Shame (Ingmar Bergman)

6/23/15

2.5/4

It is so hard for me to connect with this kind of movie on first viewing. My rating reflects what I really got out of the film, which wasn't much. Obviously, I need two looks at anything Bergman before my assessment of it can be trusted.

I felt a good grasp on the first half of the film: the relationship made good sense to me and I really appreciated its value for a film; I also understood the philosophy being portrayed. But once the second half started, I was lost for good. The relationship I was getting to really love observing fell apart from how I knew it, and characters started acting strangely. The transpiration of events passed me incoherently, and the philosophy hung in the atmosphere above my head. But I have gotten exactly what I wanted to get out of this film; not enjoyment, nor reward, but a foot in the door; a toe in the pool; a small sip of the grand cup of high cinema. This is the most knowledgeable first step I have taken yet.

I loved Liv Ullman and the way Bergman silently observed her intriguing face. Her acting struck me with its subtlety. Max von Sydow, on the other hand, I didn't watch so much as an actor, but as a character with whom I was enthralled. He felt like an innovation to me; a joy to watch. The relationship in the first half of the movie is very interesting for its roles. I was engaged for this part of the film.

I also liked the premise and setting a good deal; I expect that if I ever appreciate all Bergman films, I will especially connect with this one due to its association with war and one very intriguing pair of people. I am sure this is a movie I will like and appreciate, once I've the capacity to understand it. Bergman's stylistic choices, such as prolonged stillness and silence, are exactly what I want to see in my new days of film-watching.

At about the 50% mark, Liv Ullman delivers a short, intimate monologue: 'sometimes I feel like this is all a dream; but it's not my dream, it's someone else's that I'm participating in. What if the one who's dreaming wakes up and feels ashamed?' To me, she is pondering how life looks like a dream from the mind of God, of which he is ashamed. The world is God's creation and it is a shameful mess, what with the war running rampant. Thus the title, Shame, refers to his reaction upon observing the dark, chaotic mess of his unconscious creation.