i had heard much about ingmar bergman's magic flute on film and had wanted to see it for a while. what better opportunity then, to rent it as an intro to opera for a classical-music-neophyte-friend.
the answer is: nay! trollfloetjen - in Swedish, which quelled my instinct to sing along with every Sarastro aria - is a product of its time, the mid 70's. while it is a fine adaptation of the opera for film, it's more cute than anything else, the imagery would serve your children very well. it is rather straight-forward mozart/schikaneder - only that the snake in scene i act i became an adorable dragon (not very fearsome, but very cute, actually!) and the first encounter of monostatos with papageno is acted quite in opposite to the words. (only papageno is afraid, rather than the mutual fear of the 'other'...)
only bergman's skill can keep the whole venture from slipping into the campy... barely. act three, however, has some of the most arresting imagery to offer that you can hope for from opera on film: the ballett dancers enacting a Dante-esque inferno in the fire-test for tamino is stunning and actually quite disturbing. the water test is almost as effective... and the onslaught of the queen of the night's army makes for another juicy scene.
to introduce yourself or especially your youngens to this so charming opera, you could not pick something better. for yourself, knowing the work well, or knowing bergman's work well, you might be a little disappointed. new insights are not likely gained. a DVD of an opera production might be more satisfying then!
the answer is: nay! trollfloetjen - in Swedish, which quelled my instinct to sing along with every Sarastro aria - is a product of its time, the mid 70's. while it is a fine adaptation of the opera for film, it's more cute than anything else, the imagery would serve your children very well. it is rather straight-forward mozart/schikaneder - only that the snake in scene i act i became an adorable dragon (not very fearsome, but very cute, actually!) and the first encounter of monostatos with papageno is acted quite in opposite to the words. (only papageno is afraid, rather than the mutual fear of the 'other'...)
only bergman's skill can keep the whole venture from slipping into the campy... barely. act three, however, has some of the most arresting imagery to offer that you can hope for from opera on film: the ballett dancers enacting a Dante-esque inferno in the fire-test for tamino is stunning and actually quite disturbing. the water test is almost as effective... and the onslaught of the queen of the night's army makes for another juicy scene.
to introduce yourself or especially your youngens to this so charming opera, you could not pick something better. for yourself, knowing the work well, or knowing bergman's work well, you might be a little disappointed. new insights are not likely gained. a DVD of an opera production might be more satisfying then!