The Illusionist

[MrBern]

Rainy Sunday, so I got a chance to enjoy this film
http://www.theillusionist.com/

Set in Vienna in 1900, tho it was shot in the Czech Republic.
Nice performances all around.
Its got a littl bit of the feel of a film noir as its a love triangle murder mystery.

 

[Solid Citizen]

Terrific Flick

Saw the film Saturday "cold turkey" (knew 0% of plot) really terrific.
Story, acting, costumes/sets "A". I would buy this on DVD when it
comes out. :eusa_clap

SC

 

[Miss Neecerie]

Saw this last night and thought it was brilliant. Clever, engaged you in the plot and characters, even the smaller characters had backstories that you felt and sympathised with.


Really quite stunning! Two thumbs up.

 

[Matt Deckard]

I liked it alot. Homburgs galore and a great story.

 

[happyfilmluvguy]

I didn't think movies could be that clever anymore.

 

[Zemke Fan]

This was the BEST movie so far this year...

Out in only limited distribution according to IMDB. My local paper (Washington Post) had a tepid review, but we've learned to just ignore them in most instances...

CASTING: Edward Norton is superb as Eisenheim The Illusionist, Jessica Biel can act as well as stop hearts, Paul Giammati proves once again that he's one of our best actors, and Rufus Sewell is a perfect choice for the egomaniacal Crown Prince Leopold.

DIRECTING: Very powerful. You felt like you were right on stage with Eisenheim or in the audience holding your breath as you watched him. (I don't know WHERE this guy Burger (director) comes from, but we haven't seen the last of him.)

STORY: Although the conclusion is predictable, the plot (written by Director Neil Burger) is nonetheless tight, suspenseful, and intriguing. Miss N notes correctly that even the sub-plots are well developed.

COSTUMES: Terrific. Especially the men's costumes. This is a time period that we don't tend to see much of in the movies and it was a blast to watch how the typical dark suit was played up by different ties.

LOCATIONS: Having been to Vienna, I've GOT to make Prague my next trip (after St. Petersburg next summer). It's like I wanted Vienna to be! And Vienna is a VERY romantic city.

All in all a terrific film. Very highly recommended.

 

[Feraud]

This looks like a good one. I am going to bump this to the top of my "to see" list.

 

[Lauren]

I really want to see this one- buy why does the girl have her hair down in the poster? :eusa_doh:

 

[Miss Neecerie]

I really want to see this one- buy why does the girl have her hair down in the poster? :eusa_doh:

Because thats her 'I am slumming it with the illusionist, post sex' look...of course

 

[Hemingway Jones]

It's nice to see the talented Ed Norton back again, and I would watch Paul Giamatti read the telephone book... if he did it as "Miles" from "Sideways."

 

[MrBern]

I really want to see this one- buy why does the girl have her hair down in the poster? :eusa_doh:

becuz its part of the illusion....

 

[MrBern]

My only reservation....all the CGI magic tricks.

 

[MrBern]

LOCATIONS: Having been to Vienna, I've GOT to make Prague my next trip (after St. Petersburg next summer). It's like I wanted Vienna to be! And Vienna is a VERY romantic city.

I'm told that Hungary is remote enuff to have that look as well.

 

[Solid Citizen]

Ms. Biel's

Ms.Biel's does not hurt the eyes either
with her Scandinavian features! :eusa_clap :eusa_clap :eusa_clap

SC

 

[Feraud]

We had an opportunity to see this film today. It was quite good! I have not enjoyed a film this much at a theater in a long time. The fact that it was a quiet holiday Monday with a theater full of senior citizens helped.
I think the story was somewhat predictable. This fact was outweighed by the costumes, directing, and acting. Edward Norton and Rufus Sewell were the perfect pro and antagonist. It is Paul Giamatti who steals the show as the Chief Inspector placed in between the two men.
I never liked the "explanation" ending in a film. The Illusionist had such an ending. The assumption is the audience is not intelligent enough to understand what they have seen.
If you are going to see something in theaters now I would suggest this.

 

[Robert Conway]

Ms.Biel's does not hurt the eyes either
with her Scandinavian features! :eusa_clap :eusa_clap :eusa_clap

SC

Yes, she is very easy on the eyes but of German, French, English and Native American (Choctaw) heritage.

I have a friend who is part native American and she looks an awful lot like her. Both have that heart shaped face and slightly asiatic eyes.

A very attractive gal.

RC

 

[MrBern]

Funny, she reminds me of a younger version of Christy Turlington who is British/SanSalvadoran.
And also the face of the mannequins in th Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC.

 

[Doctor Strange]

I saw this with my sister last night, and I liked it a lot, with a few caveats:

It's too long. Shaving 15 minutes or so would have made it far more effective. I'm also not convinced that the start-briefly-at-the-beginning-of-third-act-crisis-and-then-flash-back structure was the right way to tell this particular story.

As usual, the excellent production design/costumes recreating the period doesn't extend to the writing/acting. Apart from their clothes, everybody looked/acted/spoke in *much* too contemporary a fashion for circa 1900.

Much noise was made about how "most" of the magical effects were done using actual old stage tricks vs. modern effects work and CGI, and magic-genius Ricky Jay is listed as one of the consultants. But I'm sorry, I was a working magician for several years in my youth, and most of the tricks in this movie were not classic stage magic - a lot were obviously movie special effects. (And even within the context of the story, some of the supposed explanations, like movie projectors for ghosts, were nowhere near sophisticated enough at the time to work as shown here - celluloid movie film was only *invented* in 1895, and could not produce a realistic color image during this period.)

But I'm being a tough room. The film is enchanting to look at, nicely acted, and very entertaining. (But it shouldn't be taken seriously.)

 

[Hemingway Jones]

But I'm being a tough room. The film is enchanting to look at, nicely acted, and very entertaining. (But it shouldn't be taken seriously.)

Nice review, but you buried your lead!

 

[WEEGEE]

Homburgs...

Matt Deckard

I liked it alot. Homburgs galore and a great story.

Saw it today...also liked it alot.

Any idea on who did the hats???...really liked the style of Edward Norton's homburg.