The MagicianFeature Film, 1958 An itinerant magician is confronted by a sceptical public in a drama about the privations of being an artist."In every way the film became a little crueller, a little blacker, a little more brutal that I'd meant it to be." - Ingmar Bergman |
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The shooting, which took place exclusively in Filmstaden's studios, began on June 30 and terminated on August 27, 1958. The film had the jury's special prize at Venice Film Festival in 1959. After several international triumphs, Bergman was also admitted in Sweden.
Contemporary critics interpreted the film in different ways, ranging from one extreme: that it was faithfully based on a pre-Christian legend, to another: that it was scurrilous yet accurate portrayal of the setup at the Malmö City Theatre during Bergman's time there. Others noted that the film was remarkably similar to G K Chesterton's play Magic, which Bergman had staged at the Gothenburg City Theatre in 1947.
"I tried to sell the idea to Carl-Anders Dymling, but he was extreamly dubious. So I said: 'You understand, this is an erotic play, the whole thing's one big erotic game. When the entertainers arrive at the country house everyone becomes confused and sensually excited and crazy, and the result is a wild erotic explosion.' That wasn't just a pack of lies of course, it ws also a bit like what I'd imagined. But then during the filming I suppose I must have gone rancid."
- Ingmar Bergman in Bergman on Bergman
Ingmar Bergman, Images: My Life in Film
Stig Björkman, Torsten Manns och Jonas Sima, Bergman on Bergman
Svensk filmografi