Review of The Magic Flute (2006) by Stephen Y — 28 May 2011

I did enjoy it, but it is all a little bit too much: unlike the music, which is just right of course. There are several laugh-out-loud moments and the acting is really excellent throughout. The settings are often disconcerting - rather like a bad dream at times: but I think that is intentional.

I'm not sure the first world war setting works however and the heavy symbolism sometimes chafes against the music: I'm fairly sure that Mozart would have written it rather differently if had he known that it would have all taken place in the trenches.

I did enjoy it a lot but Bergman is still top.