The magic flute

Bergman originally transposed Mozart’s comic battle between the forces of light and darkness, between celestial and terrestrial love into an opulent film version for Swedish television. But Bergman did not content himself with simply filming the representation on stage but uses the camera as an accomplice. The story, mixing the naïve and the mythical, was reduced to a human dimension and became conceivable for a contemporary audience. Many motifs from Bergman’s earlier works reappear: the search for true communication between God and Humans and between man and woman. An optimistic version in Bergman’s oeuvre: Love and Wisdom conquer Loneliness and Hate.