The Magician

(1958)

★ 7.3 IMDb · 250 votes

Genres: Drama

Year: 1958

Runtime: 102 мин

Country: Sweden

Director: Ингмар Бергман

Cast: Макс фон Сюдов, Ingrid Thulin, Gunnar Björnstrand, Naima Wifstrand, Bengt Ekerot, Биби Андерссон, Gertrud Fridh, Lars Ekborg, Toivo Pawlo, Эрланд Юзефсон

Plot

A traveling magician and his troupe arrive in a Swedish town in the 1840s, where their act is scrutinized by local authorities and a skeptical medical official. Their stay leads to a series of confrontations that test the boundaries between performance, belief, and deception.

When 'Vogler's Magnetic Health Theater' comes to town, there's bound to be a spectacle. Reading reports of a variety of supernatural disturbances at Vogler's prior performances abroad, the leading townspeople (including the police chief and medical examiner) request that their troupe provide them a sample of their act, before allowing them public audiences. The scientific-minded disbelievers try to expose them as charlatans, but Vogler and his crew prove too clever for them.