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List Price: $29.95Amazon.com's Price: $26.99 You Save: $2.96 (10%)Prices subject to change.
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Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Audience Rating: G (General Audience)
Binding: DVD
EAN: 9780780023086
Format: Color, DVD-Video, Special Edition, NTSC
ISBN: 0780023080
Label: Criterion
Manufacturer: Criterion
Number Of Items: 1
Picture Format: Academy Ratio
Publisher: Criterion
Release Date: May 16, 2000
Running Time: 135 minutes
Sales Rank: 10966
Studio: Criterion
Theatrical Release Date: November 11, 1975
Editorial Review:
Description:
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 (Trollflöjten) stars Josef Köstlinger 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.
Amazon.com essential video:
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-scène with such buoyant detail that the film makes an excellent entrée 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 Håkan Hagegård's utterly disarming, still-fresh portrayal of Papageno). For a desert-island audio recording, try Thomas Beecham. --Thomas May
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - Magical
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 ... Read More
Rating:  - Eh
Ingmar Bergman's 1975 film/tv version of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's opera The Magic Flute (Trollflöjten) 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 ... Read More
Rating: - Pappa pappa pappa!
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.
Rating: - Nearly perfect.
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, ... Read More
Rating:  - Bad camera shots KILLED the Magic!
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 ... Read More
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