looked way too content with herself for a woman holding so much anger, sadness and suppressed feelings. Her performance has been praised, but even the key scene when she looks at her mother play the piano felt somehow awkward to me. Maybe I need to watch the movie again.Since I knew nothing about the movie beforehand, I felt at times that the movie took quite drastic turns. I don't know if it was structured as well as it could've been. Things came out unexpectedly - which may have been intentional also.I also wasn't too sure that the sick sister was a necessary character here. The scenes with her are quite sparse and she's left undeveloped as a character and her part in the whole was left a bit of a mystery. I also wasn't sure why it was implied that her sickness was caused by her mothers actions, that felt quite far fetched since her condition was clearly not (only) psychological, but rather neurological.The whole movie was a bit like watching a train wreck, it's not exactly fun watching tormented characters. Which leaves me to think what the purpose of this movie was. It's nevertheless a strong drama, but it left me mostly just feeling sad. I don't know if it would be wise to see this movie again and look for symbolic stuff that I've found in Bergmans other movies, they've felt deeper and more meaningful than this. I was left wondering if the fact that Ullmann's characters son died by drowning carried a more deeper meaning, because it was revealed at a certain point in the movie. Maybe I was just overwhelmed by the drama and couldn't see deeper, but I didn't find a true meaning in this movie, other than purification of some sort.

Typical introspective Bergman film with exceptional performances by Liv Ullman and Ingrid Bergman.The latter plays a famous concert pianist visiting her daughter after a long absence. Both harbor a mutual hope for reconciliation from their estranged past but the emotional baggage carried by each may be too much to overcome.The film is beautifully photographed and the script is engrossing but it is extremely "wordy" even for a Bergman film. There is lots of voice over narration, lots of flashbacks, lots of static dialogue, and lots of static monologue (sometimes with the character talking directly to the camera.) The on focus mother-daughter relationship is sad in itself but the overall gloom is layered on pretty thick - loss of parent, loss of husband, loss of child, bad parenting, absentee parenting, repressed anger, forced abortion, disabled child, spastic cerebral palsy, disgust, hatred, emotional detachment and so on......This is the perfect movie to watch if you're a psychoanalyst but for the casual viewer it's pretty depressing stuff. A lot of reviews give this film very high marks but this is not grade "A" Bergman. It is superbly crafted and well acted but it comes across more like a filmed stage play than a movie.

Swedish screenwriter, playwright, producer and director Ingmar Bergman's 39th feature film which he wrote, is a West-Germany production which premiered in Stockholm, Sweden. It was shot at a film studio in Oslo, Norway during the period when the director was in exile due to his conflicts with the Swedish Government, and produced by American producer Richard Brick, Russian-born English film producer Lew Grade (1906-1998), Austrian-born Swedish film producer Katinka Faragó and American film producer Martin Starger. It tells the story about Charlotte Andergast, a world renowned concert pianist who after seven years abroad visits her daughter Eva who lives on the countryside with her husband Victor who is a preacher and her multi-disabled sister Helena who Eva brought home from the institution her mother had placed her in after abandoning them to pursue her career.Distinctly and precisely directed by filmmaker Ingmar Bergman, this condensed and finely paced psychological character-piece draws an incisive portrayal of a materialistic artist's afflicting relationship with the daughter she has neglected for many years and her struggle to redeem herself and gain her religious daughter's forgiveness. While notable for it's naturalistic milieu depictions, prominent set design by production designer Anna Asp, cinematography by cinematographer Sven Nykvist (1922-2006), costume design by Swedish costume designer Inger Pehrsson and use of music, this dialog-driven, existentialistic and humane chamber-piece depicts two converging and deeply internal studies of character.This atmospheric, straightforward and concentrated story about a heart- to-heart conversation during one autumn night between a reunited daughter and mother, is impelled and reinforced by it's emotional depth, substantial character-development, riveting dialog, cogent narrative structure, the profound acting performances by Norwegian actress Liv Ullmann, Swedish actress Ingrid Bergman (1915-1982) in her next to last acting role and the fine supporting acting performances by Swedish actor Halvar Björk (1928-2000) and Swedish actress Lena Nyman (1944-2011). A consistently involving and masterful melodrama which gained, among other awards, the NSFC Award for Best Actress Ingrid Bergman at the 13th National Society of Film Critics Awards in 197 and the NBR Award for Best Director Ingmar Bergman at the 50th National Board of Review Awards in 1978.