The Magician

The three films that Ingmar Bergman produced at the close of the 1950s <i>Det sjunde inseglet</i>, <i>Smultronstället</i> and <i>Jungfrukällen</i> tower so high in his output that one might forget that these were not his only productions of the era. <i>Ansiktet</i> ("The Face", released in English-speaking markets as <i>The Magician</i>) from 1958 is one of his lesser-known films.

In mid-19th century Sweden the magician Albert Emanuel Vogler (Max van Sydow) goes from town to town promising people cures for their ailments and performing magic tricks, including what was the sensation of the time, hypnosis. He is joined by his tout (Aake Fridell), his "ward" Mr. Aman (Ingrid Thulin) and his "grandmother" and the troupe's maker of patent m...

I thought there was something of the slightly menacing John Carradine in Max Von Sydow's performance here, as the eponymous purveyor of bafflement. His troupe arrive in a forewarned small Swedish town that is full of scepticism about the wares and skills of the "Vogler" enterprise. MVS is the master magician, with his wife "Wanda" (Ingrid Thuler), his anti-wart tonic mixing aunt/grandmother (the scene-stealing Naira Wifstrand) and the enigmatic "Tubal" (Åke Fridell) all pulling their weight in this family business. The local police commissioner (Toivo Paulo) is deeply suspicious and demands that before they try out their "gifts" on the more gullible wider population, they demonstrate to a triumvirate of himself, local bigwig "Egerman" (Erla...