Far less dour than many of Ingmar Bergman's films, this still has its serious and at times even scary moments, but the overall tone is of someone laughing behind their sleeve and having a jolly good time -- hence the upbeat and unexpected fairy-tale ending. Filmed in stunning deep-focus black and white. the story focuses on a travelling troupe of (probably) charletons -- Max von Sydow as a supposedly mute mesmerist, Ingrid Thulin as his cross-dressing wife, his "200-year old" grandmother and an amorous manager. They are on the run from the law and face exposure or worse at the stately home where they take refuge.
In particular they are humiliated by a local examiner who wants no more than to perform an autopsy on von Sydow to discover what makes him tick. (Lovely shot at one stage of an eyeball in an inkwell!) However the tables are turned and it is the official who faces the final humiliation.
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