From the Life of the Marionettes(German:Aus dem Leben der Marionetten) is a 1980television filmdirected byIngmar Bergman.The film was produced inWest Germanywith a German-language screenplay and soundtrack while Bergman was in "tax exile"from his native Sweden. It is filmed in black and white apart from two colour sequences at the beginning and end of the film.
| From the Life of the Marionettes | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Written by | Ingmar Bergman |
| Directed by | Ingmar Bergman |
| Starring | Robert Atzorn Heinz Bennent Martin Benrath Toni Berger Christine Buchegger |
| Music by | Rolf A. Wilhelm |
| Country of origin | West Germany Sweden |
| Original language | German |
| Production | |
| Producers | Konrad Wendlandt Horst Wendlandt Ingmar Bergman |
| Cinematography | Sven Nykvist |
| Editor | Petra von Oelffen |
| Running time | 101 minutes[1] |
| Original release | |
| Release | 3 November 1980 |
Set in Munich, the film charts the disintegration of the relationship of Katarina and Peter Egermann, based on the unhappy couple of the same names briefly featured in Bergman's 1973 miniseriesScenes from a Marriage.In a reimagining of the characters, Peter and Katarina's unhappiness and unfaithfulness culminates in Peter's murder of a prostitute.
Plot
editPeter Egermann visits and murders aprostitutenamed Ka, committing an act ofnecrophilia.The coroner interrogates Peter's friends for an explanation. Mogens Jensen tells the coroner he is shocked by the murder, claiming there were no signs this could happen. Peter is married to career woman Katarina; they have no children. In fact, Peter had confided in Jensen that he was plagued with homicidal thoughts, primarily aimed against Katarina. Jensen considered the thoughts likely not serious, but advised Katarina to leave town. Katarina dismissed the warning as preposterous, and given it was a busy season for work, she decided it was impossible for her to leave.
Before the murder, Peter considered suicide by throwing himself from a building, and Katarina called a friend to calm him down. Peter came back inside, where he quarreled with Katarina. The two shared an open relationship, as Katarina seeks other lovers. Peter claimed he is the one who knows how to sexually satisfy Katarina. Katarina responded she sometimes had orgasms with Peter, but also that she sometimes faked them and left the bedroom to masturbate, and that on other occasions she only had small convulsions.
The interrogator questions Tim, a homosexual. Tim is a business partner of Katarina and her friend, and by extension, he also knew Peter. The interrogator asks if Tim ever had an affair with Peter; Tim hesitates before replying no. Agitated, Tim reveals he had desires for Peter, and is suffering a guilty conscience after having introduced Peter to Ka. Ka was one of Tim's friends. Tim blames his homosexuality for bringing Peter and Ka together, saying he had difficulties with Katarina and liked the idea that Peter would cheat on her with a prostitute. Slowly, he thought, he would lure Peter to him.
When Peter met Ka at a Munichpeep show,Ka told Peter her real name was Katarina, the same as his wife. He tearfully murdered her. Jensen concludes that Peter, having grown up under an aggressive mother and then lived with a similarly aggressive wife, was unaware of his ownlatent homosexualityand that meeting Ka disrupted Peter's daily routine and triggered an emotional blackout. Peter is confined to a mental institution, where he cradles a teddy bear at night.
Cast
edit- Robert Atzorn– Peter Egermann
- Heinz Bennent– Arthur Brenner
- Martin Benrath– Mogens Jensen
- Toni Berger– The Guard
- Christine Buchegger– Katarina Egermann
- Gaby Dohm– Secretary
- Erwin Faber
- Lola Müthel– Cordelia Egermann
- Ruth Olafs– Nurse
- Karl-Heinz Pelser– The Interrogator
- Rita Russek– Ka / Katarina Krafft
- Walter Schmidinger– Tim
- Michel Wagner- The Bartender
Production
editDevelopment
edit
Ingmar Bergman wroteFrom the Life of the Marionettesafter being arrested in Stockholm in 1976 and subsequently leaving for West Germany.[2]He stated:
I found myself in a difficult situation, far away from my homeland where I did not want to return. I had already tried to express my pain and suffering inThe Serpent's Egg,but without succeeding... But inFrom the Life of the MarionettesI found a way, a form, a very definite and distinct form to which I could transfer my pain, my anguish and all my difficulties and reshape them into something concrete.[2]
He based the lead characters after Peter and Katarina in his 1973 miniseriesScenes from a Marriage.[3]Bergman's initial conception for the project was titledLove for No Lovers,but in the rewrite culminating inFrom the Life of the MarionettesPeter and Katarina were reimagined as a German couple distinct from the Swedish characters inScenes from a Marriage.[4]Bergman explained the final title:
I think we are all manipulated, more or less, andFrom the Life of the Marionettesis about the manipulation of human beings, by forces outside and beyond them — forces you cannot control, and you cannot define. The personalities of Pete and Katarina, who appear in the first episode ofScenes from a Marriage,have always fascinated me. In a way, they existed long before [Scenes from a Marriageprotagonists] Johan and Marianne, so I wanted to tell more about them. This is their story.[5]
In casting, the filmmakers recruited all actors from theResidenztheater.[6]
Filming
editThe film was shot in theBavaria Film Studiosin Munich,[7]and atTobis FilmStudios, beginning in October 1979.[8]Bergman's regular cinematographerSven Nykvistreturned for the project.[9]Nykvist and Bergman mainly shot in black-and-white, but at the insistence of television broadcasterZDF,some colour was added and a red tint was given to the prologue for fear the black-and-white would lose viewers.[4]
German composerRolf A. Wilhelmwrote thescore,[10]making use oftimpaniandglass harmonicas.[11]
Release
editThepremieretook place in July 1980 at a minor festival inOxford,[12]with Tobis Film as the main distributor.[8]The film was originally made for television and had its TV premiere on GermanZDFon 3 November 1980; it went to German theatres on 6 November.[12]It was subsequently released in Swedish theatres on 24 January 1981.[7]
On 28 January 1981,From the Life of the Marionettesscreened onSVT1.[7]The Criterion Collectionreleased aBlu-rayon 20 November 2018, along with 38 other Bergman films, in the setIngmar Bergman's Cinema.[13]
Reception
editAccording to author Birgitta Steene, Swedish critics were generally "respectful but not enthusiastic".[12]Janet Maslincredited Bergman for a "forceful" work despite what she found to be "less articulate or analytical" characters, praised Nykvist's shots in dream sequences, and positively reviewed Christine Buchegger and Robert Atzorn's performances.[14]David Denbywrote "I wish [Bergman] had dramatized more and explained a whole lot less".[15]Peoplestaff criticized it as "banal" with "no suspense".[16]In hisMovie Guide,Leonard Maltingave the film three and a half stars, describing it as "Powerful, provocative".[17]
The film was nominated forBest Foreign Language Filmof the year by the U.S.National Board of Review.[18]It currently holds a 67% approval rating onRotten Tomatoes,based on 12 reviews.[19]It is one of film-makerWes Anderson's favourite movies.[20]
References
edit- ^"From The Life Of The Marionettes - Aus Dem Leben Der Marionetten (1980)".British Board of Film Classification.Retrieved19 July2018.
- ^abSteene 2005,p. 151.
- ^Steene 2005,pp. 151–152.
- ^abLuko 2015,p. 209.
- ^Cowie, Peter (1980)."The Struggle with 'the Beyond'".The New York Times Biographical Service, Volume 11.New York Times & Arno Press. p. 1360 – viaGoogle Books.
- ^Gado 1986,p. 470.
- ^abc"Ingmar Bergman Face to Face: From the Life of the Marionettes".The Ingmar Bergman Foundation. Archived fromthe originalon 29 September 2011.Retrieved11 September2011.
- ^abSteene 2005,p. 324.
- ^Steene 2005,p. 152.
- ^Luko 2015,p. 270.
- ^Luko 2015,p. 214.
- ^abcSteene 2005,p. 325.
- ^Chitwood, Adam (12 July 2018)."Criterion Announces Massive 39-Film Ingmar Bergman Blu-ray Collection".Collider.Retrieved15 July2018.
- ^Maslin, Janet (30 June 1981)."Film: New Bergman Work, 'Life of the Marionettes'".The New York Times.Retrieved19 July2018.
- ^Denby, David (17 November 1980). "A Dream of Murder".New York.p. 82.
- ^Staff (19 January 1981)."Picks and Pans Review: From the Life of the Marionettes".People.Retrieved19 July2018.
- ^Maltin 2017,p. 507.
- ^"1980 Award Winners".National Board of Review of Motion Pictures.2016.Retrieved2 December2016.
- ^"From the Life of the Marionettes (1980)".Rotten Tomatoes.Retrieved19 July2018.
- ^"Wes Anderson's Favourite Movies".indiewire.24 October 2019.
Bibliography
edit- Gado, Frank (1986).The Passion of Ingmar Bergman.Durham: Duke University Press.ISBN0822305860.
- Luko, Alexis (2015).Sonatas, Screams, and Silence: Music and Sound in the Films of Ingmar Bergman.Penguin.ISBN978-1135022747.
- Maltin, Leonard (2017).Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide: The Modern Era, Previously Published as Leonard Maltin's 2015 Movie Guide.New York: Routledge.ISBN978-0525536314.
- Steene, Birgitta (2005).Ingmar Bergman: A Reference Guide.Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press.ISBN9053564063.
