The Illusionist is definitely one to see.

Rating: 9/10 (9 December 2006)

I give The Illusionist a 9/10 only because to give it that extra point would be to debase the scoring system. I saw a good deal of this really excellent movie in a sadly cropped version as the in-flight movie between Paris and Istanbul. For various reasons we didn't see it all. To my delight The Illusionist was the in-flight movie on yesterday's return flight Istanbul - Paris. The only problem being that no headphones had been provided on the flight.
OK, being in the business I saw quite enough of it to judge its excellence and urgently want to see the whole movie, as for me it's likely to be a very useful period lighting reference. It was shot in Prague and the flavor of 1890 - 1905 Austro-Hungarian Empire Europe flows. This movie is a beauty in so many ways, Acting, Direction, casting, sets, lighting, FX, romance; one could go on. It seems that Edward Norton learned to perform some of the illusions himself which makes it even better. Definitely one to see.