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 "...
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Title: From the Life of the Marionettes (TV Movie 1980)
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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 |
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Plot Summary
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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. Written by Owen F. Lipsett <olipset1@swarthmore.edu>
Taglines:
The Woman He's About to Touch is a Dream. The Murder He's About to Commit is Not.Genres:
DramaParents Guide:
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Details
Language:
GermanRelease Date:
30 June 1981 (USA) See more »Also Known As:
From the Life of the Marionettes See more »Company Credits
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IMDbPro »
Technical Specs
Runtime:
Sound Mix:
MonoAspect Ratio:
1.33 : 1
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Did You Know?
Trivia
"From the Life of the Marionette"s is Ingmar Bergman's only German film. "The Serpent's Egg" may at first glance appear equally German. But it was conceived in Sweden and written at about the same time as Bergman's was receiving the warning signs of his own personal catastrophe. See more »Quotes
Peter Egermann: I see her moving in the bathroom, flooded by sunlight. She combs her hair. I've always enjoyed watching my wife. Even when we hated each other or when she was hateful, drunk, sick or angry. I've always enjoyed her movement, her scent, her presence.See more »
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Bergman was on top form writing this piece - there's lots to think about. What motivates a respectable man, whose mental state indicates only a small risk of self-harm, to undertake such a violent and frenzied crime? Do the ulterior motives and actions of those around him (wife, shrink, wife's business partner...)deliberately or unwittingly trigger the crime - or indeed are those sub-plots entirely incidental to the central event? These questions are not answered - they are raised and illuminated.
This is not Bergman's greatest piece of cinema - the mixture of documentary, drama and flashback can be a little disorienting - but the argument of the film drives on relentlessly and it is compulsive watching. Well worth seeing.