A longtime pet project of Swedish filmmaker Ingmar Bergman , Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart 's opera The Magic Flute was finally brought to the screen in 1973. In so doing, Bergman used a device he'd been toying with in other films, notably Persona : he offers a stage production of the opera while detailing the backstage intrigues of its participants. While the opera itself is offered in a highly stylized and theatrical fashion, the fluidity of the camerawork turns the affair into a purely cinematic experience. Sung in Swedish, the libretto remains as ever: a gentle parody of the initiation ceremonies of the Masons, offered as an other-worldy fantasy involving a kidnapped princess ( Irma Urrila ), a vengeful Queen of the Night ( Ulric Cold ), and a carefree wanderer who periodically plays the titular flute. — Hal Erickson