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Skammen (Shame) (1968)

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Average Rating: 6.8/10
Reviews Counted: 14
Fresh: 10 | Rotten: 4

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Average Rating: N/A
Critic Reviews: 3
Fresh: 2 | Rotten: 1

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Average Rating: 4/5
User Ratings: 4,479

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Movie Info

Shame is grand master Ingmar Bergman's bitter and unsparing condemnation of war - all war, regardless of which side one chooses. The story begins with two ex-musicians, Eva and Jan Rosenberg (Liv Ullmann and Max von Sydow, respectively) peacefully inhabiting a weathered house where they grow fruits and vegetables. The residence is located on a desolate, arid island in some unspecified geographic location. Many items in The Rosenbergs' house, such as the radio, aren't functioning properly, and an

R, 1 hr. 43 min.

Drama

Directed By: Ingmar Bergman

In Theaters: Dec 23, 1968 Wide

On DVD: Apr 20, 2004

Avalon

Cast

Liv Ullmann
Eva
Max von Sydow
Jan
Gunnar Bjornstrand
Jacobi
Hans Alfredson
Lobelius
Birgitta Valberg
Mrs. Jacobi
Sigge Fuerst
Filip
Ingvar Kjellson
Oswald
Lars Amble
An Officer
Axel Duberg
Pilot
Bengt Eklund
Guard
Karl-Axel Forsberg
Secretary
Agda Helin
Shopkeeper
Barbro Hjort af Orn�s
Woman on Boat
Ulf Johansson
Doctor
??ke J�rnfalk
Condemned Man
Frej Lindqvist
Bent man
Willy Peters
Older Officer
Gosta Prnzelius
Pastor
Frank Sundstrom
Chief Interrogator
Per Berglund
Soldier
Rune Lindstrom
Fat man
Vilgot Sj�man
Interviewer
Stig Lindberg
Assistant doctor
Goesta Pruezelius
The Vicar

Critic Reviews for Skammen (Shame)

All Critics (16) | Top Critics (5) | Fresh (10) | Rotten (4) | DVD (5)

Despite its evident sincerity, the film seems less like an indictment of intellectual and artistic irresponsibility than a quiet mea culpa.

August 1, 2007 Full Review Source: Chicago Reader

| Comment

Dave Kehr

Chicago Reader

Top Critic

It is at Bergman's wits' end.

May 9, 2005 Full Review Source: New York Times

| Comment

Renata Adler

New York Times

Top Critic

"What a wonder is a gun," opined one-time Bergman adapter Stephen Sondheim.

April 19, 2008 Full Review Source: House Next Door

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Keith Uhlich

House Next Door

It's pretty harrowing and depressing.

December 28, 2007 Full Review Source: Combustible Celluloid

| Comment

Jeffrey M. Anderson

Combustible Celluloid

A bleak parable.

September 17, 2007 Full Review Source: Ozus' World Movie Reviews

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Dennis Schwartz

Ozus' World Movie Reviews

A tremendously profound and unsettling film about the indignities of war.

August 29, 2006 Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide

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TV Guide's Movie Guide

Shame draws the rutted map of war's psychology, in bold and grievous strokes recognizable to any audience, and liable to frighten and humble them all.

August 6, 2006 Full Review Source: Nick's Flick Picks

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Nick Davis

Nick's Flick Picks

It ends with one of the cinema's most awesomely apocalyptic visions: not the cheeriest of films, but a masterpiece.

June 24, 2006 Full Review Source: Time Out

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Derek Adams

Time Out

A powerful political statement, and a deeply humanistic one, without sentimentality or banal heroics.

April 14, 2004 Full Review Source: Not Coming to a Theater Near You

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Leo Goldsmith

Not Coming to a Theater Near You

Shame moves in deep waters: It shows, in the bleakest and most uncompromising terms, that the worst that war has to offer is the wounds it inflicts on the human mind.

March 6, 2004 Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com

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Jake Euker

Filmcritic.com

Even by Bergman's standards this is a severe film, which may account for its commercial failure and some criticism.

May 24, 2003 Full Review Source: Film4

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Film4

One of Bergman's most intense films.

June 18, 2002 Full Review Source: Edinburgh U Film Society

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Keith H. Brown

Edinburgh U Film Society

More Critic Reviews

Audience Reviews for Skammen (Shame)

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It's funny, Bergman himself was unhappy with the end result with Shame and said that due to the uneven script, the first half of the film suffers. I actually felt it was the other way around. What started as a film of intrigue and suspense, the second half, as good as it was, became a little muddled with far too much

October 24, 2011

Anthony Lawrie

Super Reviewer

A gruelling watch, but one of Bergman's finest films. Interesting to compare this with The Hour of the Wolf, as both feature the same lead actors as artists (or an artist and his wife) who have taken sanctuary on an island. In the earlier film it's largely inner demons that lead to von Sydows disintegrating personality

December 13, 2009