The Magician

Ansiktet ( Swedish: "The Face"), also released as The Magician, is a 1958 Swedish film written and directed by Ingmar Bergman, starring Max von Sydow and Ingrid Thulin. The plot follows a traveling magician named Albert Vogler, whose allegedly supernatural live shows are challenged by the skeptical population of a small village. Blending elements of psychological drama and horror, the film was distantly inspired by G. K. Chesterton's play Magic. The film was selected as the Swedish entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 31st Academy Awards, but was not accepted as a nominee. Plot Albert Vogler is a magician who leads a troupe of performers, known as Vogler's Magnetic Health Theater, who claim to possess supernatural abilities. Among them are Albert's grandmother, Granny Vogler; his wife Manda, who performs in costume as a man under the alias Mr. Aman; his charismatic assistant, Tubal; and their driver, Simson. Albert proclaims to have discovered animal magnetism. After leaving a show in Copenhagen, the group travel by carriage through the wilderness into Sweden, and hear screams emanating from the woods. They find an ill man lying on the ground nearby, who introduces himself as Johan Spegel, a former vaudevillian. The troupe decide to bring him along with them, and he becomes progressively ill. Albert keenly observes Johan as he apparently dies in the carriage.