The Magician (Ansiktet)
Directed by Ingmar Bergman
Written by Ingmar Bergman
1958/Sweden
Svensk Filmindustri
First viewing/Netflix rental
[box] Granny Vogler: I see what I see, and I know what I know. But nobody believes me.[/box]
It probably would take a lifetime to parse out all that’s going on in the story but Bergman’s images are immediately accessible and gorgeous.
It is somewhere in Sweden during the 19th Century. Â Dr. Vogler (Max Von Sydow) is a magician and hypnotist who heads Vogler’s Magnetic Health Theater troupe. Â Among it’s members are his grandmother, an ancient witch and potion seller, his young “ward” Mr Aman – actually his wife (Ingrid Thulin) – and his randy MC and promoter Tubal. Â Vogler is supposedly mute and wears a false beard and wig. Â Along the country road, the troupe picks up a sick and drunken actor who promptly expires.
The party is waylaid by police who take them to a country estate where they are forced to perform. Â Minister of Health Dr. Vergerus (Gunnar Bjornstrand) and Consul Egerman (Erland Josephson) have a bet on whether the good Dr. Vogler in fact has supernatural powers or is a charlatan. Â The many odd things that subsequently occur leave the issue still up for debate by the time the traveling theater hits the road again. Â With Bibi Andersson as a bawdy servant girl.
Much of this beautiful film went over my head on this, my first, viewing.  I just sat back and enjoyed Gunnar Fischer’s stunning cinematography and the brilliant acting.  Some of my questions were cleared up by the film historian’s visual essay included on the Blu-Ray I rented.  This is evidently at least in part a response to Bergman’s critics who disliked what they could not understand.  It was one of those movies I feel I should see again sooner rather than later.  Recommended.
Clip – opening sequence
I really love Bergman and I always have trouble deciding on my favorite of his films. I think it’s a seven- or eight-way tie by now. And The Magician is one of them. It gets lots of extra points for being audacious enough to pass off Ingrid Thulin as a boy and nobody in the movie notices!
I have a friend who generally loves foreign films, and he gets Kurosawa and he gets Fellini and we saw Hawks and Sparrows at a special screening and we had a good time at that. But he doesn’t like Bergman.
Except <bThe Magician. He loves The Magician. I used to think Smiles of a Summer Night was the Bergman movie for people who hate Bergman. But now I think it might be The Magician.
I love Bergman too and The Magician has a lot of Bergman to love! I’d like to see it again to play some more among the symbols.
I hope it’s OK is I go a little off-topic here.
You skipped some great Esther Williams movies as you are going through the decades!
I watched Fiesta (1947) last night and I came over here to leave a few comments … and you didn’t review it! I guess that’s understandable because it’s criminally neglected in film discussions, but it’s so much fun! Ricardo Montalban and Esther Williams aren’t just brother and sister … they’re twins! And when Ricardo gets mad at the father, he runs away from a bullfighting gig, so now the family honor is at stake! So Esther pretends to be her brother to recapture the family honor and she puts on the matador costume and goes into the ring to fight the bull and nobody in Mexico notices the lumpiest matador in matador history! It’s hilarious, but also highly entertaining because Ricardo’s girlfriend is Cyd Charisse! And there are several wonderful musical numbers, including Ricardo and Cyd dancing as the mariachis play “La bamba.”
I searched to find which Esther Williams films you had reviewed and I was happy to see the inclusion of Take Me Out to the Ballgame,/b>, a film that I love (It’s on my Top Five Baseball Movies list), but I was disappointed to see that you didn’t review Million Dollar Mermaid! It’s one of the best Hollywood showbiz biopics ever! It’s Esther’s best movie and one of the highlights of 1952. I don’t think Victor Mature was ever more perfectly cast.
Once you get past these three films, Esther made a lot of somewhat entertaining but silly movies that usually have one or two awesome numbers. But you are depriving yourself if you haven’t seen Fiesta and Million Dollar Mermaid!
Sometimes I miss films because of lack of availability. Othertimes, it’s because I’m just “done” for the year. I’m planning to play some catch up after I finish 1959 and before I start with the 60’s so I will keep them in mind for then!