The Magician
1958 ‘Ansiktet’ Directed by Ingmar Bergman
Synopsis
Ingmar Bergman’s The Magician (Ansiktet) 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.
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In a battle of magic versus science, who truly comes out on top? Is it he with the ability to disassemble the mystifying with cold logic? Or they who conjure the unbelievable to gain the last laugh in spite of exposure?
Albert Emanuel Vogler (played by Max von Sydow) is a magician travelling with his troupe, who consist of his on-stage assistant (who, in actuality, is his cross-dressing wife), Manda Vogler/Mr. Aman (Ingrid Thulin); his grandmother (Naima Wifstrand); and his silver-tongued "manager", Tubal (Ake Fridell). Together, they must set up a performance for a small group of highly influential noblemen in order to gain the right to publicly perform for the townsfolk. These men are Dr. Vergerus (Gunnar Bjornstrand), Consul…
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Film #15 of The "Cinebro, You Magnificent Bastard" Challenge
Now here's something that you don't see every day: a movie about the open contempt that a director feels for his audience. Well, OK, maybe not his entire audience, but it's pretty clear that "The Magician" has a bone to pick with someone. I've read that Bergman's early international reputation far outstripped his reception at home, and this film feels like his chance to tell his provincial Swedish detractors to go jump in a lake.
Set in nineteenth century Sweden, "The Magician" follows a troupe of vagabond illusionists (led by Max von Sydow) who are brought before a local magistrate to prove the integrity of their act. Once in the hands…
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A story of versus; the illusion of truth versus scientific explanation, acknowledging transparency versus willful submission. It’s pretty clear which side Ingmar Bergman is on in this case of absolutes. Bergman asks to what end humiliating the creator serves. In The Magician, stuffy authoritative detractors, led by Gunnar Björnstrand, clinically dissect a form of illusion for being the very thing that it is; illusion. Thus, they are seen as useless, seeing only facade without bothering to think on why the facade exists. Those that submit know they are doing so, whether to be seduced like the sex-starved maids downstairs, or to extract a source of faith or entertainment.
The Magician has a curiously hodgepodge structure. Starting with an enchanted trek…
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Wrote this up for our Watch This feature. An excerpt:
"the film tends not to get the same attention as those surrounding it, perhaps because it lacks the buoyancy of his comedies and the severity of his dramas. But it occupies a wonderful place between those extremes, staging the would-be unmasking of a traveling magicians’ troupe as part serious inquiry on science and the ineffable, part bawdy bedroom farce. It’s haunting and beautiful at times, surprisingly playful at others, and like all great movies about magic, it has more than a few tricks up its sleeve."
http://www.avclub.com/articles/ingmar-bergmans-overlooked-the-magician-proved-he,93750/
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Strange to see Fellini influencing Bergman, but I'm pretty sure there are bits of La Strada adapted to the purpose here, and Fellini's old washing lady seems to waddle in verbatim. With The Silence in the category of dynamically visual Bergman films (that is, as opposed to static and composed).
Max von Sydow's conjurer as artist is a metaphor played for all it's worth, and never is his forcefulness as an actor as essential to the believability of the film. Ingrid Thulin, Sydow's wife posing as (male) magician's assistant is played with understated but quite engrossing tension which heightens the elaborate interplay of class and marriage that so often fascinates the director. The free-love Swedish servant girls never wear out…
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Film 19 of Kyle's Travel through 30 Countries in 30 Days
Country: Sweden
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As the film that allowed Ingmar Bergman the opportunity to explore the self w hints of the autobiographical, The Magician a different feel from his other works. I think the difference is in the setting of the story taking place not only inside a house, but on two or three floors of the house. With Bergman's other films, The Seventh Seal, Wild Strawberries and even Summer With Monika all mostly taking place outdoors, it's like Bergman recognized the need to confine himself indoors in order to contain the complexities of self...
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Another masterful exploration of the human psyche by Ingmar Bergman, Ansiktet is a movie that will stay with you. Not as depressing as some of his masterpieces, this movie blends humor seamlessly with the more serious undertones. An enjoyable and haunting experience.
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It seems people tend to jump to either, 'Oh I really don't understand why this one isn't as well known as his others, it's one of his best!' or 'Not a bad film, but most definitely one of Bergman's lesser films'. Well I can't say either, because this is (as of yet) the only Bergman film I've seen.
It was slow to start, I felt, but it eventually got into a rhythm that I really sunk into. I just let the film do it's thing, and let it take me where it may. I wasn't absolutely amazed by any part in particular, although the magic show definitely stood out (the scene in the attic was also a very close second).…
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In a battle of magic versus science, who truly comes out on top? Is it he with the ability to disassemble the mystifying with cold logic? Or they who conjure the unbelievable to gain the last laugh in spite of exposure?
Albert Emanuel Vogler (played by Max von Sydow) is a magician travelling with his troupe, who consist of his on-stage assistant (who, in actuality, is his cross-dressing wife), Manda Vogler/Mr. Aman (Ingrid Thulin); his grandmother (Naima Wifstrand); and his silver-tongued "manager", Tubal (Ake Fridell). Together, they must set up a performance for a small group of highly influential noblemen in order to gain the right to publicly perform for the townsfolk. These men are Dr. Vergerus (Gunnar Bjornstrand), Consul…
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Strange film with some sex, laughs, and creepiness. Seemed at times like an indictment of doctors, lawyers, and religious leaders.
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An uneven tone and a somewhat self righteous message make this a less favorable misfire from Bergman.
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The point of this Bergman film is pretty clear in that it is about him as a director and the criticisms he received from his fellow countrymen. This is the saving grace of the movie that otherwise has a really strange tone mixing comedy and horror quite unsuccessfully. Not his finest work but a solid piece regardless.
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A story of versus; the illusion of truth versus scientific explanation, acknowledging transparency versus willful submission. It’s pretty clear which side Ingmar Bergman is on in this case of absolutes. Bergman asks to what end humiliating the creator serves. In The Magician, stuffy authoritative detractors, led by Gunnar Björnstrand, clinically dissect a form of illusion for being the very thing that it is; illusion. Thus, they are seen as useless, seeing only facade without bothering to think on why the facade exists. Those that submit know they are doing so, whether to be seduced like the sex-starved maids downstairs, or to extract a source of faith or entertainment.
The Magician has a curiously hodgepodge structure. Starting with an enchanted trek…