The Criterion Collection

One of Ingmar Bergman’s most wrenching films is 1980’s From the Life of the Marionettes. Marked by shocking bursts of violence and sexuality, the film elaborates on the destructive relationship between two minor characters from Bergman’s Scenes from a Marriage. It was made for Swedish television; outside of a small U.S. theatrical release in 1981, it has not been widely seen in this country, where it has never been on DVD. Now you can see it on Hulu Plus as part of this week’s festival of free Criterion films there, all of which were originally made for the small screen. Other titles include Bergman’s full miniseries version of Fanny and Alexander, Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s sci-fi epic World on a Wire, and Orson Welles’s Isak Dinesen adaptation The Immortal Story (also not available on DVD). Watch From the Life of the Marionettes below, and also be sure to browse through Criterion’s hundreds of other titles on Hulu Plus. (You can watch them all for just $7.99 a month if you sign up.)