Word: tamino
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...possession of the Queen's daughter Pamina symbolised Empress Maria Theresa's religious warfare against democratic Freemasonry, while the people of Austria (Pamina) were putatively caught in the crossfire. The opera describes a spiritual journey from darkness to light; it ends with the initiation of Pamina and her prince, Tamino into the Temple of Isis as they embrace the Masonic ideals of moral purity, equality, and enlightenment. It does not make the most riveting of stories...
...Testament God. The Queen is very female and very nasty, the kind of role Bette Davis made unforgettable. Her malevolent, teeth-gnashing character is a product of the Mason's profound anti-female bias (as Sarastro explains the abduction to Pamina: "You need a man to guide you."). Prince Tamino, the initiate-to-be, has both ineffable simplicity and moral sturdiness. A trusting character, he's not terribly bright. He understands nothing of the immortal intrigues going on above his head, and proves his virtue by doing everything he's told. Rather than being clever, he is supposed...
...protagonist. His innocent lust for talk, food, sex, and a wife get him into all kinds of trouble; all he really wants is a woman, and he often gazes warmly into the audience, begging someone out there to be his mate and threatening suicide when no one complies. As Taminos's companion he is given a chance to endure the Trials, but he has neither the courage nor the reticence to keep his mouth shut and persevere--Tamino's technique of closing his eyes worked much better. When Papageno learns he will not be allowed to enter the Order...
Papageno's fate has often been taken as proof of Mozart's aristocratic bias. Tamino, after all, is initiated and Papageno is not. But Mozart was not a nobleman, and his comedies often satirize aristocratic pretension. It is more likely that Mozart meant to celebrate the common man's virtues as well as the prince's, to suggest that a certain kind of lofty nobleness of character is not for everyone. Bergman took this view so much to heart that he ended the film with his own vision: Papageno and Papagena embracing in a circle of lively, tow-headed kids...
...though they were stolen from a children's nursery. The dragon in the first act struts on breathing fire and smoke, minces aggressively across the stage like Milton Berle in the wrong costume, and rolls his eyes soulfully as he is speared by the Queen's three ladies. Later, Tamino and his flute charm a whole stageful of forest creatures who look like plush Walt Disney cartoons. Bergman interpolates respectful self-assertions wherever he can, small tugs on the sleeve to remind us that while we're appreciating Mozart we should be noticing him, too. During the overture he weaves...