The Magic Flute

This adaptation of Mozart's opera was originally made for Swedish TV, largely because of Bergman's belief that only through that medium could he reach a large audience at one stroke.

The story of The Magic Flute, is complex, and was originally written for Mozart by a Viennese theatre director and friend of Mozart's - Schikaneder. It revolves around the story of the heroic prince Tamimo, and his quest for Tamima, a princess with whom he has fallen in love. There are many other sub-themes, concerned largely with rather dubious masonic ideals about life, and manhood. In many ways, the story is unimportant - the music is sublime.

Bergman spent a year on the production, taking great care in selecting the cast of mainly Scandinavian singers. He particularly strived for voices which were natural ergo believable, rather than perfect.. Bergman was also at pains to try to recreate the atmosphere of the first 1791 performance of the opera, held under particularly lively circumstances.

An objection often raised with films of operas is that they are not films per se, but are instead operas which happen to be recorded onto film. This cannot be said of Bergman's The Magic Flute. Particularly noteworthy is the famous aria in Act Two, when the Queen of the Night, a vision of fury and rage, sings of her terrifying despair and vengeance. A curiously un-Bergman-like feature is used in this film - he cuts ocasionally to a young girl in the audience and dwells on her pleasure. Undoubtedly, this is to remind us of the child-like nature of the opera, and the sense of wonder and innocence contained in Mozart's music.

Review by Matthew Bull
Taken from EUFS Programme 1994-95