The Illusionist by Neil Burger is a period piece set in the 1900s. Edward Abramovich (Edward Norton) is a peasant and aspiring young magician who raises eyebrows when he befriends and falls in love with duchess Sophie (Jessica Biel), a young woman of great social stead. After her family tries several times to keep them apart, Edward is threatened to keep away from her if he does not want himself or his family to be arrested. He ups and leaves and he travels to Russia and the Orient where he becomes Eisenheim the Illusionist, who astounds crowds with his masterful trickery. When his travels take him to Vienna several years later, he encounters Sophie once again. As before, something stands in the way of their happiness: Leopold, the crown prince, plans to make her his wife. And it does not seem that his temper and pride would be able to stand the humiliation…
The visual effects and cinematography are spellbinding and worth the watch. The special effects are done so well though, that they do at times seem to be too real and, therefore, appear to be the product of a supernatural power rather than that of an illusionist. The film also gets a bit too tedious at times and I believe the work could have benefited from some tighter editing towards the end. But this is a very smart and entertaining film nevertheless. And after having enjoyed Paul Giamatti so much in Sideways, The Illusionist was no different. Not a film I would make part of my DVD collection, but certainly worth the watch.
SPOILER WARNING: DO NOT READ THIS IF YOU HAVE NOT YET SEEN THE FILM! The film starts in medias res with Eisenheim’s arrest and then jumps back to where the whole story began. The film thus begins with the climax, or, so the audience is led to believe. I really did not see this one coming…and I am so glad that I didn’t. I was as clueless as Inspector Uhl about the web that Eisenheim was spinning all along, and was pleasantly surprised by the ending. It might have been obvious to some people, my husband being one of them; after all, the film isn’t called The Illusionist for nothing. I truly believed it to be Eisenheim’s quest for justice. Yet appearances can be deceiving, and in this film nothing is what it seems. An unexpected and refreshing twist at the end; far more believable than that of The Number 23.
Genre: Period Drama/ Mystery / Romance / Thriller
Running time: 110 min
Country: USA / Czech Republic
Language: English
Director: Neil Burger
Writing credits: Steven Millhauser (short story)
Neil Burger (screenplay)
Producers: Brian Koppelman
David Levien
Michael London
Cathy Schulman
Bob Yari
Cinematographer: Dick Pope
Editor: Naomi Geraghty
Distributed by: Yari Film Group
Main Cast:
Eisenheim / Edward Abramovich – Edward Norton
Sophie – Jessica Biel
Inspector Uhl – Paul Giamatti
Prince Leopold – Rufus Sewell
Josef Fischer – Eddie Marsan
