The Magic Flute - Criterion Collection

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DVD details

Actor: Helene Friberg, Jane Darling, Jerker Arvidson, Nina Harte, Sven-Erik Jacobsson
Primary Contributor: Josef K?stlinger
DVD: Region Code 0
Audio: Swedish (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo; English (Subtitled)
Format: Color, DVD-Video, NTSC, Special Edition
Picture Format: Academy Ratio, 1.33:1
Running Time: 135 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2000-05-16
Audience Rating: G (General Audience)
Studio: Criterion

DVD Reviews of The Magic Flute - Criterion Collection

DVD Review: Magical
Summary: 5 Stars

This is not exactly a movie and not exactly a documentary, but a bit of each blended to create a unique film. You will see and hear a wonderful rendition of Mozart's The Magic Flute, sung in Swedish, as presented at the Royal Dramatic Theater in Stockholm, and you also get a glimpse of the audience and the backstage, and this contributes to the awe and delight. It is a Bergman masterpiece and so un-Bergman....no dark mood, except that which Mozart chose to include. If you like The Magic Flute and the movies, this is THE video you want to keep and watch over and over.

DVD Review: Eh
Summary: 2 Stars

Ingmar Bergman's 1975 film/tv version of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's opera The Magic Flute (Trollfl?jten) is a serviceable film, and nothing that really takes advantage of either of its media- opera and film, to its fullest; although it begs the question as to why it was ever made? It is basically a filmed version of the play (although the singing was recorded beforehand and looped in to the film, thus allowing the actors to emote without worrying of their singing)- replete with shots of a gawking audience, but very little new is added to the tale. Yes, it's sung in Swedish, and there are a few minor changes, such as the sorcerer Sarastro being Pamina's father- which adds a tinge of Bergmanian and Freudian angst to the opera, and a few scenes being reordered, but overall it's the same familiar tale.
While watching it I wondered what such a film of Swan Lake, by Federico Fellini, would have been like. Doubtless, it would have been more over the top than this production, but that fact only reinforces my query as to why film this opera the way it is filmed? Yes, Bergman is almost as famed as a stage director as he is a film director, and there are some scenes of `backstage' antics- especially during a several minute long Intermission, where the actor playing Sarastro, Ulrik Cold- his real name, is shown reading the score of another opera, Parsifal, and another actor is reading a Donald Duck comic book, but the tale itself is rather straightforward, and at two hours and fifteen minutes, a bit too long, even if abridged from the over three hours of the opera; although one can go to the bathroom and not miss much of what is going on.... Overall, however, The Magic Flute succeeds as a film not because of Bergman's considerable skills in his art form, nor the acting skills of his cast, but because of their singing skills, and the music of Mozart. That one great artist, at his height, can aid another great artist, at less than his height, is nothing to be ashamed of, but it does make for a rather average viewing experience, something quite rare when that artist is named Ingmar Bergman.

DVD Review: Pappa pappa pappa!
Summary: 5 Stars

I first saw this in the movies back in the 1970s, before there was even a thought you might be able to own a copy and watch at home. I have been waiting for this to be put together since the death of Ingmar Bergman. It still is as fresh as it was back then and the singing was great. enjoy the subtle sense of humor that is throughout. If you love the Bergman style and opera you will love this. the close ups are priceless.

DVD Review: Nearly perfect.
Summary: 5 Stars

I've read the many raves and few rants on the several pages of Amazon reviews of Ingmar Bergman's production of Mozart's "The Magic Flute." I saw the movie when it was first released, as I was finishing graduate school, and many times since--most recently last night, my first viewing on DVD.

This is a thoroughly delightful movie/music gem. What could be lovelier or more charming? I agree, maybe some of the sexual frolicking between Papageno and Papagena is over the top for small kids, and I guess it's a sign of the times that the suicide scenes are problematic for children. But, those concerns aside, I would think that most people would be blown away by the sheer beauty of the music and the "fun" of the setting that Bergman chose for the performance.

OK, so here are my minor niggles, but not enough to bump my rating from 5 stars to 4: First, although I found the cast to be quite good overall, I cannot abide Tamino's timber or uneven vibrato. Second,I found the close-ups of the fictitious audience during the Overture to get a little tedious -- but I did not mind the frequent close-ups of the little girl throughout (see more on her later). Third, and maybe I'm nitpicking here, it bugged me a little that the English subtitles so often seemed out of whack with some Swedish words I could understand. For example, when the three ladies are singing "triumf" (triumph) upon killing the dragon, the subtitle says "joy." Huh? Other examples abound. I don't speak Swedish, but I know "triumph" when I hear it. Maybe that's just the way it is when the English is a translation from the German, the Swedish is a translation from the German, and both translations are worried about rhyming. A minor distraction for "word people" like myself, and probably none for people who are just enjoying the music (aren't operas generally best when you don't know what they're saying?).

Now for the really good parts. (1) The music is truly great; best of all in my mind are the many duets, trios, and even quintets with their glorious harmonies. (2) The story is nice overall, with just enough gravitas to keeping it from being too lightweight. In fact, this version does a good job of culling out quite a bit of the heavy middle portion, which helps shorten and tighten the movie. (3) The cast (aside from Tamino) ranges from very good to great. Sarastro hits the low notes with ease and control, and the Queen of the Night gives a sparkling performance of her two mind-blowing arias. I've seen and heard lots of performances, and few have even come close to her ability to nail the high notes (I wonder how many "takes" it took). Pamina is also very good, as are the delightful three ladies, the priests, the two gatekeepers with flaming helmets, and (less so) the three boys. To my mind, however, Papageno and Papagena steal the show. I love their voices, their rapport, and the long scene that Mozart gave them. (4) The setting in a baroque Swedish theatre/opera house is magical.

Now, about that audience. Some say the little girl is Bergman's daughter. A few minutes on Google have not resolved that for me. The credits (on Amazon) list a little girl in the audience as "Helene Friberg," who later made a handful of other movies. But, I haven't found a photo online, so I don't know if it's the same girl. To me, she looks a lot like the young girl in Bergman's "Wild Strawberries," but I can't find Helene Friberg lited anywhere for that movie. There is a Lena Bergman credited in "Wild Strawberries," but she was born in 1943 -- clearly not the little girl in the audience of "Magic Flute." I am intrigued and probably will research this further. Interestingly, I found a website that lists the audience as including Ingmar Bergman, Ingrid Bergman, Daniel Bergman (a relative?), and Liv Ullman,with whom Bergman had a daughter, Linn (again, no photo to be found). Unfortunately, Linn is not mentioned in the credits of either the Flute or Strawberries. Well, I'm mystified.

Back to the review: Aside from a few minor complaints, this is a truly remarkable film, and especially for Mozart lovers. As I said in my title of this review, it's "nearly perfect."

DVD Review: Bad camera shots KILLED the Magic!
Summary: 3 Stars

I would have given this production 5 stars for the terrific performance but for one very annoying flaw. Just when I was caught up in the magic of this most incredible opera the camera would switch from the stage to the audience and I found myself staring into the face of a girl in the audience. This happened not once but several times during the opera. It was so annoying and distracting that it killed my enthusiasm for this rendition of The Magic Flute! If that were not enough to steal the magic they actually showed the actors OUT OF CHARACTER during the intermission! Watching the three muses SMOKE while Pamina and Tamino played chess completely destroyed it for me! I should not have wasted my time or money with this one!

Description of The Magic Flute - Criterion Collection

Ingmar Bergman puts his indelible stamp on Mozart's exquisite opera in this sublime rendering of one of the composer's best-loved works: a celebration of love, forgiveness, and the brotherhood of man. The Magic Flute (Trollfl?jten) stars Josef K?stlinger as Tamino, the young man determined to rescue a beautiful princess from the clutches of parental evil. Criterion's edition features the film's glorious soundtrack in the original stereo format.

Ingmar Bergman's vision of The Magic Flute (sung here in Swedish) remains one of the indisputable classics in the opera-as-film catalog, its charm and enchantment undiminished since the film's initial release in the 1970s. This is a case not of competition between two geniuses (and two media) but of affirmative, graceful, and enlightening synergy. Instead of simply filming a staged run-through of the opera, Bergman chooses to play with the framework around such a performance (given in Stockholm's elegant Drottningholm Theatre)--and he moreover rearranges the order of the scenes in the final act. Intermittent shots of audience reactions--including those of a young girl infectiously involved in the story--and sudden, psychologically probing close-up angles result in a richly textured, multilayered effect.

Certainly Bergman renders the fairy-tale aspects of Mozart's mise-en-sc?ne with such buoyant detail that the film makes an excellent entr?e both for youngsters and for anyone who is uneasy about how to approach an opera. Yet there is much food for thought to be savored by the already initiated as well. One of Bergman's more brilliant interventions is to depict Sarastro and the Queen of the Night as a divorced couple engaged in a bitter battle over daughter Pamina. The director supplies plenty of energetic wit and arabesques of allusion (in addition to his Prospero-like demeanor, the high priest Sarastro is shown at one point during the intermission perusing the score of Parsifal), and--as might be expected of one of film's greatest symbolists--teases out the opera's weightier allegorical levels with hauntingly beautiful effect. Brilliant chiaroscuro and contrasted lighting patterns, for example, offer ongoing visual commentary on the contest between darkness and light. The cast is exceptionally photogenic, their abundant youth and obvious chemistry more than compensating for the often no-more-than-mediocre vocal performances (with the exception of H?kan Hageg?rd's utterly disarming, still-fresh portrayal of Papageno). For a desert-island audio recording, try Thomas Beecham. --Thomas May

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