O Medo

In this film, Ingrid Bergman plays a woman who ends an affair she began when her husband was in prison. Her lover isn't too happy with the idea and she has her guilt to contend with, but her problems compound significantly when her lover's ex-girlfriend (Renate Mannhardt) turns up and begins blackmailing her. She thinks she can keep a lid on things, but naturally it isn't so easy.

The film is based on a novella from the marvelous author Stefan Zweig, which perhaps explains how well its escalation was crafted. Bergman and Mannhardt are both wonderful, and Rossellini tells the story with great restraint, avoiding unnecessary embellishment. We don't see flashbacks to the affair because while it set these events in motion, it isn't important to the drama. The plot twist is one that viewers can probably see coming, but it's revealed simply, with the sense of Rossellini respecting the viewer's intelligence.

Mathias Wieman plays the husband and he's strong here too; his character is fleshed out in a couple of fine subplots. In the first, he coolly experiments with drugs on lab animals which regularly causes them to suffer and die, and it's notable comparing his reaction to that of his wife early on. Later we see him dispatch stern punishment psychologically to his children over a disagreement involving a rifle that the boy got, but his younger sister wanted.

The film is taut at 78 minutes, which was a strength, but Rossellini finds the time to give us street scenes in Germany as well as the fantastic long shot with Bergman's shadow on the ceiling of the deserted lab at night. The dubbing, common to Italian films for decades, is unfortunate, but not overly so. The biggest issue was the ending, which felt too forced and convenient, especially after we had been led along a path with real cruelty and darkness in it. I considered knocking my review score down a bit because of it, but felt that maybe Rossellini and Bergman's personal life had caused him to end it this way, and in event, what had come before it carried the day for me.

Ingrid Bergman is "Irene" married to "Albert" (Mathias Wieman) but has been having an affair with the much younger "Erich" (Kurt Kreuger). The relentlessness of the secret-keeping takes it's toll and "Irene" tries to end it all. Her secret is not quite as safe as she had thought, though - and she soon discovers that opportunist "Johanna" (Renate Mannhardt) knows the score and wants 3,000 Marks to keep silent. Will that do the trick, or is that just the start of an even more slippery slope? This is short and sweet - reasonably paced, with decent characterisations from Bergman and her grasping nemesis Mannhardt, but the story itself it overly simple and lacks any sense of jeopardy. We always know what is going to happen - and although Roberto Rossellini does try to inject the merest hint of menace, Bergman is all just too "nice" to be convincing. She has the bad temper of a field mouse.

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.

Shades of Hitchcock in this somewhat atypical Ingrid Bergman - Roberto Rossellini collaboration. Most of the film appears simple and straightforward; there is an effective plot twist in the middle, but the ending is rather weak and anticlimactic. Bergman brings her customary class and consumate skill to the project; the little-known Renate Mannhardt is arguably even better as the kind of blackmailer I'd gladly give in to any of her demands! She certainly holds her own in their one-on-one confrontations, which are the best scenes in the film. Some of the English dubbing sounds a little awkward. **1/2 out of 4.