Shame (Sweden, 1968)

Another film by Swedish director Ingmar Bergman. This time, the little Swedish island where the two main characters live (actors Liv Ullmann and Max von Sydow) is in war. Can you imagine a war in Sweden? Well, this film portrays the devastating effects of war on the civil population. It starts off with Liv and Max waking up in their little farmhouse. They take the ferry to the mainland to sell the fruit they grow in their small property. Tanks and soldiers start to gather in the city. Soon afterwards, the bombing begins, and the main characters are taken as hostages, then liberated, accused of treason, and finally they flee the island in a boat with other war survivors.

Bergman wanted to portray the horrors of war and the different effects, both physical and psychological on the innocent people who are caught up in this situation. It is obvious that Liv Ullmann gets most of the camera attention (we must not forget she and Bergman were together at that time). Max von Sydow, who at first acts cowardly and looks quite shy, at the end takes up a pistol and show great bravery. Both characters change during the course of the story. This is a different perspective of the typical war movie we are used to see.