wonderful film

Rating: 8/10 (22 June 2010)

"The Illusionist" is a wonderful film, partially based on some real-life events and characters. It's easily confused with "The Prestige" because both concern magicians at the turn of the century, and both films were released in the same year. I admit to liking "The Prestige" a little more - it was directed with sleight of hand as well as being about it; I did figure out "The Illusionist," whereas "The Prestige" kept me guessing.
But both films are really quite different. Edward Norton plays Eisenheim, a magician who never stopped loving his childhood friend, Sophie, a duchess and, of course, of another class. He meets her again; she is in love with him, though she is now engaged to Crown Prince Leopold, who is to succeed his father to the Austrian throne. Leopold is a controlling and powerful man. He sees right away that Eisenheim is dangerous, not to mention scary with his phenomenal illusions. He has a chief inspector (Paul Giamatti) watching him and reporting back to him at all times. When Eisenheim and Sophie are spotted together, Leopold becomes more determined than ever to get rid of Eisenheim.
This is a rich, atmospheric film with wonderful performances, particularly from Edward Norton. Paul Giamatti is such a marvelous actor, I wish his role had been a richer one. Jessica Biel makes a beautiful Sophie. I had a couple of problems: one is the use of accents. In their own country, the people would be speaking German, not English with a German accent, so why not use no accents? We certainly know we're in another country in another time - the film was shot in the Czech republic, and it's gorgeous to look at.
"The Illusionist" asks us to look at what is illusion and what is reality - or are they both the same thing?