he lived in turn-of-the-century Vienna but never met Sigmund Freud

Rating: 7/10 (10 February 2007)

In "The Illusionist", Edward Norton plays a magician who uses his tricks to upset the power structure. Whenever he performs his tricks, he reminds us how one can never be totally certain about what's real and what isn't. I guess that the correlation is that Austria-Hungary has a status quo - in that it's run by straight-laced aristocrats - and this magician is changing it; showing that the status quo doesn't have to be, if you will.
But even without that aspect, it's still a pretty fascinating movie. Even though Eisenheim is a fictional character, one has to wonder what it must be like to be in his audience and witness his tricks. If anything lessens the movie at all, it's that the woman-loves-someone-outside-her-social-circle premise seems pretty routine (and why do the characters in these movies always have English accents?). But overall, I really liked it and I recommend it. Also starring Jessica Biel, Paul Giamatti and Rufus Sewell.
I wonder why they didn't incorporate Sigmund Freud into the plot. I bet that he could have had some comments about illusions.