Shame (1968)

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ½

Shame (1968) – I. Bergman

The ordering of discs in Criterion’s Bergman blu-ray boxset sees Shame (1968) following Hour of the Wolf (also 1968) and arriving not long after Scenes from a Marriage (1973) and Saraband (2003), all films that feature marital discord.  This really shines a light on the central couple’s relationship during this viewing of Shame, a relationship which also begins to fall apart as the characters played by Liv Ullmann and Max von Sydow experience the stresses of a civil war in their country (and locally on their small island).  Unlike these other films, Bergman’s focus here is really on the collateral damage caused by war on innocent third parties (the Vietnam war was going on at the time). He mostly leaves the political dimension aside but shows us the manifestations of war on the lives of those on the island.  Liv Ullmann and Max von Sydow’s characters are forced to act pragmatically as they encounter soldiers from each side of the battle and leaders who seek to exert (and misuse) their power over others.  Soon, Eva and Jan find themselves compromising their own moral beliefs in order to survive.  The film is dark and doesn’t pull its punches.  Despite the main characters being concert musicians, there is no music on the soundtrack – in the special features, Bergman suggests that the film shows a time after music, where music no longer exists.  Indeed, he implies that the arts are another casualty of war, that they can’t solve the problems that result in violence.  If this wasn’t Bergman, you might think that this film was a cry in the dark, hoping that the powers that be were listening – but Bergman is too pessimistic for that to be the case.