The Magic Flute (1975)

In this beloved work by Mozart, the Queen of the Night enlists prince Tamino to rescue her daughter Pamino from Sarastro. He’s helped on his quest by the peculiar bird catcher Papageno who is searching for a wife of his own. Not being familiar with the work, I was unaware that it is essentially a simplistic fairy tale set to opera music, which I’m sure is totally someone’s bag, but it’s not mine. Filmed to come across as a live production, the entire intro and a number of shots thereafter are of a random crowd of people indifferently staring straight ahead as an audience to the performance. But even for showing the performance, there are also a lot of closeups of the actors’ faces which detracts from being able to relish the delightful stage pieces and costumes (though looking at pictures online they could have gone much further on Papageno’s). It’s certainly an oddity in director Ingmar Bergman’s oeuvre, but really about what I’d expect from a filmed opera.   

Oscar Nomination: Best Costume Design