Konterr Brilliant and touching

Tayloriona Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

Tobias Burrows It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

Dana An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

bandw Mozart is my favorite composer and Bergman is among my favorite film directors, so I thought I would give this a try. The fly in the ointment is that I am anything but an opera fan, in general finding the stories inane and the idea of people singing at each other quite peculiar. This operatic fairy tale did not change my mind with regard to these two points, but there was enough to engage me.There is of course Mozart's music, which is a big plus, but if that were the main attraction, then I could just listen to a CD. The costumes are subdued and well chosen without drawing unnecessary attention to themselves, for example, Papageno is not covered in feathers. The casting is well done, all characters look like you would hope them to. My ear for operatic singing is not tuned well enough to have found any fault with it. Many of the scenes are cleverly staged--the three boys descending from the heavens in their balloon was a high point. One of my favorite scenes was with the animals attracted to Tamino's playing of the flute. Some of the scenes are beautifully filmed with the eye of a true artist, like the scenes with the council of the elders. The staging of the trial by fire is stunning, although clearly was not done completely on stage. Håkan Hagegård's Papageno was the highlight among the actors for me, he created a simple, lovable character.The overture that had quick cuts to faces in the audience got old fast. After a few faces I got the idea that opera can be appreciated by any age group, ethnic group, or gender. Almost ten minutes of this distracted from the music. And I doubt that there ever has been such a diverse audience at an opera. The camera kept coming back to the face of a rather angelic young girl, and occasionally throughout the film there would be a cut to this girl, for no apparent reason. This was most irritating to me, it drew my attention away from what was going on on stage. The glimpses given into the backstage goings on is something a movie can do that a stage production cannot, but I found this concept to be a mixed bag. For example, consider the first entrance of Papageno. This is filmed with Hagegård sleeping and being awakened by the music's cue that he needs to be on stage pronto and, instead of anticipating his appearance and listening to some of the most affecting music of the opera, what we hear is the clattering of Hagegård's shoes as he comes down the stairway backstage. And, really, would a person playing a part in an opera be sleeping until he hears his cue? Another advantage of film is that focus can be placed on the actors, but here again I think this was not totally successful. The close-ups on the faces were too frequent and too intimate for me. Often a facial close-up prevented seeing what was going on elsewhere and, like someone getting too close into my personal space, I often wanted the camera to back up a bit from the extreme close-ups.What is with the occasional appearance of cards with text on them, sometimes pulled on screen by the characters?I regret that I am not one for whom opera can be an ecstatic experience. I'm afraid that I am doomed to wander among the unwashed--if this performance didn't get me there, then I doubt any will.

TheLittleSongbird Of all of Mozart's operas, I cannot decide which is my favourite out of Don Giovanni, Marriage of Figaro(Le Nozze Di Figaro) and Magic Flute(Die Zauberflote), though I have a fondness for Cosi Fan Tutte too. I love the stories and characters of these operas, and the music in all of Mozart's operas(even those with stories not as strong such Die Entfuhrung Aus Dem Serail) is magnificent.I have seen several opera productions, and a number of opera films. My favourite opera films prior to seeing this Magic Flute were the 1976 Tosca, Losey's Don Giovanni, Zeffirelli's La Traviata, Rossi's Carmen, Ponelle's Le Nozze Di Figaro and Ponelle's Rigoletto. I saw this Magic Flute for two primary reasons, one that Magic Flute is one of my favourite operas, and the other being the great Ingmar Bergman.The Magic Flute didn't disappoint. Bergman's direction was accomplished as always, the cinematography was gorgeous and the largely symbolic images looked amazing and enhanced the compelling story. The only ones that didn't quite work for me were the shots of the audience in the overture, which were a little distracting and unnecessary for me. The sets are suitably lavish and the costumes while different than one would expect are good.As for the orchestral playing and conducting, they were superb, with the orchestra playing with power and clarity, and the conducting rock-solid with well-judged tempos. The acting and singing are very good generally, the best being Hakan Hagegard's hilarious Papagaeno and Birgit Nordin's imperiously chilling Queen of the Night. Josef Kostlinger is excellent as Tamino too, which is surprising in a sense since I have often come across some dashing, beautifully-sung but very bland tenors in the role.Irma Urrila is very poignant as Pamina, and the three ladies and three boys are very well blended. Ulrik Cold's Sarastro is firm in the acting, but part of me would have liked a darker and perhaps more powerful voice, but he does do very well. Ragnar Ulfung's Monosatos is rather over-played for my liking.As for staging, I liked it, especially the two trials and the delightful Papagaeno-Papagaena duet. The decision to especially move Papagaeno's second aria to the second trial was actually a very good one. Only the first scene with the dragon struck a false note with me, the dragon looked decent but Kothlinger's acting could've been much more panicked.Overall, despite the few flaws I had with it, it is a great film and one of my favourites to do with opera. 9/10 Bethany Cox

marissas75 Some opera-buff acquaintances of mine have called Ingmar Bergman's movie of "The Magic Flute" the only good opera film ever made. While I don't know enough about opera to be able to accurately judge that, this movie is certainly a delightful experience. Sung in Swedish by a cast of photogenic Scandinavians, the film both looks and sounds wonderful.With its fairy-tale plot and passages of spoken dialogue in addition to singing, "The Magic Flute" is already a very accessible opera. Bergman accentuates this by taking an unpretentious "Opera for Everyone" approach, exemplified by his close-up shots of audience members' faces as the overture plays. His production mostly has an 18th-century rococo/ Neoclassical look, though there are a few jarringly modern touches, such as writhing dancers in the last scene. Other than that, this seems a pretty faithful (if shortened) version of the opera that captures its comedy as well as its serious themes.Mozart's music is both gorgeous and character-appropriate: lyrical arias for aristocratic lovers Tamino and Pamina, powerful coloratura for the vengeful Queen of the Night, folksy melodies for the bird-catcher Papageno. Papageno, a lovable Everyman type, is probably my favorite character in the opera, and Hakan Hagegard does the role justice. Ingmar Bergman's movies are known for their focus on human psychology, and even though "The Magic Flute" is a fantasy, the cast members make their actions believable. They do not just stand and sing like divas; they become tangible human beings.This collaboration across the centuries between two great artists, Mozart and Bergman, yielded a lovely result. Highly recommended for novice opera-watchers and serious opera buffs alike--though I'm sure many opera fans have already seen this treat of a movie.

FloatingOpera7 This version of The Magic Flute is strictly Bergman's vision, though he manages to put himself in Mozart's very own frame of mind and the experience is supremely powerful as a theater of magic storytelling. Filmed in a Stockholm theater, and sung in Swedish, not in the original German text, it stars Josef Kostlinger as Tamino, Ulrik Cold as Sarastro, Irma Urilla as Pamina, Birgit Nordin as The Queen of the Night and Hakard Hagegard as Papageno. These virtuosic singers, particularly comic baritone Hakan Hagegard and bass Ulrik Cold were once big names in the opera scene in Europe. I can't fully explain the magic of this film. Mozart himself would have been proud had he seen a stage production of this. Everything is exactly as Mozart intended, right down to the smallest detail in scenery and costume. Sarastro is so saintly he resembles God in "Birth of Man", Tamino is handsome in the fairy-tale prince sort of way and the definition of a noble youth on a spiritual quest, Pamina is endearingly feminine and graceful and the Queen of the Night is majestic but pure evil. The Three Boys flying about in the balloons were authentic devises used in the Theater Auf Der Wien in Vienna at the time of Mozart when balloons were newly invented. Both Mozart and his librettist, Emmanuel Schikaneder, were Freemasons and this opera is a tribute to their beliefs, which stressed brotherhood, democracy and enlightenment. This masterpiece is magical and full of fairy tale elements but make no mistake it's an adult allegory on the triumph of brotherhood and the end of tyranny, big issues during the Enlightenment, especially when the French Revolution was about to erupt and the rise of Napoleon's imperialism was about to come to Europe while in America, the war of Indepencence against England was also taking shape.Bergman makes "The Magic Flute" into a philosophical song play, complete with subtle but powerful symbols. There is a lot of philosophical and holy, nearly Buddhist quotes to emphasize the Freemasons' ideals - basically, don't lie, be full of virtue, be compassionate, be wise, all written out like laws on scrolls that the characters hold up for the viewers to see. The look of the Trial by Fire and Water is effectively poetic, haunting and metaphysical. The finale aptly portrays the triumph of Light or "The Enlightenment" over the dark forces of evil, night and ignorance, in a nearly balletic sort of way when an armed Queen of the Night and her minions advance on Sarastro's Temple, only to overcome in a burst of sunlight by Sarastro and his followers. Even amidst the elevated imagery, there are moments of genuine comedy. Take a look at the Intermission Scene. During their break, the singers indulge in relaxing hobbies- Ulrik Cold (Sarastro) is reading the medieval legend of Parsifal, which is also an opera by Wagner and no doubt an opera Ulrik himself sang, but note how the guy next to him is reading a Donald Duck comic book. Josef Kostlinger and Irma Urilla (Tamino and Pamina) play a game of chess, Birgit Nordin the Queen of the Night smokes a cigarette!! I found it to be very funny to see these characters out of their persona and acting like average joes. In the end, this is a rather "adult", "art-house" and symbolic version of the opera, and you're hard-pressed to find productions that even remotely resemble this one. It's not abstract or post-modern, thank God, and even in its Swedishness it remains true to Mozart's vision of the work. All fans of the opera should treat themselves to this film. First-time opera audiences will enjoy it but not as children that is they should have already seen another opera before this one. Children must first see "The Magic Flute" in various child-oriented productions. As it is, this movie is for adults with acquired tastes in opera and appreciate the Bergamn signature on this.