(1975; Swedish, subtitles) W.A. Mozart's opera in two acts as directed on the stage for TV by Ingmar Bergman. The camera focuses on the multitude and mixture of faces (including Bergman's) in the audience during the overture, paying particular attention to a child cherub.

Three women slay a dragon, saving the life of young, handsome Prince Tamino (Josef Köstlinger). (However, many comments throughout the opera disparage the native intelligence and character of women to do good by themselves.) He and the Queen of Night's bird catcher Papageno (Håkan Hagegård) accept the mission of rescuing the queen's daughter Pamina (Irma Urrila) from her abductor Sarastro (Ulrik Cold). The prince - of tender heart, daring and pure - has fallen in love with her portrait. Left alone Tamino questions whether he is experiencing reality or a dream.

The three maids who rescued him provide him with a magic flute that will enchant any and all who hear its music, inspiring them to live in peace. Papageno receives a box of magical chimes and the promise of a young, pretty wife. The pair of adventurers will be accompanied by three spirits to advise them.

At the three gates to the kingdom of Sarastro - which Papageno has already entered, found Pamina, and been detained - the spirits counsel Prince Tamino not to lose control, to be steadfast, and to be silent and obedient. Upon entering the third gate, Tamino speaks with a priest of Sarastro's brotherhood, who insists that the prince has been deceived by the queen, saying that the answer will come when Tamino has understood.

All is not what it seems. Sarastro, Pamina's father, approves of Prince Tamino, but the young man must pass three ordeals in the House of Trials to prove his worthiness. He tells his daughter that she has no need to fear since he knows the secret of her heart; nevertheless, he cannot free her. Later he says that she will need a man's guidance.

The couple must be tried, their hearts purified. The queen (Birgit Nordin), bent on hatred and revenge, and her agent Monostatos (Ragnar Ulfung) attempt to subvert Sarastro's plans; she would destroy the wisdom and writ of his realm. After Pamina has survived several threats, she wonders if all has been a nightmare to which her father offers her solace.

Eventually she joins Prince Tamino in his third ordeal, bringing with her the magic flute, upon which he plays through the deadly, hellfire passage, emerging from the cavern of despair into the light and truth for purification where mysteries are revealed.

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Copyright © 2007 Patrick Ivers. All rights reserved.
Reproduced with the permission of the copyright holder.

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