Saturday, August 19, 2006

Movie Review: The Illusionist

By John P. Meyer

The Illusionist

Set in early 20th-century Vienna, a stage magician uses his magic to win back the great love of his life from a brutal enemy, her fiance, who is also the powerful crowned prince of Austria.

Source: Cinema Source

• Showtimes and more on The Illusionist

"Show me the magic" is one of my all-time favorite film quotes, from a not-so-great movie called Tempest by director Paul Mazursky (An Unmarried Woman; Down and Out in Beverly Hills); in reference to an incipient thunderstorm, the line is uttered by John Cassavetes as a directive to God: Cassavetes’ character is calling down the lightning.

While "show me the magic" could easily have been the tagline for The Illusionist - in a far more literal way than it was used in Tempest, I might add - I guess the Yari Film Group Releasing team decided it might be considered too derivative, so they went with the far less dramatic "nothing is what it seems." Which works pretty well, but... hasn't that been used before, also (ref. The Usual Suspects)?

As something of a photography buff, I can report that this film has been skillfully produced with an eye toward painterly photographic effects. From the opening credits, done as a sort of animated daguerreotype, to the sculptural Rembrandt lighting used in close-ups, to the subtly-vignetted flickering view employed in flashbacks, it's clear that someone who understands the power of light is behind the cinematography of The Illusionist - and his name is Dick Pope. Moving beyond comparisons to still photography, the stage performances are visioned from a camera that zooms and swoops about as if conjured. In summary, what we're treated to on the screen is a sumptuous four course banquet for the eyes.

The plot revolves around the characters of Sophie (Jessica Biel), a young noblewoman, and the working-class son of a cabinetmaker named Eisenheim (Edward Norton) who falls in love with her and charms her clean off her Lipizzaner stallion by means of his clever sleight of hand magic. In danger of having their budding romance quashed by her class-conscious guardians, Sophie and Eisenheim huddle together in an abandoned root cellar. As Sophie's relations close in on their hideout, she begs Eisenheim to make them both disappear. Or course, he is unable to perform this feat, and the failure charts a course that leads him to the far ends of the earth in search of more potent magic.

Fifteen years later the two meet again on different terms: Eisenheim is now an accomplished stage magician, whose performances fill the great theaters of Vienna with eager and appreciative crowds; and Sophie is betrothed to Crown Prince Leopold (Rufus Sewell), heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne. So they've both bettered their standing, but - curse the luck! - she's still out of reach on the social standing shelf.

You've seen this forbidden love theme played out before, right? Old flames fanned by return of mysterious, charismatic stranger; jealous prince takes umbrage at the affront to his manhood; yada, yada. But there's more to this familiar setup than meets the eye (which, I guess, is another way of saying "nothing is what it seems"). Does Eisenheim's magic go beyond mere illusion and trickery? Has he found a way to alter physical reality? Judging by some of the feats he performs onstage, it sure begins to look that way.

The magic is at the core of the movie, and the staging of it for the film is quite effectively done. As sophisticated 21st century filmgoers, we of course know that what we're seeing onscreen has been created and manipulated through bluescreens, cgfx, front projection, compositing and what have you (I'll wager there's even some Photoshop thrown in there somewhere). So we have to put ourselves in the position of these 19th century rubes in the virtual audience who've never seen any of that before, and when we do, we're amazed at just how much THEY would be amazed by these wonderful effects.

The police inspector, Herr Uhl (Paul Giamatti), is particularly charmed by the old quick-growing orange tree illusion, the trick to which he begs Eisenheim to reveal. Prince Leopold, who insists upon debunking and explaining all of Eisenheim's spectacles in order to demonstrate his superiority, becomes emotionally unglued when he can't get his royal sword unglued from he floor where Eisenheim has magically balanced it. Lighten up, Leo!

As Eisenheim and Sophie plot to leave all this Viennese opulence behind them and retire together to Cleveland (or wherever), the wicked prince becomes increasingly demanding of Inspector Uhl, who's been charged with the task of getting rid of Eisenheim by fair means or foul. And then there's a murder, after which things get really interesting.

Edward Norton as Eisenheim makes this movie work. His quiet, confident and at times preternaturally intense screen presence could trick anyone into believing in magic. Jessica Biel is fine as a Sophie who comes across as both sophisticated and sweet. Rufus Sewell sneers condescendingly from the celluloid (or whatever it is they make film out of these days) as the villain we love to hate. And Paul Giamatti's Inspector Uhl is the pivotal character of the tale; we pretty much know which way the other players are headed from the start of things, but Uhl's moral direction tilts and shifts on Occam's razor such that the outcome remains uncertain.

SAPPIEST QUOTE: "The only mystery I never solved was why my heart never let go of you." - Eisenheim to Sophie

WEIRD BEHIND-THE-SCENES CONNECTION TO THAT OTHER MOVIE ABOUT STAGE MAGIC DUE OUT LATER THIS YEAR: Ricky Jay, who receives a consulting credit on this film, appears as a character named Milton in The Prestige.

This story was submitted by a member of the TexasGigs community.

Related stories

• Movie review: The Lucky Ones (Sept. 26, 2008)

See more stories in:

Comments

John Meyer Staff

It's a fascinating and entertaining film - my big problem with the script (now that you've dragged me back in!) is the ending, which is tied up a little too neatly for my taste. You'll see what I mean.

2 years, 3 months ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )