Review of Shame (1968) by Johan V — 04 Aug 2010

Shame is not one of my favorite Bergman films, but I still cannot give it less than 5 stars because it is an immaculately crafted cinema masterpiece. As with so many of his other films, Shame demonstrates the creative force that Bergman wielded throughout the 60s--even if he had not directed anything else, his 60s films would mark him as artist to be remembered eternally.

Shame features Liv Ullmann and Max von Sydow who also starred in The Hour of the Wolf, a film that I rank much higher in the Bergman canon (but then I am a horror fan). As per usual, Ullmann and Sydow unite with Bergman in a way that is truly magical.

Bergman makes their faces and their most minute expressions shine with the depth of a thousand emotions. In Shame, Bergman probes the effects of war and invasion while simultaneously depicting the steady collapse of a relationship, a collapse that is based on similarly inexplicable causes.

Ullmann and Sydow's characters generate a genuine feeling of warmth and love at times before they plunge into utter hatred in subsequent moments. As their country is invaded, their petty quarrels are put on hold in favor of helping one another to survive.

Eventually, Bergman pushes the film into genuine ethic and psychological conundrums by having Ullmann's character submit to sleeping with an army officer in order to receive clemency for her and her husband.

Over the course of the film, Bergman uses his hyper-personal style to investigate the effects of war upon this couple as they discover that their petty squabbles signify nothing in the larger scheme of things.

A powerful and haunting exploration of war's effects on the individual and of the hard yet tender kernel that lies at the heart of any true relationship.