From the Life of the Marionettes

Written and directed by Ingmar Bergman, Aus dem Leben der Marionetten (From the Life of the Marionettes) is the story of married couple who are breaking up as they both go into different journeys where things go wrong. The film is an exploration into relationships as well as the aftermath of a relationship as it relate to two people who had fallen out of love with each other. Starring Robert Atzorn, Heinz Bennent, Martin Benrath, and Christine Buchegger. Aus dem Leben der Marionetten is an eerie yet ravishing film from Ingmar Bergman.

The film plays into a married couple’s disintegration where the husband has committed murder after killing a prostitute as investigators talk to those who knew him and the events that led to his breakdown and the action that he cause. It’s a film that is an exploration into not just disintegrating relationships but also the events that drove a man into madness. Ingmar Bergman’s screenplay has a very unique narrative where it begins with the murder and then it is told largely in flashbacks for much of the first half and then a few events in its aftermath for its second half where those wonder what caused the man to kill this prostitute. Especially where much of the narrative is about the disintegrating marriage of Peter Egermann (Robert Atzorn) and his fashion designer wife Katarina (Christine Buchegger). A relationship that had become toxic emotionally and mentally where the two are also having affairs with other people including Peter’s psychiatrist/friend Mogens Jensen (Martin Benrath) who is sleeping with Katarina.

Bergman’s direction is very entrancing for the way he would open and close the film as they’re both shot in color to play into a world that is very complicated as well as the severity of Peter’s emotional and mental state of mind. The rest of the film would be shot in black-and-white where Bergman would maintain a sense of intimacy into the look of a marriage as well as a man unraveling in the days before he would kill this prostitute. Shot on location in Munich with much of it shot on soundstages, Bergman aims for something that plays into not just paranoia but also fear in the way he would shoot Peter whether he is spying on a conversation or deal with dreams he’s having including ones where he wants to kill his wife.

Bergman’s compositions and the way he would frame his actors for a shot are eerie including a scene where Peter looks into the camera reading an un-mailed letter to Jensen. The scene of the night where Peter would murder the prostitute is just as eerie which serves as the climax while it would be followed by this somber aftermath in the epilogue as it showcases how far a man can descend into madness. Overall, Bergman creates a haunting yet compelling film about a man’s descent following the disintegration of his marriage.

Cinematographer Sven Nykvist does brilliant work with the film‘s cinematography from the eerie shots in color for the film‘s prologue and epilogue to the usage of black-and-white film stock for the rest of the film as it has this very eerie look into many of the interior scenes that is shot in the film. Editor Petra von Oelffen does brilliant work with the editing as it does play into some style with its usage of freeze-frames, frame-speeds, and jump-cuts to play into something that blurs the line of reality and fiction. Production designer Rolf Zehetbauer and art director Herbert Strabel do fantastic work with the look of the apartment home that Peter and Katarina live in as well as the peep show where Peter would kill the prostitute.

Costume designers Charlotte Flemming and Heinz A. Schulze does nice work with the clothes that Katarina would design in her fashion work including the stylish clothes that Peter‘s mother would wear. The sound work of Peter Beil is terrific for the low-key and naturalistic approach to the conversation scenes as well as the scenes at the peep show and social gatherings. The film’s music by Rolf A. Wilhelm is excellent as it is very low key where it is largely diegetic from the rock music that Peter listens on his headphones to the disco music that is heard at the peep show.

The film’s wonderful cast include some notable small roles from Karl-Heinz Pelser as a police interrogator, Lola Muthel as Peter’s mother who is a famous actress, Walter Schmidinger as Katarina’s partner Tim who would make some startling revelations in his interrogation about Peter, Heinz Bennent as a neighbor of Peter and Katarina who would try to stop him from killing himself, and Rita Russek as the prostitute Peter would kill as she shares the same name as his wife. Martin Benrath is superb as Peter’s friend and psychiatrist Mogens Jensen as a man that is trying to help Peter but also carry a sense of guilt as he is also Katarina’s lover.

Christine Buchegger is amazing as Katarina as Peter’s wife who is still has feelings for her husband despite their disintegrating love for each other as she tries to cope with how bad things are becoming as well as Peter’s own actions. Finally, there’s Robert Atzorn in a brilliant performance as Peter Egermann as a troubled architect filled with fear and paranoia over the failure of his marriage where at times he can be careless towards Katarina while becoming unhinged by dreams and fantasies of killing his wife as he starts to fall apart.

Aus dem Leben der Marionetten is a phenomenal film from Ingmar Bergman. Featuring a great cast as well as very dark themes on marriage, fear, paranoia, and the human psyche. The film is a psychological drama that explores the soul of a man whose life is falling apart as he would commit an action that add to his fall from grace. In the end, Aus dem Leben der Marionetten is a sensational film from Ingmar Bergman.

Ingmar Bergman Films: (Crisis) - (It Rains on Our Love) - (A Ship to India) - (Music of Darkness) - (Port of Call) - (Prison) - (Thirst (1949 film)) - (To Joy) - (This Can’t Happen Here) - (Summer Interlude) - Secrets of Women - Summer with Monika - Sawdust and Tinsel - A Lesson in Love - Dreams - Smiles of a Summer Night - The Seventh Seal - (Mr. Sleeman is Coming) - Wild Strawberries - (The Venetian) - (Brink of Life) - (Rabies) - The Magician - The Virgin Spring - The Devil's Eye - Through a Glass Darkly - Winter Sleep - The Silence - All These Women - Persona - (Simulantia-Daniel) - Hour of the Wolf - (Shame (1968 film)) - (The Rite) - The Passion of Anna - (The Touch) - Cries & Whispers - Scenes from a Marriage - (The Magic Flute) - (Face to Face) - (The Serpent’s Egg) - Autumn Sonata - Fanny & Alexander - (After the Rehearsal) - (Karin’s Face) - (The Blessed Ones) - (In the Presence of a Clown) - (The Image Makers) - Saraband

© thevoid99 2016

Possession (1981 film)

Directed by Andrezj Zulawski and written by Zulawski and Frederic Tuten, Possession is the story of a woman who starts to behave very strangely after asking her international spy husband for a divorce. The film explores a marriage coming apart as well as a woman unraveling amidst the decision to end her marriage. Starring Isabelle Adjani and Sam Neill. Possession is a terrifying yet provocative film from Andrezj Zulawski.

A spy returns home from a mission as his wife asks for a divorce as she starts to behave erratically as he wonders what is wrong with as their marriage starts to crumble. It’s a film that plays into questions about how a marriage can fall apart as questions of infidelity come into play but things become more complicated due to the behavior of the wife Anna (Isabelle Adjani) who becomes neglectful towards her son Bob (Michael Hogben) as well as being unkempt and goes away for long periods of time. For the husband Mark (Sam Neill), he wonders what Anna is up to as he asks her friend Margie (Margit Cartensen) and a lover of Anna in Heinrich (Heinz Bennent) as they don’t really know. Eventually, the answer that Mark finds would force him to question to his own devotion to his own wife.

The film’s screenplay starts off with Mark returning home as it showcases that his life as a spy is an ambiguous one where not much is revealed as his home life isn’t great either due to his numerous absences as he desires to stay home. Upon this decision, his life would unravel as he sees his marriage fall apart where Anna would leave for days as her decisions become questionable to the point that he would give her space until the realization that he couldn’t leave her. In some ways, the film is a love story of a man trying to prove his devotion to his wife who wants nothing to do with him as well as some revelations about how their marriage disintegrated. Even as Mark is tempted move on from his marriage after meeting Bob’s schoolteacher Helen (Isabelle Adjani) who is the exact opposite of Anna. Still, Mark is eager to help Anna who starts to unravel as he hires private detectives to find out what she is doing as it would involve some extremely dark aspects relating to Anna’s odd behavior.

Andrezj Zulawski’s direction is very stylish in not just some of the tracking shots he creates that are very elaborate. It’s also in some of the intimate moments between Mark and Anna where it showcases a lot of dramatic tension and quieter moments that showcases their disintegrating marriage. Notably a scene at a restaurant where Mark makes a scene as it showcases some of the film’s manic tone where Zulawski uses a lot of hand-held cameras to capture the action along with some long takes. Even the tracking shots that are created go on for a while to play into the world the characters are in as it’s set in West Berlin near the Berlin Wall where Mark often sees guards looking at him from the Wall. The use of the locations has Zulawski play into something where it serves as a metaphor for where Mark and Anna are in their life and marriage.

The sense of maniacal terror definitely looms once it becomes clear into why Anna has become quite secretive as it includes this eerie flashback scene of a meltdown in a subway tunnel that is just fucked up beyond recognition. It’s a moment in the film where it’s very primal and visceral where Zulawski’s use of hand-held cameras and the location itself adds to that sense of terror that looms. Even as the film progresses where this mix of horror, drama, and suspense come together where it plays into what Mark wants from Anna. Overall, Zulawski creates a truly mesmerizing yet haunting film about a man’s attempt to save his marriage.

Cinematographer Bruno Nuytten does excellent work with the film‘s cinematography with its use of grayish colors to play into the dreariness of the locations and its tone of horror. Editors Marie-Sophi Dubus and Suzanne Lang-Willar do fantastic work with the editing with its use of jump-cuts from a film that Mark watches about Anna to some of the rhythmic cuts in the film‘s suspenseful moments. Art director Holger Gross does amazing work with the look of the apartments the characters look including the apartment that Anna lives in all by herself.

Costume designer Ingrid Zore does terrific work with the costumes from the blue dresses of Anna to the more white dresses that her doppelganger Helen wears. The sound work of Norman Engel and Karl-Heinz Laabs do brilliant work with the sound from some of the effects it play into the film‘s horror as well as the mixing to convey some of its suspense and ominous moments. The film’s music by Andrezj Korzynski is superb for its very chilling use of pianos and discordant string arrangements as well as sound textures that play into the sense of terror that looms in the film.

The film’s incredible cast include some notable small roles from Carl Duering as a private detective hired to follow Anna, Shaun Lawton as the detective’s partner, Joanna Hofer as Heinrich’s mother, Maximillian Ruthlein as an associate of Mark from the spy service, and Michael Hogben as Mark and Anna’s son Bob who wonders about his mother’s many absences. Heinz Bennent is terrific as Anna’s lover Heinrich who is a very strange man who claims to love everything as he is also a skilled fighter as he is someone that tests Mark. Margit Cartensen is wonderful in a small role as Anna’s best friend Margie whom Mark doesn’t like very much as she is aware that something about Anna isn’t right as she helps Mark in looking after Bob.

Sam Neill is great as Mark as this spy who returns home to see his marriage unraveling as it’s a performance that is terrifying at times in terms of Mark’s devotion to Anna as he also displays a darkly comic sense of charm to his role. Finally, there’s Isabelle Adjani in a performance for the ages in the dual roles of Anna and Helen. In the latter, there is a sweetness to the character of Helen as she represents everything that Anna isn’t while being offbeat in her look due to the green eyes she has. In Anna, Adjani goes all out as it is over-the-top at times but also a performance that is just visceral and frightening to watch. Most notably the scene at the tunnel where Adjani is like a wild animal coming apart as it’s a performance that is unquestionably one of the scariest performances captured on film.

Possession is a phenomenal film from Andrezj Zulawski that features a very terrifying and unforgettable performance from Isabelle Adjani. The film is without question one of the most intriguing films about marriage as well as being a smart genre-bender that refuses to define itself into one genre. Even as it has something for everyone including horror fans in how it can go to great extremes. In the end, Possession is a magnificent film from Andrezj Zulawski.

Andrezj Zulawski Films: (The Third Part of the Night) - (Diabel) - That Most Important Thing: Love - (The Public Woman) - (L’Amour braque) - (On the Silver Globe) - (My Nights Are More Beautiful Than Your Days) - (Boris Godunov) - (The Blue Note (1991 film)) - (Szamanka) - (Fidelity) - (Cosmos (2015 film))

© thevoid99 2014

The Last Metro

Directed by Francois Truffaut and co-written with Suzanne Schiffman, Le Dernier Metro (The Last Metro) is the story of a woman trying to hide her Jewish husband in a theater that they own during the German’s occupation of France in World War II. During this hideout, the woman tries to keep the theater going as she falls for an actor in a production they’re working on. Starring Catherine Deneuve, Gerard Depardieu, Heinz Bennent, and Jean Poiret. Le Dernier Metro is a glorious period film from Francois Truffaut.

It’s 1942 as the Germans have occupied France as rumors emerged that renowned theater director Lucas Steiner (Heinz Bennent) has fled France leaving his prestigious theater in the control of his wife Marion (Catherine Deneuve) and another theater director in Jean-Loup Cottins (Jean Poiret). Marion and Jean-Loup have been given instructions to run a new play called The Woman who Disappeared with notes from Steiner as they work with their regular group of workers and actors. One of the new arrivals is Bernard Granger (Gerard Depardieu) who has been a fan of the theater and wants to act as he successfully gets an audition.

While Marion is trying to deal with notorious critic Daxiat (Jean-Louis Richard), she also has been secretly hiding Lucas in a cellar under the theater so he can hear what is going on. With plans for Lucas to flee to Spain has failed, he decides to help out by giving notes in secrecy to Marion as he hears the rehearsals. With Bernard becoming the perfect leading man for Marion, he also secretly helps out a man named Christian (Jean-Pierre Klein) with work for the Resistance. Still, Bernard manages to win over the people as he tries to flirt with the women including young actress Nadine (Sabine Haudepin) and the set/costume designer Arlette (Andrea Ferreol).

With opening night happening and everyone nervous, the play ends up being a big success though Daxiat’s review was not surprisingly well-received. Though Bernard received praise in his review, he confronted Daxiat as he gets himself in trouble with Marion. With the play still going on as Marion becomes distanced towards Bernard, trouble brews as Gestapo forces are wondering if Lucas had really disappeared. When Bernard reveals to Marion about his involvement with the Resistance, she reveals the secret about Lucas as the three figure out what to do. With Bernard set to leave to join the Resistance and the theater in trouble due to Daxiat’s political connections, Marion begins to realize her feelings towards Bernard as the two try to come to terms with it.

The film’s title refers to the last subway train ride before curfew is imposed by the Nazis during their occupation of France in World War II. Yet, there’s brief mentions about that though it is really about an actress, her husband, and a group of people working at the theater trying to keep it going amidst the chaos of World War II. With help of a new actor, who is involved with the Resistance, a love triangle does start to emerge between this new actor, the leading lady, and her husband who is hiding at a cellar. Yet, Francois Truffaut doesn’t make the film about the love story but rather what these three people and various others do to keep this play together for the people of France in this time of trouble.

Truffaut and co-writer Suzanne Schiffman create a script that allows the audience to see how a play is created as well as the people involved in making it. Aside from the three principle characters, other characters such as the young ingenue, a new director, the costume/set designer, an elderly assistant named Germaine (Paulette Dubost) and a handyman named Raymond (Maurice Risch) help out in creating this play. Though no one knows about the fact that Lucas Steiner is under the stage listening to everything until Bernard learns about it late in the film. It’s as if they’re trying to keep things forward as if he is still there while dealing with a notorious critic and the Nazis who are trying to bring trouble.

Throughout the story, there are things that goes on that does play out casually about the creation of a play where Bernard tried to flirt with a few women while he would have these secret meetings with a Resistance agent. At the same time, there’s little moments throughout the story about how sets are made while Lucas gives out notes to Marion as he listens in. The script allows the characters to be more than who they are while there’s moments of frustration and anguish that goes on. Notably when everyone is trying to deal with the Nazis as they’re forced to not hire Jews though a young girl creating costumes does get a job in secrecy. The script is truly superb for the characters that is created as well as the situations that happens as well as the planning of the play.

Truffaut’s direction is truly potent in the way he creates a film that is about the creation of a play during World War II in occupied France. While it’s shot in a theater with some set pieces recreated for the period, Truffaut creates an intimacy to the direction where he lets the audience be engaged by what is happening. At the same time, he underplays the drama by letting things be a bit more upbeat except in more intense dramatic moments in the film. Particularly as the film has Nazis around though there are no scenes of violence except what is mentioned on paper and on the radio.

The scenes of the play does have a theatricality that is very entrancing to the way Truffaut and his actors tell the story of this woman haunted by the appearance of her son’s tutor. The staging and presentation is very haunting while the stuff that goes on from the audience and backstage makes it very interesting about their reaction. Even as the curtains close to see how the actors feel about each other or what is going on around them. There is a great sense of rhythm to how Truffaut plays up to the small amount of suspense as well as playing to the sense of longing in the way Marion and Bernard look at each other from afar. Overall, Truffaut creates a film that is enchanting for its gorgeous presentation and heartfelt approach to storytelling.

Cinematographer Nestor Almendros does a superb job with the film‘s lush yet colorful cinematography. Almendros’ exquisite work plays to the look of the red curtain for many of the scenes in the theater while creating a mix of gray and black with bits of color for the exteriors outside of the theater. For some dark interior scenes, Almendros’ approach to lighting by using candles or little electric lights allow the film to maintain a sense of beauty that is truly magical as his work is truly the film’s technical highlight. Editor Martine Barraque does an excellent job with the editing as she presents a very straightforward approach to the cutting while using fade-outs for the some of the films’ transitions.

Production designer Jean-Pierre Kohut-Svelko does a great job with the set pieces created for the stage play as well as the look of the theater and hangouts the characters go to. Costume designer Lisele Roos does a spectacular job with the clothes that includes the dresses the women wear including the more posh look of Marion with her fur coats and the red dress she wears for the play. The sound work of Michel Laurent and Michel Mellier is brilliant for the intimacy that is created on the stage to the sirens heard for air raids that pops up a few times in the film. The film’s score by Georges Delerue is wonderful for the wide range of moods it creates from some light-hearted moments with upbeat orchestral arrangements to a more ominous theme for scenes involving Bernard’s work with the Resistance and scenes relating to the Nazis.

The casting for the film is amazing with the ensemble that is created as it includes some appearances from Laszlo Szabo as a Nazi lieutenant, Richard Bohringer as a Gestapo officer, Jessica Zucman as the young Jewish costume maker Marion secretly hires, Martine Simonet as a black-market woman Raymond meets, Henia Suchar as Marion’s hotel chambermaid, Renata Flores as a German singer at a club, Franck Pasquier as a child actor in the play, and Jean-Pierre Klein as Bernard’s Resistance contact Christian. Other notable small yet memorable supporting roles include Maurice Risch as the funny yet loyal technician Raymond, Paulette Dubost as Marion’s elderly yet kind assistant Germaine, and Jean-Louis Richard as the politically-connected critic Daxiat.

Sabine Haudepin is very good as Nadine, a young ingenue who is trying to maintain her loyalty to the company while dealing with the numerous job offers she’s getting. Andrea Ferreol is wonderful as Arlette, the set/costume designer who tries to deal with the flirtations of Bernard as well as the demands of the play. Jean Poiret is excellent as Jean-Loup Cottins, the play’s director who tries to deal with the presence of Daxiat as well as trying to get the play in the same vision of Lucas Steiner. Heinz Bennent is superb as Lucas Steiner, a revered Jewish playwright who is forced to hide as he listens from a cellar on the rehearsals of his own play while dealing with the fact that he’s isolated with only Marion to talk to.

Finally, there’s the duo of Gerard Depardieu and Catherine Deneuve as they each give incredible performances in the respective roles of Bernard and Marion. Depardieu displays a wonderful sense of charm and sensitivity to a man who loves to act but also tries to deal with his role working with the Resistance. For the stage performance, Depardieu brings a very restrained yet hypnotic approach which really shows the complexity of his range as an actor. Deneuve gives a truly elegant performance of a woman dealing with everything as she also tries to help her husband in his isolated state. Deneuve also creates a stage performance that intense in its melodrama while proving to be very tough. While Deneuve has great rapport with her other actors, the scenes she and Depardieu have are magical as they really work off each other and seem to enjoy themselves as they’re a major highlight of the film.

Le Dernier Metro is a sensational yet entertaining film from Francois Truffaut. Featuring a top-notch ensemble cast led by Catherine Deneuve and Gerard Depardieu as well as great technical work led by Nestor Almendros’ rich cinematography. It is truly one of Truffaut’s finest films in his revered career for the way he creates a World War II period piece and making it into a compelling dramatic film. While it may not have the looseness of his early films of the 1960s, it is a film where Truffaut has refined his technique to bring something more to a World War II drama. In the end, Le Dernier Metro is a mesmerizing film from the late, great Francois Truffaut.

Francois Truffaut Films: The 400 Blows - Shoot the Piano Player - Jules & Jim - Antoine & Colette - The Soft Skin - Fahrenheit 451 - The Bride Wore Black - Stolen Kisses - Mississippi Mermaid - The Wild Child - Bed and Board - Two English Girls - Such a Gorgeous Kid Like Me - Day for Night - The Story of Adele H. - Small Change - The Man Who Loved Women - The Green Room - Love on the Run - The Woman Next Door - Confidentially Yours

(The Auteurs #40: Francois Truffaut (Pt. 1) - (Pt. 2))

© thevoid99 2011