La peur

I viewed a copy of a copy on video of this film and so the video quality was not that great. First, what did I like and not like? I didn't like the beginning or ending, but the rest of the movie was very good. Ingrid Bergman does a very fine job as the wife who has a secret to hide and will go to great lengths out of fear, hence the title of the movie, to prevent her husband from finding out. As the husband, Mathias Wieman does an excellent job playing the part of the kind, understanding Professor Wagner who is not as he seems. Overall, the film is a fine psychological thriller in the manner of Hitchcock and I won't give away the film noirish plot twist or the problematic, to me, ending. This movie is little known but well worth a look.

Ingesting poisonous substances, by mistake or with the intention of committing suicide. It can also be said of a relationship that is profoundly undermined by an external agent, causing a loss of mutual trust. This process of decline of the couple also includes other issues such as the fear of being discovered, emotional manipulation, and the social anxiety of being a traitor.

Irene Wagner (Ingrid Bergman) is a career woman, married to the renowned professor Albert Wagner (Mathias Wieman) and the mother of two beautiful children cared for in their country house by her housekeeper Martha (Elise Auliger). This charming facade threatens to crumble when Johanna Schultze (Renate Mannhardt) insinuates herself into her life, threatening to expose Irene's affair with Eric Baumann (Kurt Kreuger).

Roberto Rossellini's director sets this modern melodrama, perhaps transfiguring the ongoing sentimental crisis between himself and Ingrid Bergman. This would be their final collaboration, followed by their divorce in 1957; the screenplay, based on a novel by Stefan Zweig, follows a narrative fragmented by moments of varying length, to foster the protagonist's introspection; as always, Ingrid Bergman delivers a marvelous performance, her every gesture and sigh consistently serving her character, and the rest of the cast contributes to the excellent stagecraft.

The best moments are the apparent showdown between the two women, observed from the window by an interested male viewer. A must-see for fans of sentimental melodramas and good acting.

This is the last film that Bergman and Rossellini did together. Their marriage was on the rocks and perhaps this was like a throwaway movie because that's what I feel after watching this. The plot does no have subplot, depth or whatever. It's clear cut plot about a woman being blackmailed by the lover's wife, and she is being paranoid about it trying to hide it from her husband. And little did she know that...(I won't spoil it for you). But there is all about. Bergman was great as usual but that's the only good thing. I felt like the director falling asleep all the while directing this. And the ending was a bit rushed. I only recommend this for Bergman fans only (I know there are lots and lots of them out there) who wants to experience this whole Bergmania.

A simple story about a simple thing, blackmail. Ingrid Bergman and her husband work in a facility that is trying to work on medical issues, such as the destruction of heart tissue. Bergman, much younger than her husband, has a fling with a playboy type. In the process, an evil woman blackmails her and with each payoff, the amount increases. The film is full of tension as Bergman rushes to get more to this woman. Finally, a ring that means a great deal to the husband is taken. She has to get it back. The events that follow are rather hard to swallow and seem, for me, to diminish the story. Bergman does a slow burn when she gets to that "I've had enough" stage. Things become way too contrived. After seeing the ending, say to yourself, "Is this a real conclusion, even in a 1954 film drama. Bergman, as always, does a really nice job.

Rossellini shot two versions of 'La Paura', one in German ('Angst') and an international version ('Fear'). The two differ in shots and editing. The first Italian version ('La Paura') corresponds to the international one. Later on another shorter version was distributed by the title 'Non credo più nell'amore'. This restoration is the reconstruction of the international version, 'Fear', and it started from the negative of 'Non credo più nell'amore' and by two vintage duplicates, a positive and a negative. The latter, with a number of vintage prints, were used as reference to reconstruct the editing. I watched the international 'Fear'.

I can't help but feel a film about a woman living in constant fear as a direct result of her own infidelity would have fit into the Rossellini + Bergman catalogue so brilliantly just 3 or 4 years prior when they both were living in fear as a direct result of their own sinful affair's scandalisation of America. As it is, I feel that 'Fear' is distant from all collaborating on it. Lack of thought becomes uncharacteristically apparent in the closing act, and the reason for that seems to be a lack of care for a project that could have been so special, so Kiarostami, in a weird, Rossellini kind of way.