The Magician
Svensk Filmindustri | Release Date: August 27, 1959 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
86
METASCORE
Universal acclaim based on 8 Critic Reviews
Positive:
8
Mixed:
0
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
TV Guide MagazineStaff (Not Credited)
The Magician is still fascinating, presenting a myriad of challenging ideas about magic, reality, and the nature of film itself. The acting, as in typical in Bergman, is exceptionally good, with Bjornstrand a standout. Read full review
90
The New York TimesBosley Crowther
This picture is full of extraordinary thrills that flow and collide on several levels of emotion and intellect. And it swarms with sufficient melodrama of the blood-chilling, flesh-creeping sort to tingle the hide of the least brainy addict of out-right monster films. Read full review
90
The A.V. ClubScott Tobias
It’s haunting and beautiful at times, surprisingly playful at others, and like all great movies about magic, it has more than a few tricks up its sleeve. Read full review
90
Time OutStaff (Not Credited)
Widely underrated, probably because of its strong comic elements and a tour-de-force scene derived from horror movie conventions, Bergman's chilling exploration of charlatanism is in fact one of his most genuinely enjoyable films. Read full review
88
Chicago ReaderDon Druker
Set in the 19th century, it's one of Bergman's most tightly structured and frightening films. Read full review
88
Chicago TribuneMichael Wilmington
Perhaps Bergman's most typical variation on one of his major themes: the clash between raffish theatrical artists and sober rulers. [10 Dec 2005, p.C4]
75
Slant MagazineJoseph Jon Lanthier
This piquant control over cinematic grammar doesn’t quite rescue the film from a laughably zombie-tinged climax and an anomalous deus ex machina denouement, but it makes The Magician one of Bergman’s more accessible failures, and collapses any suspicious connection between him and the fretful Vogler. Read full review
70
The New YorkerPauline Kael
This Ingmar Bergman film isn't a masterwork, or even a very good movie, but it is clearly a film made by a master.
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