Watch something else. There are very few redeeming qualities to this film.

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

An outstanding looking, very odd mix of somewhat broad comedy, horror film, and (of course) Bergman's metaphysical musings. A band of traveling magicians, wanted by the law as charlatans, are pulled in for questioning and forced to perform for some upper class non-believers. The 'nothing-in-life is-what-it- seems' theme is strong, but does get repetitive, and at times you can see it coming. Also, on first viewing the elements didn't really feel like they fit together, and I found it a bit of a bumpy ride. The comedy made the dark side hard to take seriously, and the serious, creepy elements made the comedy feel all the more wedged in.That said they are a some amazing sequences that I know will stick with me, and I do feel haunted by the film. Many call it a masterpiece or close, and I'll certainly see it again.

I'm slowly making my way through the Bergman canon (thank you Netflix) and am having a ball. I saw this film about forty years ago and forgot how captivating it is. Things are not as they seem anywhere in this movie. People die and come back to life, some can speak and then they can't. It has great villains and an incredible cast. Of course, it's the story of a group of traveling showmen who arrive at the home of some wealthy people. They are seen as an inferior class and are forced to grovel before they can earn their livings. They participate in byplay with those who have come to see them (some from the local village), including he servants. There is sexual activity and a lot of manipulation. When the actual magic show begins, we are in on some of the tricks, but others are unexplainable. These people seem able to act on the minds of the characters and get them to expose their dirty secrets. But, as we see, there are other forms of magic, not just the dark kind. Watch this a couple of times. You won't be disappointed.

It is true that this is a great film, as many other users have stated, it has an original script and it is very stunning. It has a very good moral, that of the one that pulls others' legs and finally he is the object of scorn. It shows us as well how anyone can be stubborn with no limits and how people can be hypocritical. However, the end doesn't help to consider it a master's work. It is a very happy ending that it is not just possible to believe (suddenly, comedians are engaged by the king, after having suffered from the scorn of the bourgeois). Let me laugh! Mr Bergman should have made more attention to that cheesy happy ending!

Most of Ingmar Bergman's films are meant to titillate the intellect. The Magician is no exception. It is rich with symbolism. I think it ranks right up there with "Death in Venice" on the list of misunderstood movies.I believe the most rewarding level of meaning in "The Magician" is the religious one. Bergman was often concerned with the implications of religious beliefs. And almost always from the attitude of doubt. Consider the lines in The Seventh Seal where the vicious monk, annoyed with the knight's persistence, asks, "Will you never stop asking questions?" and the knight replies resolutely, "No. Never."Watching this movie with the idea of Vogler as Jesus provides a perspective that informs the characters and their conduct. This melancholy magician, doubted and persecuted by the powerful, surrounded by strange and suspicious persons, is simultaneously visionary and earthy flesh and blood. He only wants to perform his miracles for the masses. Or is he a charlatan? What a powerful way to pose that question.