The magician

DVD.

Nyskick. Fodral i nyskick. Starring Ingrid Thulin, Max von Sydow, Gunnar Björnstrand, Naimi Wifstrand, Bengt Ekerot, Bibi Andersson. New, Tartan DVD (Bergman collection), still shrik wrapped. AB Svensk Filmindustri, cop. 1958. A Tartan Video release (package design cop. 2001). Region code: 0 (playable in all regions). Video aspect ratio: Original Academy Ratio. Language: Swedish. Subtitles: English. Feature length: 97 mins approx. ”This deeply startling work is a thinking man's horror film and a symbolic self-portrait by one of the cinema's great directors. Max von Sydow, doubting knight of The Seventh Seal, here leads Bergman's brilliant attack on modern rationality and cynism. Hypnotist and magician Dr Vogler heads a troup of travelling players, which includes his wife Manda (Ingrid Thulin), dressed as a male assistant. They are examined and humiliated by Dr Vergerus (Gunnar Björnstrand), a cynical medical officer. During a performance convened for the medical officer and his committee, Vogler excerts his revenge. When the tables are turned again, the magician perpetrates an incredible illusion on the unbelieving doctor, but is now trapped within his own mystery...” Awarded Special Jury and Cinema Nuovo Prizes at the Venice Film Festival 1959.