La flûte enchantée

There are so many great things going on in this movie that it's kind of sad that it has some big issues that keep it from being a great success. The concept is interesting, the cast is wonderful, and the story moves very quickly, although sometimes to its own detriment. Two major things could have saved this movie for me. It would have been a mini series, so it wouldn't have felt so rushed and the relationships between the characters could have felt more developed. Because there was so much underdevelopment in the characters and plot, I had a hard time understanding the parallels between the stories of the real and magical worlds. I'm still not sure if there's any more of a parallel other than the protagonist proving his worth. If that was all, then it was a pretty big "to do" for such a simple theme. Also, I didn't care for the production design for the magical world. I honestly feel that the real world setting of the school was so much more interesting and charming than the beigeness of the magical world which often resembles the desolate, depressing landscapes of Dune. One would expect the magical world to be more vibrant and exciting to visit than the real one. I found myself more enjoying the real world and its storylines, just not enough.

My wife and I took my five year old daughter to go see this. I don't know much about Mozart or this particular opera but I knew there were fantasy elements and were all huge fantasy nerds. The first twenty minutes set up the main character of Tim and his relationship with his father, who was a famous singer of sorts (to what extent is never explained fully) and he gives his son a magic book. He's sent to attend the same music school as his father, one dedicated to Mozart. But soon we realize he's set to relive his fathers legacy by playing the lead in The Magic Flute. F. Murray Abraham is deviously wonderful as the strict headmaster, although he is drastically under used. Tim soon finds himself using the magic book and a magic portal behind a clock to transport himself to the world of The Magic Flute where he meets Iwan Rheon as Papagenu who absolutely steals the show. The resulting film is filled with fantastic music and visuals, including a giant snake, an evil Queen, and a daring rescue of a kidnapped princess by the unlikely heroes. The scenes at the school seemed to drag from time to time, but toward the end I was happy that they included as much of that storyline as they did because it was heartwarming at the conclusion. My 5 year old and I loved, my wife didn't like it at all unfortunately. But we will definitely be watching this again.

An ad usum Delphini version of the masterpiece by W. A. Mozart. Its basic virtue - you love more the great Austrian composer.

Sure, it seems superficial and fake in few scenes and forced in others but it represents a reasonable adaptation , using, in fair manner, old ingredients - from romance to passageway and beautiful voices interpreting familiar arias.

Good points - just I liked the way to create Papageno by Iwan Rheon. Or the nice used youth and physical traits preserving childhood touch of Jack Wolfe. Or the special effects. A reasonable introduction in the univers of The Magic Flute. Charming, simple, seductive for the recipe of classic books for children and for the motivational message.

I am a musician, I play trumpet and sing with groups, but I am not particularly a fan of opera. I knew that Mozart wrote "The Magic Flute" but other than that had no idea what the story was about. Now I know! And this movie makes that journey fun. There is a key fantasy element here and that is a movie trait I generally enjoy. Think "Pleasantville" or "The Purple Rose of Cairo."

The movie begins with a young man by his sick dad's bedside. His dad was a singer and young Tim would go to the prestigious Mozart academy in Austria, shortly after his dad passed away.

Young Jack Wolfe, with his fine features and slight build looking 15, is Tim Walker. When he shows up mid-session learns that the school is auditioning for a stage performance of Mozart's Magic Flute. He might be a candidate for the lead role of Prince Tamino.

One fateful morning at precisely 3:00AM he is transported through a magic portal to the fictional land of the characters in 'The Magic Flute.' There he is Prince Tamino and he must figure out a way to save the Princess. At 6:00AM he is back in school, only to be repeated on next days.

Already with his connection to Mozart in the 1984 movie 'Amadeus', F. Murray Abraham plays the stern head of the music school, creating a character not too different from the stern teacher in the 2000 movie 'Finding Forrester.' He is excellent in these types of roles, as he is here.

I watched it at home on BluRay from my public library. With DTS surround sound it was like being in an auditorium when the Mozart symphonic music was playing. And the video is some of the best I have seen.

All in all a very fine and entertaining take on 'The Magic Flute'. My wife skipped the first time but joined me when I re-watched it 6 weeks later.

Sometimes it's hard to find a production that has a little something for everyone. This movie does. I am a fan of and sang opera professionally in my younger days (I'm over 70) I know the Magic Flute well. When I saw that this was being released, I had trepidations, I'll admit. However, I was delighted by the way this was handled. It's a little bit Harry Potter, a little C. S. Lewis (The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe), and a lot of Mozart. Except for two professional opera singers (Queen of the Night and Sarastro), the other singing members of the cast did not have the power in their voices to raise them to opera strength. Actually, the times that I have done this opera, I have always sung it in German. Hearing it in English was a bit of a shock, but all things considered, necessary. This to me was the only problem with the film, but then I remembered that this is part real world, part fantasy. Did they change the opera, of course, but they kept the best Arias, and spoke the dialogue that was sung in the Opera. All in all, this is a movie I would recommend highly, as long as the watcher is not expecting a faithful reiteration of the opera. . Enjoy it for what it is.