In 1981, three members of I Fili Spezzati were found in a farmhouse outside Turin, hanging from the rafters not by ropes, but by marionette stringsādozens of them, tied to their wrists, ankles, and necks. Each held a small wooden crossbar in their hands. The police ruled it a shared suicide. The puppeteer who found them noted something odd: their faces had been carved post-mortem, mouths fixed into identical, gentle smiles.
The Sourcebook is divided into three sections: Anatomy, Anima, and Abandonment. marionette sourcebook
I bought it for three euros. It turned out to be one of the most unsettling books I have ever read. In 1981, three members of I Fili Spezzati
The Marionette Sourcebook is not a manual. It is a mirror. And it is not meant for builders. It is meant for those who think too much. The puppeteer who found them noted something odd:
Elio, the shopkeeper, told me this last story while polishing a glass eye. He shrugged. āIl Regista warned them. In the Sourcebook , page 287: āThe puppet that cuts its own strings does not fall. It floats for one second. Then it remembers it was never held up at all.āā He slid the book across the counter. āYou still want this?ā
The bookās author is given only as āIl Registaā (The Director). No first name. No biography. Elio claimed he was a Sicilian aristocrat who disappeared in 1982, leaving behind a workshop filled with half-finished puppets whose faces were carved to resemble specific people in his villageāpeople who later died of sudden, inexplicable strokes.