From the Life of the Marionettes (1980)

An account of the events before and after a murder committed by Peter Egermann, a disturbed businessman in a strained marriage, and what led Peter to perform such a shocking act.

Director:

Ingmar Bergman

Writer:

Ingmar Bergman

Stars:

Robert Atzorn, Christine Buchegger, Martin Benrath

1 win.

Cast

Credited cast:
Robert Atzorn	...	Peter Egermann
Christine Buchegger	...	Katarina Egermann
Martin Benrath	...	Professor Mogens Jensen
Rita Russek	...	Katarina Krafft
Lola Müthel	...	Cordelia Egermann
Walter Schmidinger	...	Tim Mandelbaum
Heinz Bennent	...	Arthur Brenner
Ruth Olafs	...	Nurse
Karl-Heinz Pelser	...	The Interrogator
Gaby Dohm	...	Frau Anders - Secretary
Toni Berger	...	The Guard
Erwin Faber	...	The Servant
Heino Hallhuber	...	The Choreographer
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Doris Jensen	...	The Assistant in the fasion show

Storyline

Made during Bergman's tax-related exile in Germany, the film continues the story of Katarina and Peter EGermann, the feuding, childless, professional couple who appear in one episode of "Scenes From A Marriage." After Peter perpetrates a horrendous crime in its first scene, the rest of the film consists of a non-linear examination of his motivations, incorporating a police psychological investigation, scenes from the EGermanns' married life, and dream sequences.

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Plot Keywords:

male frontal nudity | male nudity | dream | death | epilogue | 

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Taglines:

The Woman He's About to Touch is a Dream. The Murder He's About to Commit is Not.

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

West Germany Sweden

Language:

German

Release Date:

30 June 1981 (USA)

Also Known As:

From the Life of the Marionettes

Filming Locations:

Germany

Company Credits

Production Co:

Bavaria Film, Incorporated Television Company (ITC), Personafilm

Technical Specs

Runtime:

104 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor) Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Inspired by the film project "Love with No Lovers" Bergman tried to realize for many years. With the story of Peter and Katarina in the center, it instead became a piece of television drama.

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Quotes

Tim Mandelbaum: I'm driven by forces I don't control. Doctors, lovers, pills, drugs, alcohol, work. Nothing helps. Secret forces. What are they called? I don't know. Maybe just aging. Wasting. I don't know. Forces I can't master.

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Connections

Featured in ...Men filmen är min älskarinna (2010)

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Soundtracks

Touch Me, Take Me
Performed by Rita Wright

User Reviews

Underrated Bergman

Bergman made this film in Germany, while in exile from Sweden for tax-related reasons. It's a dark and disturbing psychological portrait of a man, Peter, who murders a prostitute in the opening scene. The film moves back and forth in time, using title cards to establish the setting in time, trying to explain Peter's troubles. It's reminiscent of Scenes from a Marriage, as Peter has problems relating to his wife, Katarina. A few weeks before the murder, he started having fantasies and dreams about murdering her. The prologue, depicting the murder (or, more precisely, the moments before the murder) and the epilogue (Peter in prison) are filmed in color, but everything else is in black and white. The composition is generally not showy, but there is an amazingly filmed dream sequence, the film's centerpiece. The script is generally brilliant, very observant. The only thing I felt was a little underdeveloped was the homosexual character, Tim, and Peter's supposed latent homosexuality, which the psychoanalyst character describes near the end. I wasn't quite sure what to make of that material. 9/10.