Cheap From the Life of the Marionettes (Video) (Ingmar Bergman) Price

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Customer Reviews of From the Life of the Marionettes

Once more enter the darkness and meet Bergman.
"From the life of Marionettes" is a dark tale told by its multiple and unreliable characters. The plot begins with a shocking event through which the main character is introduced, where the audience is forced to judge him by the face value. What comes after is one of the most beautiful manifestations of Bergmanian prophecies: liberal, bitter, and extremely dark. This is a psychological hallucination, a bizzare experience in human relationship. Watch and levitate.

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Even a lesser Bergman is a good picture.
In addition to two fine reviews, let me add that the misogynist plot (Peter hates his wife Katrina but kills a prostitute instead) and the incessant recording (done by the investigator, the psychiatrist, and the murderer himself) draw our attention to the one gay man. Tim is a person who does not want to record what he has to say and who, although nearly everyone knows the imminent danger intuitively and disregards it, chooses to look himself in the mirror and recognizes the horror of both what he has done and not done. Yet we don't care when Katrina acknowledges his shallowness despite his hand upon her cheek. Since we don't care about Tim, how are we to care whether Peter ever found him? Consequently, Peter's anguish remains vague and we're left grateful he's locked up--not typical for Bergman who more often yearns for escape.

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love it : don't miss it
Don't be misled by what you've heard ...

... this IS a good film ... if this isn't standard Bergman fare, it is still good. I read the script before accessing the film, and was surprised at how different the two experiences actually were.

If sexual violence is not your cup of tea, the opening sequence is not for you. However, if you can distance yourself from same, this film is rewarding. The main character is duped by therapist, wife, and family friend in a complex series of events that does his psyche no good. Yet here is the rub ...

What makes this film SO GOOD, is this: in spite of the fact that we know the ending, by the end of the film, we have been so geared up by the previous explanatory incidents, we are totally horrified anew. We are at the edge of our seats, and "shouting" at the characters not to proceed...

...suffice it to say, without spoiling the tale for you, that the overall effect on us is masterful, a credit to Bergman's technique.

Yet my explanation is truly deficient: you have to experience it to believe it.

Do so.