The Serpent's Egg story
The Serpent's Egg is a 1977 American-West German drama film written and 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. Even though the film was a critical and commercial failure upon its initial release, Bergman was reported to be happy with the film.
7 total · 4 major · 3 minor
| Theme | Level | Motivation |
|---|---|---|
| antisemitism in society | major | the hatred of Jews that just a little later became the pillar of the Third Reich was evident throughout the story |
| facing financial ruin | major | Manuela and Abel were both in dire straits |
| life in late modern Germany | major | The viewer is presented with an idea of what it might have been in Berlin in the 1920s. |
| price inflation in society | major | money was a recurring theme and when we saw huge bundles of it being tossed carelessly we understand how little value it must have had - people valued dollars over marks |
| coping with suicide | minor | Abel was distraught after his brother's suicide. |
| prostitution vs. poverty | minor | Manuela was desperately poor and had slept with some unsavory person for money then regretted it |
| suicide | minor | Max committed suicide in the outset |