Directed by:
Ingmar BergmanScreenplay:
Ingmar BergmanCinematography:
Sven NykvistComposer:
Rolf A. WilhelmCast:
David Carradine, Liv Ullmann, Gert Fröbe, Heinz Bennent, James Whitmore, Edith Heerdegen, Christian Berkel, Walter Schmidinger, Ralf Wolter, Gaby Dohm (more)Plots(1)
One rainy night in Weimar Berlin, Jewish American circus performer Abel Rosenberg (David Carradine) discovers that his brother Max, his trapeze-act partner, has killed himself. What follows is one of Bergman’s darkest and most fearful visions, as the drowned-in-drink Abel and Max’s ex-wife, cabaret singer Manuela (Liv Ullmann), feel increasingly unwelcome in a menacing and destitute city, eyed by the police as well as a scientist with diabolical intentions. The director’s sole big-budget Hollywood production, for which he created a surreal and atmospheric Berlin on a Munich soundstage, The Serpent’s Egg conjures a Kafkaesque nightmare about the decaying society that gave rise to the horrors of Nazism. (Criterion)
(more)Cast
![David Carradine](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/000/267/267695_b77c21.jpg)
David Carradine
USA
Best movies:
Kill Bill: Vol. 2 (2004)
Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003)
North and South (1985) (series)
![Liv Ullmann](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/160/776/160776525_166400.jpg)
Liv Ullmann
Japan
Best movies:
Scenes from a Marriage (1973)
The Ox (1991)
Autumn Sonata (1978)
![Gert Fröbe](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/000/272/272441_8bd292.jpg)
Gert Fröbe
German Empire
Best movies:
The Longest Day (1962)
Goldfinger (1964)
It Happened in Broad Daylight (1958)
![Heinz Bennent](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/000/271/271411_6505cf.jpg)
Heinz Bennent
German Empire
Best movies:
From the Life of the Marionettes (1980) (TV movie)
Die Wildente (1976)
Sisters, or The Balance of Happiness (1979)
![James Whitmore](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/000/269/269274_66e7c6.jpg)
James Whitmore
USA
Best movies:
The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
Planet of the Apes (1968)
Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970)
![Edith Heerdegen](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/158/381/158381710_4a9890.jpg)
Edith Heerdegen
German Empire
Best movies:
The Serpent's Egg (1977)
Monpti (1957)
![Christian Berkel](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/168/791/168791884_tdoj1z.jpg)
Christian Berkel
West Germany
Best movies:
Inglourious Basterds (2009)
Valkyrie (2008)
Black Book (2006)
![Walter Schmidinger](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/000/271/271417_4f8907.jpg)
Walter Schmidinger
Best movies:
From the Life of the Marionettes (1980) (TV movie)
Lemmings, Part 1 - Arcades (1979) (TV movie)
Hanussen (1988)
![Ralf Wolter](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/000/271/271540_0f0cef.jpg)
Ralf Wolter
German Empire
Best movies:
Wir Wunderkinder (1958)
Treasure of Silver Lake (1962)
Apache Gold (1963)
![Gaby Dohm](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/000/444/444276_8616e8.jpg)
Gaby Dohm
German Empire
Best movies:
From the Life of the Marionettes (1980) (TV movie)
The Serpent's Egg (1977)
Rosenstrasse (2003)
Hans Quest
German Empire
Best movies:
The Serpent's Egg (1977)
Magic Fire (1956)
Tatort (1970) (series)
![Kyra Mladeck](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/000/278/278614_c5bff8.jpg)
Kyra Mladeck
Best movies:
Das Tagebuch der Anne Frank (2016)
Aimee & Jaguar (1999)
The Serpent's Egg (1977)
![Glynn Turman](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/165/060/165060261_5a080e.jpg)
Glynn Turman
USA
Best movies:
Rebound: The Legend of Earl 'The Goat' Manigault (1996) (TV movie)
Race (2016)
The Serpent's Egg (1977)
![Günter Meisner](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/165/526/165526590_851a78.jpg)
Günter Meisner
German Empire
Best movies:
The Tin Drum (1979)
The Bridge at Remagen (1969)
Ace of Aces (1982)
![Volkert Kraeft](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/158/696/158696340_11b0c7.jpg)
Volkert Kraeft
German Empire
Best movies:
The Hippocratic Silence (2022)
The Serpent's Egg (1977)
Titanic - The Nightmare and the Dream (1984) (TV movie)
![Isolde Barth](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/165/857/165857782_b9f80f.jpg)
Isolde Barth
West Germany
Best movies:
The Stationmaster's Wife (1977) (TV movie)
Holocaust (1978) (series)
The Marriage of Maria Braun (1979)
![Andrea L'Arronge](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/159/654/159654078_2c0bf2.jpg)
Andrea L'Arronge
West Germany
Best movies:
The Serpent's Egg (1977)
Tatort (1970) (series)
Und dennoch lieben wir (2011) (TV movie)
Paul Bürks
German Empire
Best movies:
From the Life of the Marionettes (1980) (TV movie)
The Serpent's Egg (1977)
Lucy, Terror of the Street (1983)
![Toni Berger](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/160/233/160233655_f29737.jpg)
Toni Berger
German Empire
Best movies:
From the Life of the Marionettes (1980) (TV movie)
The Serpent's Egg (1977)
Meister Eder und sein Pumuckl (1982)
![Fritz Strassner](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w88h116crop/files/images/creator/photos/161/742/161742326_64d8dc.jpg)
Fritz Strassner
German Empire
Best movies:
The Serpent's Egg (1977)
Tatort (1970) (series)
Hatschipuh (1987)