Synopsis
The Magic Flute (Trollflöjten, 1975) is Ingmar Bergman's screen version of Mozart's opera, and you can watch it online on iFILM. Rather than film a stage recording, the Swedish director built a full fairy-tale movie where the music drives the story and the camera lives among the singers.
Prince Tamino is sent by the Queen of the Night to rescue her daughter Pamina from the sorcerer Sarastro. He travels with Papageno, a chatty bird-catcher, and carries a magic flute that can soften any heart. The further they go, the less the tale splits cleanly into good and evil: Sarastro turns out to be no villain, and the Queen no savior.
Bergman made the piece for Swedish television and deliberately let us see the wings, the painted sets and the faces in the audience — the magic is handmade, and that is its charm. Josef Köstlinger and Irma Urrila sing the leads, while Håkan Hagegård makes Papageno the warm heart of the whole thing. The friendliest way in for anyone who finds opera stuffy. Stream The Magic Flute (1975) online on iFILM.
Starring
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