Shame (1968) ****
Ingmar Bergman's Shame (Skammen) (1968) is a powerful and sad film about how war will cause human beings to do terrible things to one another. The scoreless and bleak film features more action than your typical Bergman film—full of explosions and gunfire. But the focus remains on stars Eva (Liv Ullmann) and Jan Rosenberg (Max von Sydow), a politically uninvolved couple whose marriage deteriorates when they become innocent bystanders caught in the middle of a civil war.
While they both do their fair share of mistreating each other with verbal barbs and minor physical violence, it is Jan who causes the ultimate division, irreparably damaging their relationship by his unforgivable actions. There is always poetry in Bergman films and here he saves it for the climax of the film, as Eva recollects a dream that seems to mirror the emotion the film finally imparts its audience with—emptiness.
You can find my Ingmar Bergman Feature Films Ranked list here.
While they both do their fair share of mistreating each other with verbal barbs and minor physical violence, it is Jan who causes the ultimate division, irreparably damaging their relationship by his unforgivable actions. There is always poetry in Bergman films and here he saves it for the climax of the film, as Eva recollects a dream that seems to mirror the emotion the film finally imparts its audience with—emptiness.
You can find my Ingmar Bergman Feature Films Ranked list here.
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