carradine's performance - The Serpent's Egg (1978) Discussion

[–] 18 years ago

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I feel he's very good most of the time, but you can tell he's a bit overawed by being cast in a Bergman film (Bergman was as big as God in US movie circles at the time). He's brilliant in the brothel scene, and at home with Ullmann.

The first choice for the part had been Dustin Hoffman, who was keen on it but, in the end, declined.

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[–] phowell1 17 years ago

I have long been under the impression that Richard Harris was cast in the lead and dropped out due to illness at the eleventh hour, resulting in Carradine's casting.

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[–] simiesque 17 years ago

Carradine was okay, but what we really needed was an American equivalent of Max Von Sydow.

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[–] Kinematico 16 years ago

I liked it! Carradine was convincing and Liv Ullman, fantastic as usual.

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[–] ronny-ferrat 16 years ago

Carradine's performance was more than okay, for, don't forget that artists, definitely (in the 20's and a few hundred years back already), were not considered being of significant social value and ranking, i.e. rather close to pimps and prostitutes. So, if he had played the part differently, it wouldn't have been very believable, i mean, he wasn't a "Siegfried and Roy" alike artist anyway.......
Furthermore, I would like to add that after the Civil War etc. etc. an artist couldn't take sides (i.e belonging to the black or red wing, there weren't many further opportunities then, if he had been a theatrical actor it would have been different, but a Variete artist usually doesn't cite Shakepeare), being considered as a dubious outsider, due to his profession, i guess he had to behave like one.......
I don't think that the then society would have invited him for assimilation.
There is the great book by Klaus Mann (Son of Thomas Mann) which deals with a similar subject, although not in the form of a thriller, "Mephisto".

Ich liebe das Neolithikum - da wurde der Alkohol erfunden, Hicks!!!!

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[–] teejay6682 16 years ago

i saw it again last night and my opinion of his performance has raise considerable since i started this thread. his outbursts were a little over the top and innappropriate to the tone of the film on the first viewing but this time it wasn't as distracting. i think he's very good in this film. this performance and his performances in "bound for glory", "americana", "the long riders" and "kill bill vol. 2" are his best, in my opinion.

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[–] Gloede_The_Saint 15 years ago

I liked him better than Ullman actually but I'm not sure on his performance either.

Somebody here has been drinking and I'm sad to say it ain't me - Allan Francis Doyle

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[–] 15 years ago

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[–] 15 years ago

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[–] thepalestfire 15 years ago

I thought he ruined the movie. His quieter moments were okay, but his outbursts (and there were many) were way over the top.

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[–] au_fond 14 years ago

I think this is one of Carradine's great performances. There was apparently a lot of tension between him and Bergman, and I think it shows and makes his character seem even more distressed. Somehow Carradine's eyes in this movie suggest real sadness to me.

I was actually introduced to Bergman through this movie, so maybe that's why I love it so much. I had never seen anything so relentlessly dark. I was a big Kung Fu fan, which in turn resulted in me becoming a big David Carradine fan (especially his younger, pre 90's roles) which resulted in me renting this movie, only to be swept away by the powerful force that is Bergman/Nykvist.

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[–] LightningLad 14 years ago

His face works very well for it. It's hollowed out, craggy, forlorn-looking. I didn't have a problem with his outbursts, they seemed very like actual outbursts people have in life.

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[–] DC1977 13 years ago

It's interesting to hear about the other actors who were linked with the role but in the end, couldn't do it.

I remember watching it thinking that Jack Nicholson would have been ideal for the part.

To be honest, I'm surprised that Bergman was able to get Carradine to take on the role.

Apparently, most of the time when a director approached Carradine with a part in a forthcoming project, Carradine's usual response was 'Sorry, I'm tied up at the moment.'

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[–] franzkabuki 12 years ago

His performance is definitely kind of awkwardly overwrought in some places as well as overly monotoneous in others. All in all he just about manages to be adequate, but certainly Max Von Sydow he ain´t. Plus - what´s with that ear ring of his? I´m quite sure men generally didn´t wear such stuff in the 1920´s Germany - or USA.

"facts are stupid things" - Ronald Reagan

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[–] Harrkar 11 years ago

I just thought the same thing, 'Max Von Sydow' would have nailed this. He looked ok at the initial scenes and never improved from there and was very unconvincing.

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[–] dan-bgb 10 years ago

I kind of thought the same thing...finally settled on awful...the quiet, introspective role may have suited a Shaolin monk (as in Kung Fu), but he was so uneven and stiff that he didn't generate any sympathy from me for the character.

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[–] nickryder9 8 years ago

He was terrible in this movie. The movie would have been bad with any actor but he made it worse. Even Liv hinted at that in the bonus features when she said Carradine and Bergman were from different worlds and would never want to work together again.

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[–] london777 8 years ago

"his outbursts were a little over the top"
I thought they seemed too abrupt and insufficiently provoked, and put this down to Carradine's poor acting.

But in the denouement we are told that Vergerus' test subjects, presumably including Abel, had been subjected to a gas which caused violent mood swings, which would explain Abel's erratic behaviour and justify Carradine's approach to the role.

The problem is that you could only appreciate that point on a second viewing, and this is not a movie anywhere near the top of my repeat viewing priority list.

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