Filmed in Germany during the director's exile from Sweden after being charged with tax evasion, FROM THE LIFE OF THE MARIONETTES is an unusually raw and explicit Ingmar Bergman drama, featuring two supporting characters from SCENES FROM A MARRIAGE. Peter Egermann (Robert Atzorn),... [More]

Filmed in Germany during the director's exile from Sweden after being charged with tax evasion, FROM THE LIFE OF THE MARIONETTES is an unusually raw and explicit Ingmar Bergman drama, featuring two supporting characters from SCENES FROM A MARRIAGE. Peter Egermann (Robert Atzorn), outwardly stable and well adjusted, suffers from depression, feelings of sexual inadequacy, and barely suppressed rage toward his wife, Katarina (Christine Buchegger), the latter eventually leading to the brutal rape and murder of a prostitute. Events are not presented in chronological order, but the film consists mainly of a number of scenes preceding the crime that painfully illustrate the Egermanns' marital discord, and a series of subsequent police interrogations involving psychiatrist Mogens Jensen (Martin Benrath), a friend of the Egermanns'; Katarina's business partner, Tim (Walter Schmidinger); and Peter's devastated mother (Lola Müthel). Bergman made this picture with a predominantly German cast and crew--the only exception being his longtime cinematographer, Sven Nykvist. All scenes were shot in black and white except the opening sequence, depicting the murder, and the epilogue. [Less]