Review of The Magician (1958) by James K — 13 Feb 2011

I was a Bergman virgin before this. A young Max von Sydow, young enough that his voice did not yet command thunder, portrays an enigmatic magician traveling the countryside with his band of misfits, meeting a tone-setting character along the way and going up against astringent forces of rationality that test the resolve of himself and those around him.

Bergman tells a story that may have set the standard for every magician vs. rationalist story that came after this, which I suppose is why most of them turn out so well.