#0000A/#537: BERGMAN, Ingmar: The Magician (1958)

BERGMAN, Ingmar (Sweden)

The Magician [1958]

Spine #0000A/Spine #537

Blu-ray

2010 synopsis

Ingmar Bergman's The Magician is an engaging, brilliantly conceived tale of deceit from one of cinema's premier illusionists. Max von Sydow stars as Dr. Vogler, a nineteenth-century traveling mesmerist and peddler of potions whose magic is put to the test in Stockholm by the cruel, eminently rational royal medical adviser Dr. Vergérus. The result is a diabolically clever battle of wits that's both frightening and funny, shot in rich, gorgeously gothic black and white.

2018 synopsis

With The Magician, an engaging, brilliantly conceived tale of chicanery that doubles as a symbolic portrait of the artist as a deceiver, Bergman proved himself to be one of cinema’s premier illusionists. Max von Sydow stars as Dr. Vogler, a nineteenth-century traveling mesmerism and peddler of potions whose magic is put to the test in Stockholm by the cruel, eminently rational royal medical adviser Dr. Vergérus (Gunnar Björnstrand). The result is a diabolically clever battle of wits that’s both frightening and funny, shot by Gunnar Fischer in rich, gorgeously gothic black and white.

101 minutes
Black & White

Monaural

in Swedish

1:33:1 aspect ratio

Criterion Release 2010/2018

Director/Writer

Ingmar Bergman was 40 when he directed The Magician.

Other Bergman films in the Collection:

#0000A/Eclipse Series 1: Crisis (1946)

#0000A/Eclipse Series 1: A Ship To India (1947)

#0000A/Eclipse Series 1: Port Of Call (1948)

#0000A/Eclipse Series 1: Thirst (1949)

#0000A/Eclipse Series 1: To Joy (1950)

#0000A/#613: Summer Interlude (1951)

#0000A: Waiting Women (1952)

#0000A/#412: Sawdust And Tinsel (1953)

#0000A/#614: Summer With Monika (1953)

#0000A: A Lesson In Love (1954)

#0000A: Dreams (1955)

#0000A/#237: Smiles Of A Summer Night (1955)

#0000A/#11: The Seventh Seal (1957)
#0000A/#139: Wild Strawberries (1957)

#0000A: Brink Of Life (1958)

#0000A: The Devil’s Eye (1960)

#0000A/#321: The Virgin Spring (1960)

#0000A/#209: Through A Glass Darkly (1961)

#0000A/#211: The Silence (1963)

#0000A/#210: Winter Light (1963)

#0000A: All These Women (1964)

#0000A/#701: Persona (1966)

#0000A: Hour Of The Wolf (1968)

#0000A/#961: Shame (1968)

#0000A: The Passion Of Anna (1969)

#0000A: The Rite (1969)

#0000A: Fårö Document (1970)

#0000A: The Touch (1971)

#0000A/#101: Cries And Whispers (1972)

#0000A/#229: Scenes From A Marriage (1973)

#0000A/#71: The Magic Flute (1975)

#0000A: The Serpent’s Egg (1977)

#0000A/#60: Autumn Sonata (1978)

#0000A: Fårö Document 1979 (1979)

#0000A: From The Life Of The Marionettes (1980)

#0000A/#262: Fanny And Alexander — The Theatrical Version (1982)

#0000A/#263: Fanny And Alexander — The Television Version (1982)

#0000A/#264: Fanny And Alexander — The Making Of Fanny And Alexander (1982)

#0000A: After The Rehearsal (1984)

#0000A: Saraband (2003)

The Film

Film Rating (0-60):

60

The Extras

The Booklet

#537: Forty-page booklet featuring excerpts from a 1990 tribute to the film by Olivier Assayas, a new essay by critic Geoff Andrew, and an excerpt from Bergman’s autobiography Images: My Life in Film.

Commentary

None.

Visual essay

By Bergman scholar Peter Cowie.

Video interview

From 1967 with director Bergman about the film.

Rare

English-language audio interview with Bergman, conducted by filmmakers Assayas and Stig Björkman in 1990.

Extras Rating (0-40):

39

60 + 39 =

99

By Director
By Spine #