This "Magic Flute" or "Trollfl‹jten" was one of the first, and certainly most successful, exercises in adapting an operatic work for the silver screen.
A delightful rendition of Tamino and Papageno's remarkable journey in search of love, the work was filmed on a sound stage in Stockholm's 18th-century Drottningholm Court Theater, filled with beautiful, inventive sets. The uniformly excellent cast of singers includes Josef K‹stlinger (Tamino), Irma Urrila (Pamina), Hê‰kan Hagegê‰rd (Papageno), Ulrik Cold (Sarastro) and Birgit Nordin (Queen of the Night).
Bergman emphasizes the full theatrical experience by integrating the audience's responses and backstage events within the opera itself. In 1976, the National Society of Film Critics gave Ingmar Bergman a special award "for demonstrating how pleasurable opera can be on film." The film received an Oscar nomination for costume design and won the British BAFTA award for Best Foreign Programme.
The 2 PM screening will be followed by a lecture and complimentary reception. The guest speaker will be none other than legendary theatre and film critic John Simon. A longtime infamous force in both genres, his three volumes of collected writings - "John Simon on Film," "John Simon on Theatre" and John Simon on Music" - weigh in at over 2,000 pages of reviews and articles
Tickets are priced at $35 general admission; $25 for City Opera/Film Society members; $15 for seniors and students; and $7 for children.
They may be purchased at the Walter Reade Theater box office or online.
The Walter Reade Theater is located at 165 West 65th Street, between Broadway and Amsterdam Avenues.For further information on the event, visit the Film Society of Lincoln Center. Read more about the "Trollfl‹jten" at IMDB.
