The Serpent's Egg (film)
| The Serpent's Egg | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Directed by | Ingmar Bergman |
| Produced by | Dino De Laurentiis |
| Written by | Ingmar Bergman |
| Starring |
David Carradine Isolde Barth Heinz Bennent Toni Berger Christian Berkel Liv Ullmann |
| Cinematography | Sven Nykvist |
| Distributed by |
Paramount Pictures MGM Home Entertainment (DVD) |
|
Release date
|
|
|
Running time
|
120 min. |
| Language | English German |
The Serpent's Egg is a 1977 American-West German drama film directed by Ingmar Bergman and starring David Carradine and Liv Ullmann. The story is set in 1920s Berlin and features English and German dialogue. It was Bergman's only Hollywood film. The title is taken from a line spoken by Brutus in Shakespeare's Julius Caesar: And therefore think him as a serpent's egg / Which hatch'd, would, as his kind grow mischievous; / And kill him in the shell.
The Serpent's Egg is considered one of Bergman's weaker efforts.
Abel Rosenberg, an American-born Jew is an unemployed alcoholic and former trapeze artist, who uses alcohol to help him deal with the horrific nature and uncertainties of life in 1920's post war Germany as poverty and inflation have destroyed the German economy at the time. He returns home one night to discover that his brother Max has committed suicide. Abel meets up with his old boss who gives him some money in an attempt to persuade him back to his now successful circus. Abel realizes he will not be as good as he was with his brother and so declines but his boss allows him to keep the money anyway. The Jewish community are being portrayed in the media as a drain on society and despite being a Jew himself, Abel has little sympathy for anyone, Jewish or otherwise who gets themselves into trouble for "acting stupid". He goes to see his brother's wife to break the news to of his death to her. She asks what triggered Max's suicide but Abel is unable to provide a solid answer. The only sentence in Max's suicide note Abel can make out reads: "There is a poisoning going on".
In an attempt to drown his sorrow Abel goes on a drinking binge which lingers into the early hours and spends the night at Manuela's house. The next morning the two discuss possible new career paths Abel could look into. After Manuela leaves for work Abel steals from her in order to buy alcohol. He is later taken by police to the mortuary in order to identify a series of bodies, the first of which turns out to be that of Grether Hofer, his brother's former fiance who died via drowning. He is also shown the body of another man who was murdered via lethal injection, he does not know the man but comments that he looks remarkably like his deceased father. Next he is shown the body of an old lady whom Abel identifies as a woman who used to deliver papers to his village who he is told committed suicide. Finally he is shown the body of a young boy who was killed after being hit by a truck but does not recognize him either. Abel asks why he is being shown all of these horrific bodies and is told that all of the mysterious deaths happened within the vicinity of his home. He is told that he will have to remain in police custody until they are convinced of his innocence. Convinced that he is being set up due to his Jewish heritage he tries to escape the police station but is quickly recaptured.
...
Wikipedia