537 The Magician

[skeets kelly]

Don't get me wrong, I'm very excited for this but...when the hell is someone going to release The Devil's Eye?

Already released by Tartan, I think. And probably the weakest Bergman film I could think of outside of his VERY early work. What we really need are his TV productions from the 80s and 90s: "In the presence of a clown" or "Madame de Sade", for instance.

Well, not released by Tartan in the US.

Also, it's one of my favorite Bergmans. I guess I'm in the minority here...

[tajmahal]

The audio interview looks to have been bumped off.

Just like magic!

[Ovader]

The audio interview looks to have been bumped off.

I don't remember seeing the brief 1967 video interview with director Ingmar Bergman about the film listed earlier so perhaps that took precedence over the audio interview.

[colinr0380]

What we really need are his TV productions from the 80s and 90s: "In the presence of a clown" or "Madame de Sade", for instance.

Absolutely in agreement. Though I quite like Devil's Eye and prefer it over something like Now About These Women at least it is available on DVD somewhere. But it is surprising that for such a well known director that there are still so many glaring omissions - I wonder whether Criterion might licence Face To Face from Paramount and whoever owns the rights to The Touch, for example.

I wonder how had I not realised before Tommaso brought it up what Madame de Sade signified. Bergman doing Mishima sounds very interesting!

[Matt]

Face to Face is awaiting release from Olive Films Opus, who licensed a bunch of titles from Paramount.

[mteller]

What we really need are his TV productions from the 80s and 90s: "In the presence of a clown" or "Madame de Sade", for instance.

Absolutely in agreement. Though I quite like Devil's Eye and prefer it over something like Now About These Women at least it is available on DVD somewhere. But it is surprising that for such a well known director that there are still so many glaring omissions - I wonder whether Criterion might licence Face To Face from Paramount and whoever owns the rights to The Touch, for example.

I wonder how had I not realised before Tommaso brought it up what Madame de Sade signified. Bergman doing Mishima sounds very interesting!

It is, one of his best and most unusual works still not on DVD. Swedish Noh!

[HarryLong]

Face to Face is awaiting release from Olive Films Opus, who licensed a bunch of titles from Paramount.

Aside from a few titles that looks like Paramount's table scraps. But the titles that were licensed out to Legend weren't exactly stellar either.

[skeets kelly]

Had no idea Tartan issued The Devil's Eye.

I'll have to pick that one up one soon.

[Tommaso]

Face to Face is awaiting release from Olive Films Opus, who licensed a bunch of titles from Paramount.

Thanks Matt, this has flown totally under my radar. Does anyone know whether it will be the full-length (TV) version? The German disc only has the shorter theatrical cut.

Bergman doing Mishima sounds very interesting!

Indeed, though I find Bergman's direction far better than Mishima's play, which suffers a little from good ole Yukio's over-the-topness when it comes to talking about sexual matters. But the staging and the intensity of acting makes it a very worthwhile, fascinating experience.

[Bennie]

This is Awesome news! The Magician is a Masterpiece and is one of my favourite Bergmans. I would rate it as one of the 'definitive' Bergman films, and I find it much, much darker than many others here. I'm really looking forward to this one.

[CSM126]

At this rate I can't wait to see what it'll take to inspire you to underline something.

[tavernier]

at least no emoticons were used in the making of that comment

[domino harvey]

I miss Barmy too

[Tommaso]

But unlike Barmy, Bennie is totally right. Some films deserve enthusiasm.

[Svevan]

I can handle enthusiasm when you say something about the film, but this is turning into an epidemic.

[JAP]

Beaver

[Matt]

I'm normally against these kinds of posts but: Wow.

[tojoed]

In that case, you won't mind my saying, I agree.

[Foam]

Those caps look even more glorious than those for the Psycho BD. This makes me want all the other Nykvist* B&W Bergmans in Blu as soon as possible.

Edit: *Ugh.

[Matt]

The Magician was shot by Gunnar Fischer who was also, you know, not bad.

[aox]

It isn't like I am disappointed about this release, and I know this is a boring opinion, but like the Seventh Seal, I would prefer to upgrade the standard Bergman canon to BD before more obscure titles in his filmography. I can't wait for films like The Virgin Spring, Wild Strawberries, The Faith Trilogy, and Fanny and Alexander after seeing the treatment both the Magician and Seventh Seal have received.

[Napier]

They're just doing what's in the pipeline on BD & DVD as scheduled. You know all the Bergman films will have their day....very soon. I've never seen this one. And I can't wait to watch it for the first time, in Blu-ray.

[zedz]

It isn't like I am disappointed about this release, and I know this is a boring opinion, but like the Seventh Seal, I would prefer to upgrade the standard Bergman canon to BD before more obscure titles in his filmography. I can't wait for films like The Virgin Spring, Wild Strawberries, The Faith Trilogy, and Fanny and Alexander after seeing the treatment both the Magician and Seventh Seal have received.

I don't know if this is what you're getting at, but I'd argue that The Magician only counts as 'obscure Bergman' in the very limited sense of 'Criterion-haven't-got-around-to-releasing-it-yet Bergman'. It's always had a strong critical cachet and was a significant part of the big international arthouse run he enjoyed in the late fifties / early sixties (in a way that the films before and after it, Brink of Life and The Devil's Eye, weren't so much). I'd always assumed that most people here, like me, considered it the 'last major Bergman' Criterion had up their sleeve.

[Tom Hagen]

Monika is possibly a bit more well known, but zedz is right, this is the last great Bergman masterpiece they've been sitting on.

[domino harvey]

Wait, don't they have All These Women?!