8/10
I haven't seen too much Bergman, just Through a Glass Darkly and Seventh Seal before this one. It's regarded as a minor entry in his filmography but I liked it quite a bit - it's very gothic with beautifully creepy black and white photography. Max von Sydow is the titular magician leading a mystical travelling medicine show, who get hauled before a skeptical medical doctor to prove their supernaturality. What follows is a meditation on the struggles of the artist as creator, questions of authenticity, and faith vs. fact. It actually reminded me a lot of Andrei Tarkovsky's works (thematically, not visually), which is no real surprise since Tarkovsky was a huge Bergman fan - kindred spirits might be a better way to put it. I didn't care much for the end of the movie - it felt rushed, tacked on, and a little bit of a cheap resolution. Everything else leading up to it was quite good though, so I recommend it.
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