Country of Origin: USA
Set in turn-of-the-century Vienna, The Illusionist is about a magician named Eisenheim (Edward Norton) who uses his ability to create uncanny illusions to be with the woman that he loves. Duchess Sophie von Teschen (Jessia Biel), childhood friend and lover to Eisenheim, is betrothed to the Crown Prince Leopold (Rufus Sewell) and wants to leave him as she is nothing more than a part of the prince's plan to overthrow the emperor. Leopold becomes obsessed and determined to reveal Eisenheim for the fraud that he believes the magician to be, and hires Inspector Uhl (Paul Giamatti) to aid in his assumptions. As the movie progresses it takes you on a ride of romance, fantasy, murder, scandal, and has many turns and unexpected twists that will leave you to believe that " Nothing is what it seems".
The Illusionist is a crafty and beautiful story that left me flabbergasted at the end. Though the ending would have been considered a cliche, the film was cleverly done in a way that even though it was cliche I was not expecting to end the way it did. I was pleasantly surprised. This film has many elements to it: fantasy, murder, scandal, mystery, but what I found it to be is a story about lost love and getting that second chance to find it. The special effects of this film were done very well and honestly made me believe that the illusions were something real. I was a little disappointed that the movie did not reveal how any of the illusions were done, but I guess a good magician never reveals his tricks...even on film. I recommend this film to anyone who likes mystery and romance and twists.
1 comment:
Kat,
I've heard very good things about this film and am anxious to see it. Apparently, the period detail is impeccable and both lead actors give incredible performances. I'm a tad skeptical of Jessica Biel, but I'm sure her acting is tolerable. It's also nice to see Philip Glass getting some notices for his musical score.
By the way, nice use of flabbergasted. :)
-Kurtis
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