The Illusionist

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For the Scar Symmetry's song see The Illusionist (song).
The Illusionist

Nothing is what it seems.
Directed by Neil Burger
Produced by Brian Koppelman
David Levien
Michael London
Cathy Schulman
Bob Yari
Written by Steven Millhauser
(Short story)
Neil Burger
(Screenplay)
Starring Edward Norton
Paul Giamatti
Jessica Biel
Rufus Sewell
Eddie Marsan
Music by Philip Glass
Cinematography Dick Pope
Editing by Naomi Geraghty
Distributed by Yari Film Group Releasing
Release date(s) August 18, 2006
(limited)
September 1, 2006
(nationwide)
Running time 110 min.
Language English
Budget $17 million
All Movie Guide profile
IMDb profile

The Illusionist is an Academy Award-nominated 2006 period drama written and directed by Neil Burger and starring Edward Norton, Jessica Biel, and Paul Giamatti. Based loosely on Steven Millhauser's story "Eisenheim the Illusionist", The Illusionist tells the story of Eisenheim (Norton), a magician in turn-of-the-20th-century Vienna.

The film premiered at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival, opened the 2006 Seattle International Film Festival, and was distributed in limited release to theaters on August 18, 2006, eventually expanding nationwide on September 1.

Contents

[edit] Synopsis

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

The film begins in medias res (in the middle of the story) as chief inspector Uhl (Giamatti) recounts the history of Eisenheim for Crown Prince Leopold, following Eisenheim's arrest during what appears to be necromancy passed off as a magic show.

As a teenager, young Eisenheim (played by Aaron Johnson) is the son of a cabinetmaker. One day, he meets a traveling magician along a road. The magician performs several tricks for him and then, according to various accounts, both the magician and the tree he was sitting under vanish. Eisenheim becomes obsessed with magic tricks after this and also falls in love with Sophie von Teschen (Biel), a duchess well above his social standing, and the daughter of the parents that have hired Eisenheim's father as a cabinetmaker. Although the two are forbidden to see each other, they meet in a secret hideout in the woods, where Eisenheim tells of his plans to go to China to learn more magic and Sophie promises to go with him. On the day that they are going to leave, however, the police come looking for Sophie. The two hide in the secret room and Sophie begs Eisenheim to make them both disappear. He is unable to fulfill this request, however, and the two are separated. Eisenheim leaves his village to travel the world and perfect his magic after this. He returns a master illusionist. He meets Sophie at his performance when she is volunteered, by the crown prince, as a participant in his trick. He soon learns that Sophie is expected to marry the ruthless Crown Prince Leopold (Sewell), who is well known for abusing his lady friends. After humiliating the crown prince during a private show, Eisenheim finds his hit performance shut out of Vienna. Eisenheim and Sophie, having recognized each other from his previous performance, meet privately and finally consummate their love. Their romance begun anew, they plan to elope; but first, Sophie points out, something must be done to stop Leopold, who, she reveals, is planning a coup d'etat to take control of Austria from his aging father, Emperor Franz Joseph, while using his engagement to her to win the support of Hungary. When Leopold finds out from Uhl, who was following the couple, he apparently kills Sophie in a drunken rage. Unfortunately, Leopold's aristocratic social standing makes any accusations against him unthinkable. As Eisenheim plunges into despair and the citizens of Vienna begin to suspect Leopold of murder, Uhl begins to observe Eisenheim's actions more closely.

Racked with grief, Eisenheim prepares a new kind of magic show, using mysterious equipment and Chinese stagehands. Eisenheim purchases a run-down theater and opens a new performance. During his show, Eisenheim apparently summons spirits, leading many to believe that he possesses supernatural powers. Uhl attempts to stop his show but is unsuccessful.

Norton as Eisenheim in The Illusionist
Norton as Eisenheim in The Illusionist

Leopold decides to attend one of Eisenheim's shows in disguise. During this show, Eisenheim summons the spirit of Sophie, who says someone in the theater murdered her, panicking Leopold. Uhl pleads with Eisenheim to stop, but Eisenheim refuses; he is bent on being with Sophie and ruining the crown prince and the ruling Habsburg house. Finally, Leopold orders Eisenheim's arrest, but when Uhl tries to arrest him during a live show, Eisenheim's body fades and disappears, implying that he did not perform the show as a corporeal human being that night but, rather, as a "spirit".

At this point, we return to the first scene of the movie. Uhl reveals to Leopold that he has found evidence which points to the crown prince as Sophie's murderer: a jewel from the prince's sword, and Sophie's locket that Eisenheim gave her when they were kids. After ordering, then begging Uhl to keep silent, Leopold discovers that Uhl has already informed the emperor's general staff not only of his findings but of Leopold's plans to usurp the Austrian throne. When the general staff arrives at his palace, Leopold shoots himself in despair after sadly reflecting on the state of Austria's corrupt government.

In the next scene, Uhl is shown leaving the imperial castle. After he takes a few steps, a boy runs up to hand him a folio labeled "Orange Tree" – the name of one of Eisenheim's illusions which had intrigued Uhl – and unlike before, it is filled with plans detailing a geared mechanism to make the tree "grow". Uhl demands to know where the child found the folio and is told that Eisenheim had given it to him. Uhl spots Eisenheim wearing a disguise and follows him to the train station. During his chase, Uhl begins to make mental connections, shown in the form of flashbacks. He realizes that Sophie's murder was in fact itself an illusion created by Eisenheim in order to escape with his love and bring down Leopold. After the flashbacks, Eisenheim is seen making his way to the country, where Sophie awaits him.

Spoilers end here.

[edit] Cast

Actor Role
Edward Norton Eduard Abramovich aka Eisenheim
Paul Giamatti Chief Inspector Walter Uhl
Jessica Biel Duchess Sophie von Teschen
Rufus Sewell Crown Prince Leopold
Eddie Marsan Josef Fischer
Jake Wood Jurka

[edit] Filming locations

Although the film is set in Austria, it was filmed mostly in the Czech Republic. The city of Vienna is represented in the movie by those of Tábor and Prague, while the scenes set in Eisenheim's childhood village were shot in Český Krumlov. The Crown Prince's castle is actually the historical fortress of Konopiště (located near Benešov), formerly the home of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria. All other shots were at Barrandov Studios in Prague.

[edit] Reaction

As of February 1, 2007 the film has earned worldwide box office receipts of $69,115,258, with $39,863,528 of that amount earned in the United States.[1] Since it has been released on DVD, it has earned another $17.82 million in rental revenue (as of February 4, 2007).[2]

The Illusionist received mostly positive reviews. Rotten Tomatoes classified it as 76% "fresh" with 163 reviews (as of March 3, 2007).[3] Jonathan Rosenbaum's review in The Chicago Reader praised Paul Giamatti's performance of "a character who feels sympathy for the magician but owes allegiance to Leopold and is therefore divided and compromised ... Giamatti’s performance is subtle, expressive, and richly nuanced."[4] Stephen Holden, in his review for The New York Times, praised Edward Norton's role, which, according to him, "perfectly fits his disturbing inscrutability".[5]

Director of Photography Dick Pope earned a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Cinematography.

[edit] Trivia

This article contains a trivia section.
Content in this section should be integrated into other appropriate areas of the article or removed, and the trivia section removed.
  • So that the crew would not have to use CGI to "fake" the magical illusions seen in the movie, Norton received intensive training in sleight of hand and other stage magic techniques from British magician James Freedman[6] and American magician Ricky Jay.[7]
  • Norton said "I was really enthusiastic to work with James Freedman. Having him around was the best part of the job because he's one of the ultimate all-stars in his field today."Times Online
  • The Illusionist is one of three 2006 films which revolve around the topic of stage magic and feature magicians as main characters. The other two are The Prestige and Scoop, which share two actors: Hugh Jackman and Scarlett Johansson. The Prestige and The Illusionist are both set in the past; Scoop is set in modern times. Scott Penrose and James Freedman (one of Edward Norton's magic coach/trainers for The Illusionist) were among the magic consultants for the Scoop. Conversely, Ricky Jay, who served as one of the magic consultants for The Illusionist, played the character Milton the Magician in The Prestige.
  • The character portrayed by Philip McGough is shown in the credits to be named Dr. Hofzinser, after a prominent sleight-of-hand artist.
  • The character of Crown Prince Leopold, though himself fictitious, appears to be based on the historical Crown Prince Rudolf, who was heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne until his death in 1889 (which was also a suicide). Like Rudolf, Leopold is described as being the only son of Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria, who appears briefly in the film, along with a young cousin of Leopold who bears a close resemblance to Emperor Charles I.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=illusionist.htm
  2. ^ http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?page=homevideo&id=illusionist.htm
  3. ^ http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/illusionist/
  4. ^ http://www.chicagoreader.com/features/stories/moviereviews/060818/
  5. ^ http://movies2.nytimes.com/2006/08/18/movies/18illu.html?ref=movies
  6. ^ http://www.magicweek.co.uk/backissues_0250-0299/0292.htm
  7. ^ http://www.scifi.com/scifiwire/index.php?category=0&id=37422

[edit] Internal links

[edit] External links

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