I was tricked into watching The Illusionist, if you pardon the pun. A friend had recently acquired it on DVD and I had been subjected to his enthusiastic raves regarding how good this film was. As someone who is not particularly up to speed on films I hadn't actually heard anything about this film before, but I agreed to borrow it and last night I finally got the chance to sit down and watch it.
The film is set in Vienna during the 19th century and tells the story of an illusionist that goes by the name of Eisenheim. During the opening scene of the film we see Eisenheim on a theatre stage, in an almost trance like state. Suddenly there is chaos and dozens of policemen storm the stage, uttering the words; "Eisenheim, we are arresting you for outraging public decency". This opening scene is actually a snippet from the latter part of the film as from here the story flashes back to Eisenhower's childhood. These opening shots were however enough to intrigue me and puzzled me enough to want to watch the film and find out just exactly what was going on.
The retrospective parts of the story are narrated and some of these scenes are shot in a kind of off colour with sepia type tones. This gives these scenes an added charm and enhances them with a feeling of authenticity. These flashbacks show us the young Eisenheim, encountering a travelling magician and then developing a fascination for magic
and illusions. It is also during this time that he meets a young Duchess called Sophie, who is a part of the Austrian Royal family. They become childhood sweethearts but because he is a commoner their friendship is forbidden so they are forced to meet in secret. Eventually their secret is discovered and Eisenheim is sent away.
We are told that Eisenheim spent many years travelling the world before the film then jumps back to the present, where he has returned to Vienna and carved out quite a lucrative career for himself, performing to packed out theatre audiences night after night. The tricks that captivate his audiences often involve quite elaborate illusions and these are never explained to the viewer. Whether these are acts of magic or if, as some of his followers' claim, he has supernatural powers, this is never made clear either, but word of his skills travels quickly and members of the Austrian Royal family regularly begin to attend his shows. This leads to a chance meeting with his childhood sweetheart, Sophie, once again, but Eisenheim soon discovers that she is about to marry the corrupt Crown Prince Leopold.
Neil Burger, who also wrote the screenplay for this film directs the Illusionist. I am not familiar with any of Burger's previous work but he certainly manages to capture the period that this film is set in. The leading male characters: Einsenheim, Prince Leopold and Inspector Uhl of the police force, who Prince Leopold assigns to keep a watchful eye on Eisenheim, all have a Victorian sort of charm about them, and they also have the customary attire of the day: black suits and moustaches. Whilst the women, including Duchess Sophie are all dressed as you would expect upper class women of that period to be dressed. The mode of transport for this period is horse drawn carriage so the period certainly precedes the invention of the motor car.
As the film develops we see Eisenheim being shadowed by Inspector Uhl and his men, determined to find something on Eisenheim that they can report back to the Prince, but Eisenheim always seems to be one step ahead of them. However, as they draw nearer to thwarting his plans to be with the Duchess tragedy suddenly strikes and Eisenheim is forced to make preparations to carry out his greatest illusion of all.
Edward Norton portrays the lead role of Eisenheim very well, but my main criticism is that he has an annoying accent. This same criticism can be applied equally to the rest of the cast, including Duchess Sophie, played by Jessica Biel, who each attempt to convey a totally unnecessary Anglicised Austrian accent. On the whole however the acting is well done and I found this to be an interesting film, but by no means a brilliant film.
The opening scenes promised a lot but from here the pace was somewhat slow and there were a few moments that were so drawn out that I began to lose interest. The story does however have plenty of twists and turns and enough goodies and baddies to just about keep you watching and the final twist was something that I didn't see coming.
Paul Giamatti plays the slightly corrupt Inspector Uhl, who has been promised a more prominent role when the Prince becomes Emperor. His loyalties are however somewhat divided and it is Giamatti's skill as an actor that enables us to see that he is not entirely happy working for the Prince. Most people will probably remember Giamatti from Cinderella Man, but I also remember him from Man on the Moon.
The Crown Prince Leopold is played by Rufus Sewell. As the baddie of the film the task here was always to be unlikeable, and this is something that Sewell manages to achieve with ease.
Overall I would recommend to this film to others but mainly for the wonderful settings. The majority of the scenes were shot in the Czech Republic, but I for one could believe that it was Vuenna.
As with all DVD's there are several extras, which I did take a peek at. These include a short film about the filming of The Illusionist and a Director's commentary. Both of these are very short and neither is particularly memorable. There is also a 90 second interview with Jessica Beil, which again seemed rather pointless.
DVD Released - January 2007 Running time - 1 hour 50 minutes Certification - PG (for mild sex and violence)
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Production Year: 2004 - Drama - Director: Nick Cassavetes - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over, 12 years and over - Starring: Rachel McAdams, Ryan Gosling, Gena Rowlands
Good review. The cod Austrian accents got on my nerves too! Norton sounds as if he has a slight lisp. Sewell's moustache is so fake it's laughable. But an enjoyable film.
ivytoad 03.02.2008 20:15
I really liked this film, though I did get a bit confused at the end of it and someone had to make it clear to me! Great review. Really enjoyable to read :)
carcraig 29.01.2008 00:22
Not sure this is my thing, but great review, Caroline ss
The Illusionistoffers welcome proof that "arthouse" quality needn't be limited to the ... more
arthouses. Set in turn-of-the-century Vienna, this stately, elegant period film benefited from a crossover release in mainstream cinemas, and showed considerable box-...
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The Illusionistoffers welcome proof that "arthouse" quality needn't be limited to the ... more
arthouses. Set in turn-of-the-century Vienna, this stately, elegant period film benefited from a crossover release in mainstream cinemas, and showed considerable box-...
Postage & Packaging: Free! Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours...
Vienna, 1900: Eisenheim (Norton) is a brilliant stage magician, the greatest illusionist ... more
Vienna has ever seen. When his childhood friendship with Duchess Sophie von Teschen (Biel), now betrothed to the power-hungry Crown Prince Leopold (Sewell), is rek...
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Jan 18th, 2008
(Jan 19th, 2008)
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