Creative Exhibition Of Wonderful Story Telling

Rating: 9/10 (19 March 2012)

Based on the short story by Steven Milhauser, "Eisenheim The Illusionist" set in the Austrian-Hungarian Empire in the 19th century tells the tale about the son of a working-class carpenter who specializes in cabinets falls smitten for an upper-class Viennese lady but is not permitted to go anywhere near her due to the discrimination torn between their social standings. The story leads the young man to a professional magician who reveals his crafty illusions as he explores mystifying lands that further enhances his knowledge towards the mysteries of life. Upon his return to Vienna, where the now confident commoner begins to perform his magic act, not just towards the plebeian spectators, but also towards the upper echelons of social class including his majesty the crowned Prince Rudolf, the son of Emperor Franz Josef who ruled the Austrian-Hungarian Empire.
The original premise of the story was intended to have been an exploitation aimed towards the monarchy, in which a gruesome incident happened where at a hunting lodge, the bodies of Prince Rudolf and his girlfriend the Baroness Mary Vetsera were found and the scandal was handled in low prolific matter for a number of years by the Royal family as a ploy to save their reputation.
Edward Norton was excellent as the titular character and what's the real treat about Norton's performance is that many of the magic were actually performed the talented thespian. It must've taken him an overwhelming amount of time before he was able to perfect his magical skills. When the credits rolled, it had I wondering if these acts of trickery were just optical illusions or did Eisenheim possessed something more mystical than one could imagine.
The effects were just as equally magical as the tricks Eisenheim was performing. One of the best tricks in the movie unquestionably would have to be the Excalibur Sword trick where the talented magician takes Rudolf's sword and the sword is pointed erect and is somehow magnetically attached to the stage. Eisenheim asks the patricians to release the sword from the stage, unfortunately to no avail, they failed to do so (an unfortunate homage to the King Arthur story). However, Prince Rudolf manages pull the sword from its position even through a flawed effort, which causes a bit of humiliation on the part of the Prince who now declares Eisenheim an enemy amongst the aristocracy.
Paul Giamatti does another incredible performance as the untrustworthy Inspector Uhl. Giamatti is such an incredibly talented performer, able to play unique and versatile roles in comedy, tragedy, drama and thrillers.
The atmosphere was very original and blends in beautifully with the time period. It felt like the audience was living in that time period. It gave me the impression that the director Neil Burger used editing techniques that were dated over 80 years ago which is a bit unorthodox for such a film that is strong in fantasy, brilliant in supernatural effects and a romance story equally effective as any Shakespeare story. The ending of the story was executed to near perfection which exemplifies that excellent storytelling is played from the heart. This is a tale not to miss.