Trollflöjten (1975) (TV)

Writers:

Emanuel Schikaneder (libretto)
Ingmar Bergman (screenplay)

Release Date:

1 January 1975 (Sweden)

Genre:

Comedy | Fantasy | Music | Romance

Tagline:

We only see Bergman, we only hear Mozart

Plot:

The Queen of the Night offers his daughter Pamina to Tamino, but he has to bring her back from her father and priest Sarastro...

Plot Keywords:

Priest | Journey | Queen | Filmed Opera | Bird Catcher

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 3 wins & 2 nominations

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Josef Köstlinger	...	Tamino
Irma Urrila	...	Pamina
Håkan Hagegård	...	Papageno
Elisabeth Erikson	...	Papagena
Britt-Marie Aruhn	...	Första damen - First lady
Kirsten Vaupel	...	Andra damen
Birgitta Smiding	...	Tredje damen
Ulrik Cold	...	Sarastro
Birgit Nordin	...	Nattens Drottning
Ragnar Ulfung	...	Monostatos
Erik Sædén	...	Talaren
Ulf Johansson	...	Andra prästen - Second Priest
Gösta Prüzelius	...	Första prästen
Jerker Arvidson	...	Vakt i Prövningarnas Hus
Hans Johansson	...	Vakt i Prövningarnas Hus

Also Known As:

The Magic Flute (Europe: English title) (USA)

Runtime:

135 min

Country:

Sweden

Language:

Swedish

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Singapore:PG | Argentina:Atp | Australia:G | Finland:S | Sweden:11 | UK:U | USA:G | West Germany:6

Filming Locations:

Drottningholm Castle Theater, Drottningholm Castle, Drottningholm, Stockholms län, Sweden

Company:

Sveriges Radio

Trivia:

Liv Ullmann, Erland Josephson, Sven Nykvist and Ingmar Bergman can all be seen in the audience during the Overture.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Last Alchemist, or How Wynn Albright Got His Comeuppance (2004)

A theatrical experience made cinematic

Adapting theater to the screen is not easy. It is difficult enough to film a play; staying too close to the text can render the tone too "stagy," while "opening up" the story can cause it to lose its authentic feel. Filming opera is twice as problematic- there is so much that is rooted to the stage and simply cannot be pulled away. How is it possible to film something that has been performed in such a specific, disciplined way for hundreds of years and keep all the elements fully intact? The answer has been provided by Ingmar Bergman, a man known to most of the world for harrowing films which peer unsentimentally into the depths of the human soul. With "The Magic Flute," Bergman takes another great talent of his- theater direction- and combines it with his cinematic abilities to create an elaborate fantasy that even his detractors can enjoy.

Rather than just treating Mozart's opera as a story to be filmed, Bergman relies on familiar themes within the narrative to strike a balance between the stage and the screen while keeping the audience involved throughout. This is not to say that the story is simplified or made abundantly clear to any half-attentive viewer; the surprising accessibility of the film comes not from any reconstruction of the story but rather from an emphasis on elements that today's audience can easily recognize: sacrifices that are made for love, rebellion against the amoral nature of one's community, and magical occurrences that pop up just in time to save the hero, to name a few. Although the opera itself unfolds on a stage, with frequent reaction shots of the audience, Bergman's direction keeps us so deeply involved that tone is distinctly that of a film. Indeed, `The Magic Flute' proves to be a very cinematic opera, and there are moments when the imagery, theatrical as it is, becomes so overwhelming that Bergman has to cut to the audience to remind us that we are in a theater.

`The Magic Flute' is evidence that the `epic' existed long before movies, and that much of what we enjoy viewing today owes its style to stories that have been told through vastly different mediums for centuries on end.