March, 2018 this is the queen of the night but not as you know her. Opera on films most magical offering, better by some way than joseph loseys cinematically tricksy don giovanni, at last makes it to region 2 in this bfi dualformat release. The magic flute bluray disc details highdef digest. He was also a playwright and theatre director, and he simultaneously worked extensively in theatre throughout his film career. Mozarts immortal opera is masterfully reworked for the screen by the great ingmar bergman in this sublime rendering of one of the composers bestloved works a cheerful and charming operatic celebration of love, forgiveness and humanity. The magic flute criterion collection dvd 1975 best buy. One of these is ingmar bergmans incredible the magic flute, which is combination of a staged opera within a narrative film. It is usually hard to pull off a filmed stage play let alone opera so needless to say bergman was taking a risk. Adaptation, enactment, and ingmar bergmans magic flute. Bergman took a complete leftturn in the mid1970s after a decade of the most intense metaphysical speculation, he mounted a production of mozarts comic opera in. His father was a conservative parish minister with strict ideas of. Ingmar bergmans the magic flute new trailer bfi youtube. Classic fm the magic flute ingmar bergman facebook.
Ingmar bergmans magical, delightful, enchanting version of mozarts playful opera is quite possibly the best opera adaptation ever put on film. The magic flute the criterion collection full screen. The trouble is that bergmans ostensibly supportive tactics tend actually to subvert mozarts conception, and so the result is a good deal less momentous than bergman thinks. Bergman, ingmar, 19182007, bergman, ingmar, 19182007 publisher wilmette, ill. Ingmar bergman puts his indelible stamp on mozarts exquisite opera in this sublime rendering of one of the composers bestloved works watch the magic flute prime video skip to main content. The conductor bruno walter once suggested that the magic flute, rather than the unfinished requiem, was mozarts true valedictory work. The music and the vocals are the same as the original, however bergmans spin on the story incorporates snippets of humor and. Its as if all this joy has been building up inside him during the great decade of metaphysical films beginning with persona.
Even though he was a renowned theater director before and during his filmmaking career, the magic flute is still very experimental for ingmar bergman. It is however a risk that even if nobody else believed he could do it, he sure knew. This scintillating screen version of mozarts beloved opera showcases ingmar bergmans deep knowledge of music and gift for expressing it cinematically. Ingmar bergman film version of mozarts magic flute revd by p g davis. Ingmar bergman the queen of the night offers her daughter pamina to tamino, but he has to bring her back from her father and. The masterful viskningar och rop cries and whispers followed in 1972, with the acclaimed television miniseries scenes from a marriage premiering in 1973. As such, i will be concentrating on the operas theatrical and cinematic elements.
An accomplished organist, and a musicologist with impressive knowledge of the bach canon. I saw it when it came out, when i was in my second year as a student of germanic and scandinavian languages at ucla. A celebration of love and forgiveness that exhibits a profound appreciation for the artifice and spectacle of the theater, the magic flute is among the most exquisite opera films ever made. Its been 10 years since he made a comedy the dreadful all these women and 20 years since he made a good one smiles of a summer night, and. The film was shown at the 1975 cannes film festival. The small screen remained bergmans medium of choice for the next several years, with the magic flute in 1975 and ansikte mot ansikte face to face in 1976. The film does not lack for beautiful imagery, like the snow scenes and fiery cavernhomages of sorts to early d.
In swedish, with english subtitles staffan hedqvist, executive producer. Shot in sumptuous color by sven nykvist, and featuring some of the finest nordic singers of the day, the film marks bergmans overt tribute to classical music. Between 1944 and 2003 he directed 45 feature films and wrote many screenplays for others. Stig bjorkman, director shows bergman at work on one of his films, the touch. Ingmar bergmans classic swedishlanguage adaptation of the magic flute is widely and rightfully considered one of the greatest examples, if not the greatest example of opera on film. Ingmar bergman was a swedish screenwriter and film director. Ac3, 2 ch, 448 kbps bdrip 720p mkv avc, 988x720, 2. While the opera itself is offered in a highly stylized and theatrical fashion, the fluidity of the camerawork turns the affair into a purely cinematic experience. He is regarded as one of the great masters of modern cinema. It was intended as a television production and was first shown on swedish television but was followed by a cinema release later that year. A longtime pet project of swedish filmmaker ingmar bergman, wolfgang amadeus mozarts opera the magic flute was finally brought to the screen in 1973.
His version is in swedish rather than the original german and incorporates many of his own fantastical images and ideas. Commissioned for television, and intended for a wide audience, the magic flute was shot on a replica of the 18thcentury drottningholm castle theater. Ive long treasured a vhs recording of bergmans production of the magic flute, so snapped up the bluray and dvd as soon as i heard about it. Rather than present this most stagy and fantastical of operas as real, bergman frames the film as a stage performance at swedens historic drottningholm. Ingmar bergman has never before made a movie so warm, happy and innocent as this version of mozarts the magic flute. The magic flute the current the criterion collection. Ive watched ingmar bergmans sublime response to mozart many times, and played scenes to students, in the criterion collection edition, but here it is, easily seen in the uk, all spruced up and ready to delight a. Bergman dispenses with theatrical illusion to show the working. Enjoy a lively discussion of ingmar bergmans 1975 film the magic flute swedish. Ingmar bergman found bleakness and despair as well as comedy and hope in his indelible explorations of the human condition. Twentyfive years after its first appearance, bergmans film of the magic flute remains the finest screen version of an opera ever produced. Using the clips of 1975 swedish film reitshamer will give an indepth explanation of the opera, as well as a peek into the lives bergman and mozart as well. Shooting in swedish on a set replicating a lovely 18thcentury theatre, bergman begins his wonderfully warm, witty and sensuous movie by focusing on the faces of a rapt audience momentarily. This scintillating screen version of wolfgang amadeus mozarts beloved opera showcases ingmar bergmans deep knowledge of music and gift for expressing.
An organist and musicologist, bergman once said that he might have been a conductor if theater and film had not taken over his life. As this rereleased 1975 version shows, the opera was the. Papageno papagena duet youtube from the ingmar berman. This marvellously melodic visual treat is now available for the first time on bluray and dvd in the uk. Bergman constantly blurs the lines between the two during the actual performance of the mozart masterpiece and does so with tremendous style. Har dil jo pyaar karega movie english subtitles download for hindi. The magic flute, film by ingmar bergman based on w.