The Magician

Dr. Vogler (Max von Sydow), a mid-nineteenth-century traveling mesmerist and peddler of potions whose magic is put to the test by a small town's cruel, eminently rational minister of health, Dr. Vergerus (Wild Strawberries' Gunnar Bjornstrand). The result is a diabolically clever battle of wits that's both frightening and funny, shot in rich, gorgeously gothic black and white. (official distributor synopsis)