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| Sunday, September 2, 2007
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The Illusionist |
The Illusionist (Trailer)
GRADE: A-
It’s MAGIC! This film, The Illusionist, is that and so much more. Magical, mystical, twists, romance, great story, engaging effects, and great acting from an impressive cast of a superb generation of phenomenal actors. I felt so engaged and in complete awe of such a brilliant film. This is a film that will get an audience on their feet in great praise and appreciation at the time of its closing credits. This film has something for everybody, even the occasional teenagers. It is a must-see film that ranks in my top 5 greatest films of 2006.
The Illusionist was made by 20th Century Fox and the Yari Film Group Home Entertainment. The MPAA generously gave this film a PG-13 rating for its use of violence and scenes of sexuality. It is based on a short story titled Eisenheim the Illusionist, by Steven Millhauser. The screenplay was written and directed by Neil Burger and stars Academy Award Nominee Edward Norton (from American History X, Fight Club, and Primal Fear), Academy Award Nominee Paul Giamatti (in Sideways and Cinderella Man), Jessica Biel (from Summer Catch), and Rufus Sewell (from Dark City). The Illusionist tells a story of a young boy, Eisenheim, who falls in love with a girl that is above his social standards. Although the parents forbid them of seeing each other, they can not be split apart. One day they are found together and the boy is sent away. He grows up and becomes a well-known magician. She grows up and falls for another man, the Crown Prince. The two get engaged but Eisenheim finally meets back up with the girl and uses his magical powers to free her from the royal house in Vienna. Everyone gave performances that rate up with some of the best of their generation. There are no words that I can say to tell you how great Paul Giamatti and Edward Norton are. These are two actors that give their all in every movie they do, regardless if it’s a blockbuster or an independent film. They make acting a joy to watch.
The Illusionist was noticed for honors and nominations in festivals and awards across the board. Composer Phillip Glass (???) had me enthralled and trapped in a trance right from the first note in the opening credits. He knows musically what grabs an audience and at times has them on pins and needles wanting to know what happens next. With his great composing along with Dick Pope’s cinematography and Petra Habova’s set decoration gives the film’s final touches a beautiful piece of film scenery. They used some extra help in the scenes containing the use of magic from James Freedman who gives his own input in sleight of hand to scenes using pick-pocket situations.
From The Illusionist’s great technical aspects to its great use of background story to explain to us where the love of Eisenheim and the girl started grabs our interest and has us on the edge of our seat fixated on the screen. With its great use of inter-cuts between scenes making it look like a very old, old film from early days of cinema to its impressive use of orange lens tinting to give scenes a grainy vintage look. It’s easy to notice, early in the film, that Edward Norton spent hours studying and mastering little nuances in the art of sleight of hand. He shows that in any art anyone can achieve their goals if they practice, practice, practice. The films use of special effects during scenes of magic may appear outrageous but believers will take it for what it is, MAGIC!
The Illusionist is full of strengths and very little weakness that are hard to find. Maybe that’s a magic trick of its own. Edward Norton is an actor that will amaze everyone in every performance thrown his way. He has such a presence on-screen that he can give an emotion and you will believe every second of it without a word of dialogue. Rufus Sewell spends a good majority of this film playing the role of the Crown Prince very upscale and calm but the role grows into a character of great anger and he makes his performance one to reckon with. A small piece of trivia, I feel the right decision was made in the end, was the role Jessica Biel played was originally supposed to be Liv Tyler, but she dropped out just before filming began. This film is quite a push above what Jessica Biel is used to doing but she did a fine job to a point where I couldn’t even see Liv Tyler in the role. This is a highly recommended film for everyone who loves great acting, a great story, and a magician wanting to be with the love of his life. Watch closely or you could miss a great twist in this millennium’s generation. In closing, there are 2 phrases we may hear from many magicians today that is also relevant to this film; “Certain secrets are NOT meant to be revealed,” and “WHAT IS REAL!?”
----- Written by: Noel Petok |
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posted by Noel's Movie Reviews 11:31 PM
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