Shame [Criterion Collection] [Blu-ray]

Director: Ingmar Bergman Ingmar Bergman

Overview

Shame is grand master Ingmar Bergman's bitter and unsparing condemnation of war - all war, regardless of which side one chooses. The story begins with two ex-musicians, Eva and Jan Rosenberg (Liv Ullmann and Max von Sydow, respectively) peacefully inhabiting a weathered house where they grow fruits and vegetables. The residence is located on a desolate, arid island in some unspecified geographic location. Many items in The Rosenbergs' house, such as the radio, aren't functioning properly, and an explosive conflict transpires in the distance. (To avoid being ideologically pigeonholed, Bergman avoids identifying either side of the struggle or the reasons for the conflict itself). The Rosenbergs remain aloof, detached and geographically removed from the struggle, but little by little, over time, various elements of the war seep into the couples' lives and force their involvement. The tumult first sets in when jet planes roar over the house; then a parachutist gets killed and soldiers turn up at the Rosenberg residence. Finally, Eva and Jan get forcibly interrogated and incarcerated. Following the complete obliteration of the Rosenberg house, Eva has sex with one of the military leaders, Colonel Jacobi (Gunnar Bjornstrand) for unspecified reasons. Although Bergman never explicitly makes it clear if Jan witnesses this, he does deliberately conceal money that he could have easily used to buy Jacobi's freedom from the other side. As the heart-wrenching tale rolls forward, circumstances force The Rosenbergs into a face-to-face confrontation with their own identities and emotions.

Product Details

Release Date:	02/05/2019
UPC:	0715515226219
Original Release:	1968
Rating:	R
Source:	Criterion Collection
Region Code:	A
Presentation:	[B&W]
Language:	English
Time:	1:43:00
Sales rank:	15,767

Special Features

New 2k digital restoration with uncompressed monaural soundtrack; Interviews with Director Ingmar Bergman and a brief excerpt from a press conference for the film, recorded in 1967 and '68 for Swedish television; New interview with actor Liv Ullmann; An Introduction to Ingmar Bergman, a 1968 documentary made during the film's production, featuring an extensive interview wiht Bergman; Plus: An essay by critic Michael Sragow

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Liv Ullmann	Eva Rosenberg
Max von Sydow	Jan Rosenberg
Sigge Furst	Filip
Birgitta Valberg	Mrs. Jacobi
Hans Alfredson	Lobelius
Ingvar Kjellson	Oswald
Raymond Lundberg	Jacobi's Son
Frank Sundstrom	Chief Interrogator
Willy Peters	Elder Officer
Ulf Johansson	Doctor
Rune Lindstrom	Stout Man
Bengt Eklund	Guard
Vilgot Sjoman	Interviewer
Lars Amble	Officer
Bjorn Thambert	Johan
Karl-Axel Forssberg	Secretary
Gösta Prüzelius	Rector
Brita Oberg	Woman in Interrogation Room
Agda Helin	Shopkeeper
Ellika Mann	Woman Guard
Frej Lindqvist	Stooping Man
Barbro Hiort af Ornas	Woman on Boat
Sigge Fürst	Filip, gerillaledare
Gunnar Björnstrand	överste Jacobi, borgmästare
Frank Sundström	Förhörsledaren
Vilgot Sjöman	Tv-intervjuaren
Barbro Hiort af Ornäs	Kvinna i flyktingbåten
Rune Lindström	Den tjocke herrn
Axel Düberg	Pilot
Per Berglund	Soldat
Karl-Arne Bergman	Man i flyktingbåten
Gregor Dahlman	En man
Åke Jörnfalk	Den dödsdömde
Stig Lindberg	Läkarassistenten
Sigge Fuerst	Filip
Barbro Hjort af Ornäs	Woman on Boat
Gosta Prnzelius	Pastor
Goesta Pruezelius	The Vicar
Gunnar Bjrnstrand	Actor
Johann Bach	Composer

Technical Credits

Ingmar Bergman

Ingmar Bergman	Director,Screenwriter
Lars-Owe Carlberg	Producer
Evald Andersson	Special Effects

Editorial Reviews

The middle segment of Ingmar Bergman's late '60s trilogy of films set on the island of Fårö, Shame is less enigmatic than Hour of the Wolf and more harrowing than The Passion of Anna. It's impossible to think that Bergman wasn't in some way affected by the worldwide debate over American involvement in Vietnam when he wrote the script for Shame, though its politics are neutral. Bergman is much more interested in exploring the inability of civilians to get out of the way of a war and what the consequences are when it does touch them. Precisely because Jan and Eva Rosenberg take no sides in the civil conflict they are trying to avoid, their basic reaction to danger is one of pure survival. Whatever side is winning is the side they are on, whether it means granting sexual favors or killing an old friend. With those two acts, the Rosenbergs betray each other and leave themselves morally stripped bare. By the final scenes, on a boat moving through waters choked with corpses, Jan and Eva are almost zombies. When Eva tries to recall a remark that would comfort her, her memory fails her; it's one of the most powerful scenes in the career of one of the world's greatest filmmakers.

All Movie Guide - Tom Wiener