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Moviola > Films > The Illusionist
The Illusionist (PG) 110 mins"Nothing is what it seems."
The magician Eisenheim (Edward Norton, also to be seen this season in The Painted Veil) is the talk of 1900 Vienna. One night, when Crown Prince Leopold (Rufus Sewell) is attending the performance, Eisenheim asks for a volunteer from the audience who is not afraid of death and Leopold offers his fiancée, the beautiful Sophie (Jessica Biel). Only when Sophie is up on stage do she and Eisenheim recognise each other: they had a childish romance fifteen years ago, but because he was only a poor cabinet maker's son and she was a duchess they were forced to part. She begged him at the time to make them disappear, but his magic failed. Now, as they meet again, their passion is reignited and they begin a clandestine affair. Meanwhile the Prince is enraged by Eisenheim's popularity and what he perceives as his insolence, and he engages his chief of police (Paul Giamatti) to expose the magician as a fraud.
"This is an exciting story of deception, intrigue, illusion and reality with the decent cop as an honest observer, keen to question plots and tricks. The acts are beautifully mounted, the four central performances are excellent, and the exquisite photography is by Dick Pope, Mike Leigh's regular cameraman." Philip French
"Beautifully acted and handsomely mounted, this gorgeous period piece is an intelligent and intriguing exploration of "the dark arts"—less dependent on mere hocus-pocus than on the convincing journey of the soul undertaken by its hero." The Village Voice
"A stylish and absorbing work of originality and vision." Tiscali UK
Last modified: 20-Jun-2008 |
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