Mesmerised by a Magician’s Mystical Ways

‘Perhaps there is truth, and there is illusion!’

Perception is reality! In The illusionist, that reality is created on-stage by the mysterious magician, Eisenheim who returns to Vienna after his disappearance for 15 years.

First screened in Europe and scheduled for limited release in the U.S., The Illusionist was welcome proof that art-house quality need not be limited to art-houses. Set in turn-of-the-century Vienna, this stately, elegant period film benefitted from a crossover release in mainstream cinemas, and showed considerable box-office staying power. It may have also been helped through the allure of Seventh Heaven alumnus Jessica Biel, who rose to the occasion with a fine performance.

Certainly, with the acting tour-de-force of Edward Norton (Primal Fear; Incredible Hulk) and Paul Giamatti (Sideways), this film is a heavyweight for this genre. This is an intriguing story about a celebrated magician, Eisenheim (Norton) whose private parlour performance offends the Crown Prince Leopold (Rufus Sewell), a vindictive (and suspected spousal abuser) lout who aims to marry Duchess Sophie (Biel), Eisenheim's childhood friend. With this backdrop of romantic rivalry and Eisenheim's increasingly enigmatic craft of illusion, he is investigated by Chief Inspector Uhl (Giamatti), who is under Leopold's command; The latter is not to be trusted, as Eisenheim and Sophie draw closer to their inevitable reunion. The twist at the end is like a carefully crafted chess game, where the audience is also checkmate in the process.

Cleverly adapted by director Neil Burger from Steven Millhauser's short story Eisenheim the Illusionist, and boasting exquisite production values and a fine musical score by Philip Glass, The Illusionist is a very well made film. The illusions were consistent with the era, and associated superstitions: ghostly apparitions, mind reading, stage illusions, and spiritualism. My favourite re-enactment of a classic of illusion: Celebrated French magician, Jean Robert-Houdin’s The Orange Tree. Rating: A-.


Photo-credits: Amazon.com