Review of The Serpent's Egg (1977) by Eric B — 12 May 2012

A rare Ingmar Bergman film that leans on plot over characterization, "The Serpent's Egg" is an atypical melodrama set in 1923 Berlin. Inflation is catastrophically high (money value is measured by weight rather than denomination), and growing anti-semiticism foreshadows the coming Nazi regime. After nostalgic opening credits that suggest the creative synergy between Bergman and Woody Allen flowed both ways, the film begins with American-in-exile trapeze artist Abel Rosenberg (David Carradine) discovering brother Max's grisly suicide. He delivers the news to Max's ex-wife Manuela (Liv Ullman), now working in a sleazy cabaret, and soon moves into her room. From there, Jewish Abel fends off a local detective (Gert "Goldfinger" Frobe) hoping to frame him and puzzles over Manuela's second job with a ominous, secretive medical organization. The final act turns quite Kafka-esque, and is strangely flamboyant and unsubtle by Bergman standards.

"The Serpent's Egg" (the title is a metaphor for the seeds of Nazism) is one of Bergman's few English-language projects, though we also hear plenty of untranslated German through Abel's ears. The director casts recognizable American actors Carradine, James Whitmore and Glynn Turman for international appeal (the latter two's scenes are wholly trivial), but this compromise is a fatal mistake: Detached, wooden Carradine just isn't equipped for his part's challenges. Unable to suggest any depth to his character's emotional life, the late "Kung Fu" star leaves a frustrating hole at the film's center. Commonly regarded as one of Bergman's biggest flops, "The Serpent's Egg" is not likely to benefit from contemporary reappraisals.