6.2 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 2.5 | |
Overall | 2.5 |
After his brother inexplicably commits suicide, unemployed Jewish-American circus performer Abel Rosenberg is stuck in Berlin with his sister-in-law, Manuela, a cabaret singer. Desperate circumstances lead to the pair taking jobs at a medical facility run by Professor Hans Vergerus, who also offers to give them shelter. However, the clinic turns out be a very sinister place, and soon the lives of Abel and Manuela are in serious jeopardy.
Starring: David Carradine, Liv Ullmann, Gert FröbeDrama | 100% |
Mystery | 4% |
Thriller | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.66:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.66:1
English: LPCM Mono
English SDH
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A, B (locked)
Movie | 2.0 | |
Video | 3.5 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 2.5 | |
Overall | 2.5 |
There’s a telling moment during the “appreciation” of Ingmar Bergman in general and The Serpent’s Egg in particular by Barry Forshaw included on this new Blu-ray as a supplement where Forshaw seems hesitant to admit that Bergman was anything less than an absolute genius 100% of the time. The moment comes as Forshaw gets to The Touch, Bergman’s pretty universally derided 1971 film with Elliott Gould and Bibi Andersson. Forshaw kind of hems and haws and stumbles for a moment, obviously in respectful deference to this iconic figure, before saying something like “Bergman couldn’t make a bad movie if he tried,” to which some snarkier viewers watching The Serpent’s Egg might respond, “Well, he certainly could come pretty darned close some of the time.” Even Liv Ullmann, one of the two marquee stars of The Serpent’s Egg, isn’t that reticent about discussing the shortcomings of this film in an archival interview also included on this Blu-ray as a supplement. As Ullmann gets into, she felt that Bergman was simply “overwhelmed” by having one of the few huge budgets in his long and now legendary career, and that that, along with other vagaries of this production, caused Bergman to (again, in Ullmann’s own assessment) fall away from his natural talents.
Note: I breathed a huge sigh of relief when my order of Ingmar Bergman's Cinema arrived just as I was finishing up this review. As fans of that deluxe set no doubt know, it
also includes Criterion's version of The Serpent's Egg, which is advertised as being a 2017 digital restoration by the Swedish Film Institute
culled from a duplicate negative source. I've uploaded a few screenshots from the Criterion version in positions 21-28 of this review so that those
interested can compare and contrast. I'm sure Svet will be uploading many more screenshots when his review of the Criterion version goes live,
and my hunch is he may very well be more positively disposed toward the film as a whole than I am, for those who may feel I've given it short shrift
here. I'll just cut to the chase and say to my eyes the Criterion is the clear overall winner in presentation, but there are still occasional moments of
coarseness in both presentations that I'll discuss a bit further below. Somewhat hilariously, given Barry Forshaw's comments quoted above,
Criterion has put this film on the same disc as The Touch.
The Serpent's Egg is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Arrow Academy with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.66:1. Arrow's insert
booklet contains the following generic information on the transfer:
The Serpent's Egg is presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.66:1 with 2.0 mono sound [sic]. The HD master was provided by MGM.This is a highly variable looking presentation, one that suffers at times from anemic contrast, shallow densities and a lack of shadow detail (I found all three of these elements improved on the Criterion, from my quick scanning of that version). Blacks are a bit milky and at times things can lack sharpness and detail levels fluctuate. Things look best in brightly lit moments, especially when Bergman and Sven Nykvist utilize extreme close- ups, where fine detail on elements like Abel's curduroy jacket pop at least reasonably well. There are some odd intermittent anomalies which interestingly also crop up on the Criterion version. A scene with an elderly lady looks nicely organic on both versions with the sudden exception of a return to her after a cut to Abel, where there's a good deal of yellow splotchiness (contrast screenshots 5 and 19 for "before and after" looks at this sequence in the Arrow version, and then look at screenshot 27 from the Criterion version). That same roughness also just kind of shows up willy-nilly partway through the morgue scene (see screenshot 18 from the Arrow version and screenshot 26 from the Criterion).
The Serpent's Egg features an LPCM mono track which faithfully reproduces the film's often turgid dialogue and its use of kind of Weill-esque music cues (it looks to me like Liv is lip synching again, much as she did in the Bacharach-David musical). There is occasional urban bustle in the soundtrack that also sounds fine, but overall this is a relentlessly talky (and then, later, screamy) film that doesn't feature over the top sonics.
When Liv Ullmann kind of figuratively rolls her eyes as she discusses the fact that Bergman was given enough money to "build a whole Berlin street!" (as she almost excitedly utters, with a subtext that she understands the absurdity of it all), you may feel you have permission to accept the fact that even the great Bergman could have a misfire or two over his long and deservedly lionized career. If Cabaret invited audiences in with a hearty if somewhat sinister "Willkommen", I have a feeling some folks watching The Serpent's Egg may feel more like singing "Auf wiedersehen". I only had the chance to quickly peruse the Criterion version before posting my review, but my initial reaction is it has a more pleasing appearance than this version. Arrow on the other hand offers several interesting supplements not present on the Criterion. The film is going to be an acquired taste one way or the other.
En passion
1969
Törst
1949
1971
Gycklarnas afton
1953
Efter repetitionen
1984
Tystnaden
1963
Riten / The Ritual
1969
Hamnstad
1948
Såsom i en spegel
1961
Till glädje
1950
Skepp till Indialand / A Ship Bound for India
1947
Kvinnodröm
1955
Nära livet
1958
Aus dem Leben der Marionetten
1980
Kvinnors väntan / Secrets of Women
1952
Kris
1946
2003
Nattvardsgästerna
1963
Scener ur ett äktenskap
1973
Skammen
1968