(1968)
4
Tom Wiener
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.
cast-crew for Shame on AllMovie
Shame (1968)
