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 S E A R C H    D V D B e a v e r

(aka "From the Life of the Marionettes" )

 

http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/direct-chair/bergman.htm
 Germany 1980

 

Made during his self-imposed exile in Germany, Ingmar Bergman’s From the Life of the Marionettes offers a lacerating portrait of a destructive marriage and a complex psychological analysis of a murder. Businessman Peter nurses fantasies of killing his wife, Katarina, until a prostitute becomes his surrogate prey. In the aftermath of the crime, Peter and Katarina’s psychiatrist and others attempt to explain its roots. Jumping back and forth in time, this compelling film moves seamlessly between seduction and repulsion, and the German cast is superb.

***

Filmed in Germany, during Bergman's tax-related exile with a predominantly German cast and crew, From the Life of the Marionettes continues the story of Katarina and Peter Egermann, the feuding, childless, professional couple who appear in Scenes From A Marriage. This is an unusually raw and explicit drama in which all the scenes are shot in black and white except the opening sequence and the epilogue.

 

Peter Egermann (Robert Atzorn), outwardly stable and well adjusted, suffers from depression, feelings of sexual inadequacy, and barey suppressed rage toward his wife, Katarina (Christine Buchegger). This eventually leads to the brutal rape and murder of a prostitute, known only as Ka, a nickname for Katarina. An intense and experimental film, whose complex structure allows us to explore the mind of a man driven to extremes, From the Life of the Marionettes is one of Bergman's most daring works.

Posters ( Click to enlarge )

Reviews                                                                             More Reviews                                                                   DVD Reviews

 

 Comparison:

Tartan - Region 0 - PAL vs. SF (Svensk Filmindustri) - Region 2 - PAL vs. Criterion - Region FREE - Blu-ray

Big thanks to Per-olaf Strandberg for the DVD Screen Caps!

 

1) Tartan - Region 0 - PAL - LEFT

2) SF (Svensk Filmindustri) - Region 2 - PAL - MIDDLE

3) Criterion - Region FREE - Blu-ray RIGHT

 
Box Covers

 

 

 

 

 

Distribution

Tartan

Region 0 - PAL

 SF (Svensk Filmindustri)
Region 2 - PAL		 Criterion (Ingmar Bergman's Cinema) - Region FREE - Blu-ray
Runtime 99:31 (4% PAL speedup) 99:36 (4% PAL speedup) 1:44:29.263
Video

1:1.33 Open Matte format
Average Bitrate: mb/s
PAL 720x576 25.00 f/s

1:1.33 Open Matte format
Average Bitrate: 6.98 mb/s
PAL 720x576 25.00 f/s

1.66:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray

Disc One: 49,940,047,586 bytes

Feature: 26,126,303,232 bytes

Video Bitrate: 29.46 Mbps

Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video

NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate:

Tartan

 

NOT AVAILABLE
Bitrate:

 

SF (Svensk Filmindustri)

 

Bitrate:

Criterion - Region FREE - Blu-ray

 

Audio German (Dolby Digital 2.0)

German (Dolby Digital 2.0)

 LPCM Audio German 1152 kbps 1.0 / 48 kHz / 1152 kbps / 24-bit
Subtitles English, None Finnish, Swedish, Danish, Norwegian and None NO ENGLISH SUBTITLES English, None
Features Release Information:
Studio: Tartan

Aspect Ratio:
Fullscreen - 1:1.33

Edition Details:
• Star and Director Filmographies
• Philip Strick Film Notes
• Extract from Bergman's Book 'Images - My Life in Film'
• The Bergman Collection Trailer

DVD Release Date: February 25, 2002
Keep Case

Chapters 20

Release Information:
Studio: SF (Svensk Filmindustri)

Aspect Ratio:
Fullscreen - 1:1.33

Edition Details:
• None
 

DVD Release Date: 2005-09-20
Keep Case

Chapters 16

Release Information:
Studio: Criterion

 

1.66:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray

Disc One: 49,940,047,586 bytes

Feature: 26,126,303,232 bytes

Video Bitrate: 29.46 Mbps

Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video

 

Edition Details:

• shares the Blu-ray Disc with Hour of the Wolf


 Blu-ray Release Date: November 20th, 2018
 Transparent Blu-ray Case

Chapters 20

 

 

Comments

NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.

The Criterion Blu-ray of From the Life of the Marionettes is part of their Ingmar Bergman’s Cinema 100th Anniversary 30 Blu-ray Boxset (reviewed, as a work in-progress, HERE). From the Life of the Marionettes shares this Blu-ray with Hour of the Wolf.  See comparative captures, a listing of technical details, extras etc., on this page.

NOTE: Yes, as has been leaked, we can now confirm that this Blu-ray  set is Region FREE!

***

Even though there are some difference in these two DVDs, the TARTAN having used only 3.6 GB of space, where SF has used 5.4 GB, I think they are both mastered from the same source material.

In my eyes the TARTAN disc is slightly sharper, but as said, when they have used the same source material, it can be that the TARTAN has some minor contrast boosting to achieve improvement. The white line at the left side of the picture, is outside the over-scan image, and is not visible during playback. As you see in screen-cap #2, there are visible digital artifacts!

Extract from Bergman's book:
From the Life of the Marionettes, however, was not a joy to make. It was made as a television film and was mainly financed by Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen. Outside of Germany, it was unfortunately presented as a feature film.

I have seen this film theatrically in 1:1.85 ratio, and it didn't seem the lose any information. I don't know in which stage the producer has made the decision to give this film a theatrical release. The headroom in many picture compositions could indicate that this is framed as open matte format.

There is a story behind this film, and it deserves at least some extra material, and a commentary track. In my opinion it's Bergman at his very best, a true masterpiece!

NOTE!
The Swedish DVD doesn't have English subtitles.

 - Per-Olof Strandberg


DVD Menus
(Tartan - Region 0 - PAL - LEFT vs. SF (Svensk Filmindustri) - Region 2 - PAL - RIGHT)
 

 

Criterion - Region FREE - Blu-ray

 

CLICK EACH BLU-RAY CAPTURE TO SEE ALL IMAGES IN FULL 1920X1080 RESOLUTION

 

Screen Captures - Subtitle Sample - Criterion - Region FREE - Blu-ray

 

 

1) Tartan - Region 0 - PAL - TOP

2) SF (Svensk Filmindustri) - Region 2 - PAL - MIDDLE

3) Criterion - Region FREE - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 

1) Tartan - Region 0 - PAL - TOP

2) SF (Svensk Filmindustri) - Region 2 - PAL - MIDDLE

3) Criterion - Region FREE - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 

1) Tartan - Region 0 - PAL - TOP

2) SF (Svensk Filmindustri) - Region 2 - PAL - MIDDLE

3) Criterion - Region FREE - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 

1) Tartan - Region 0 - PAL - TOP

2) SF (Svensk Filmindustri) - Region 2 - PAL - MIDDLE

3) Criterion - Region FREE - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 

1) Tartan - Region 0 - PAL - TOP

2) SF (Svensk Filmindustri) - Region 2 - PAL - MIDDLE

3) Criterion - Region FREE - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 

1) Tartan - Region 0 - PAL - TOP

2) SF (Svensk Filmindustri) - Region 2 - PAL - MIDDLE

3) Criterion - Region FREE - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 

1) Tartan - Region 0 - PAL - TOP

2) SF (Svensk Filmindustri) - Region 2 - PAL - MIDDLE

3) Criterion - Region FREE - Blu-ray BOTTOM

 

More Blu-ray Captures

 


Box Covers

 

 

 

 

 

Distribution

Tartan

Region 0 - PAL

 SF (Svensk Filmindustri)
Region 2 - PAL		 Criterion - Region FREE - Blu-ray




 

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