a review of 羞耻

Shame is an intriguing Bergman film that left me with mixed feelings. Its execution is once again masterful, but the story starts dragging as the main characters keep on struggling while new perilous situations keep arriving. The never-ending drama started to exhaust me, in a way similar to Lars von Trier's Dancer in the Dark. One of the interesting facets of Shame is the remarkably weak male character — performed by a young Max von Sydow — and strong female character, which was quite unconventional for that time. The scene with the many drowned castaways, floating on calm mid-sea waves was a surreal, goosebumps-inducing moment. The war and execution scenes were also quite realistic. Bergman was undoubtedly an inspiration for Paul Verhoeven and Michael Haneke, among other directors.