"The Illusionist" - Conjures up Something Special
I remember watching David Copperfield in Las Vegas not too long ago. It was by far the most memorable of the showcase productions that I had seen there. The fond memory of his performance still lingers in my mind. And like all curious minds, I am still wondering whether those illusions were just fantastic sleight of hand or if he had sold his soul to the Devil.
I bring that up because I have the same kind of giddy feeling after watching "The Illusionist". It's not a story about a magician, but its atmosphere and love story and all that transpired still lingers even after the film is over. Like David Copperfield's production, without being able to put a finger on it, many things about this film fascinated me.
In part, it's the nice casting. It stars Edward Norton as the enigmatic illusionist, Eisenheim. His character brings an air of showmanship and intelligence. He is not just an on-stage, free-flowing performer but he is calculative. He is not hunky, but he is romantic. His opponent is the formidable Prince Leopold (Rufus Sewell) who is at the same time fearsome for his power-hungry ideas yet feeble because of his single-mindedness. They are both attracted to the engaging Sophie von Teschen (Jessica Biel). She is morally grounded and yet willing to take heart-felt risks. Giving this mix some spice is Inspector Uhi (Paul Giamatti), who pursues his cases with Holmesian zest but also sometimes with a blind eye. At one point, Eisenheim demands to know if Uhi is "completely corrupt" to which the Inspector replies, "no, NOT completely..." Giamatti has become one of today's most reliable actors, and just watching him sleuth his way towards and around the truth is worth the price of admission.
In part, it was how the film was packaged. Taking place in Vienna, this turn-of-the-century presentation has an old-world charm about it. The style in which it is filmed reminds us of early motion pictures, and the color tones give it a sort of warm feeling of nostalgia. The dramatic atmosphere is further enhanced by the beautiful orchestral score, heavy on emotion.
In part, it was the nuanced-but-not-overly-complicated storyline. Eisenheim and the Prince become engaged in a duel of sorts, and not just over Sophie. The Prince, who considers himself a man of reason, feels threatened by someone who would provoke emotion. Their battle isn't so much man-to-man combat, but is rather a conflict of philosophical wits. But also at the film's heart, it is a nicely told love story.
It sounds/looks simpler than it is. It's kind of like how one might describe the David Copperfield show. And maybe that's why I enjoyed that Las Vegas show and this film. Make an effort to catch this show before "The Illusionist" disappears.
Grade: B+
S: 1 out of 3 L: 0 out of 3 V: 1 out of 3
Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com
-- rec-arts-movies-reviews@robomod.net mailing list http://www.robomod.net/mailman/listinfo/rec-arts-movies-reviews
The review above was posted to the
rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup (de.rec.film.kritiken for German reviews).
The Internet Movie Database accepts no responsibility for the contents of the
review and has no editorial control. Unless stated otherwise, the copyright
belongs to the author.
Please direct comments/criticisms of the review to relevant newsgroups.
Broken URLs inthe reviews are the responsibility of the author.
The formatting of the review is likely to differ from the original due
to ASCII to HTML conversion.
Related links: index of all rec.arts.movies.reviews reviews