The Magician
The Magician • 1h 41m
Directed by Ingmar Bergman • 1958 • Sweden
Starring Max von Sydow, Gunnar Björnstrand
With THE MAGICIAN, an engaging, brilliantly conceived tale of chicanery that doubles as a symbolic portrait of the artist as a deceiver, Ingmar Bergman proved himself to be one of cinema’s premier illusionists. Max von Sydow stars as Dr. Vogler, a nineteenth-century traveling mesmerist and peddler of potions whose magic is put to the test in Stockholm by the cruel, eminently rational royal medical adviser Dr. Vergérus (Gunnar Björnstrand). The result is a diabolically clever battle of wits that’s both frightening and funny, shot by Gunnar Fischer in rich, gorgeously gothic black and white.
Up Next in The Magician
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Peter Cowie on THE MAGICIAN
In this visual essay, Peter Cowie, one of the world’s leading experts on Ingmar Bergman, discusses many of the themes in THE MAGICIAN and places them within the context of the director’s body of work.
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Ingmar Bergman on THE MAGICIAN
Ingmar Bergman discusses THE MAGICIAN in this 1967 interview conducted for Swedish television.
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Ingmar Bergman Audio Interview
This audio interview was conducted in 1990 by French director Olivier Assayas and Swedish author and documentary filmmaker Stig Björkman.
