The Serpent's Egg (1977) on Netflix
Berlin, late 1923. Out of work and drinking heavily, former trapeze artist Abel Rosenberg finds his brother Max dead by suicide. He brings the news to Max's wife, Manuela.
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- Netflix2.2/5
- IMDb6.6/106,939 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes20%
Trailer
Plot summary
Abel Rosenberg, a former trapeze artist in Berlin in late 1923, is unemployed and drinking heavily. He finds his brother Max dead by suicide. When his old circus boss offers him money to come back, Abel turns it down, feeling he would not be as good without Max. He goes to Max's wife Manuela with the news and can give her no reason for it beyond a line in Max's note about poisoning. Abel drinks and passes the night at Manuela's home; they discuss the work he might find. After she leaves for her job, he takes her money to buy more alcohol. The police take him to identify bodies found near his home, and suspicion falls on him.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about The Serpent's Egg (1977)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Ingmar Bergman's decision to have a horse killed for a scene in The Serpent's Egg, in which starving Berliners hack a horse carcass apart, sparked considerable controversy.
- Bergman wanted Dustin Hoffman for the male lead of The Serpent's Egg, but Hoffman turned the role down, as did Robert Redford, Richard Harris and Peter Falk; the part went to David Carradine.
- Production designer Rolf Zehetbauer built a full replica of Berlin's historic Bergmannstraße on the studio grounds at Geiselgasteig for The Serpent's Egg.
- Elliott Gould said Bergman had written the lead of The Serpent's Egg for him, but producer Dino De Laurentiis overruled that and cast David Carradine instead.
