Swedish director Ingmar Bergman launched his career in the theater and continued an interest in stage production throughout his life. For his version of The Magic Flute, one of the most celebrated opera-to-film adaptations of all time (produced originally for Swedish television), he constructed a replica of Stockholm’s Drottningholm Court Theater — an 18th-century landmark with its original lighting and special effects equipment still in working order. This exquisite, painstaking reproduction is the perfect setting for an unfolding of Mozart’s ethereal tale of a search for love and enlightenment. (Ingmar Bergman, 1975, DCP, Swedish with English language subtitles, 135 minutes)
Part of the film series Celestial Voices on Film