Anyone with even the most fleeting delusion of grandeur has thought, “Who will play me when my life story is filmed.”
I’m no different. I’ve actually gone so far as to begin working on the soundtrack.
My hope?- Someday Ed Norton would be cast as me.
My fear?- The Hollywood “Powers that be” would cast Paul Giamatti instead.
After seeing The Illusionist, this thought no longer scares me.
THE FILM:
BEHOLD the story of Eisenheim The Illusionist as told through the flashback of Chief Inspector Uhl. It is the late 1800’s and Eisenheim has just been arrested at the behest of crown prince Leopold of Vienna in front of a theatre packed with spectators.
As a child Edward Abramowitz, son of a cabinetmaker, has a chance encounter with a passing magician.
He’s fascinated and begins working on his slight of hand and developing his talent. One day, while practicing on the street, his tricks catch the attention of a young Duchess named Sophie.
They become close, despite the attempts of Sophie’s father, and end up falling in love. Edward plans to travel through Asia, honing his craft with Sophie at his side when they are discovered together and forcibly separated. All Sophie wanted was to disappear with Edward and now he must make the trek alone.
Skip ahead fifteen years.
Edward has returned from his travels and has taken the stage name of “Eisenheim The Illusionist”. His magic and illusions are the talk of Europe and he plays to a packed Viennese theatre.
Eisenheim catches the eye of Inspector Uhl, and finds himself playing to royalty soon after. The Crown Prince arrives at a show with his fiance who turns out to be Edward’s childhood love Sophie.
Through a coincidence, Edward and Sophie are brought back together and rekindle their relationship.
After a private performance, where Edward potentially embarrasses Leopold, we see Uhl watching him and Sophie closely at the Prince’s request. We soon find out that the Prince is planning to overthrow his father for the crown.
Uhl is not a bad man (yet), however he is torn between the power and prestige that Leopold can offer and his sense of what is right. In Uhl we see a character who has already started down the path of corruption, but hasn’t gone past the point of no return.
He can still be redeemed.
There is no redemption for Leopold. He plans to usurp the throne with Sophie at his side and is about to travel through Europe to garner support. His reputation as an abuser and potential murderer is whispered about. When Sophie tells him that not only is she not going to support him but she’s leaving him, it comes as no surprise that he follows her outside with his sword and we see her ride off in to the night mortally wounded.
Her body is found by Eisenheim and a royal doctor and is pronounced dead.
In despair, Eisenheim purchases his own theatre and, with the assistance of mystical Asian stagehands, begins to raise spirits from the dead. One of them is his beloved Sophie. Talk begins to sweep through the audience and the town that Leopold murdered her.
Uhl, arrests Eisenheim but is forced to release him when he announces to everyone that it’s all “just an illusion”. We are led to believe something very different. Uhl asks why he continues to associate with Sophie’s spirit and Edward replies “to be with her”.
In the mean time, while Uhl is trying to stop Eisenheim from raising Sophie’s ghost in front of a packed theatre, he’s also investigating her death.
Much to his dismay, every clue points back to Leopold. When he can ignore it no longer, Uhl confronts Leopold with Sophie’s death and announces that he has informed the imperial guard of Leopold’s plans to overthrow his father.
What happens from there is a plot twist of pure magic.
THE FEEL:
The more you think about how this movie was filmed, the smarter you realize it is. The director is Neil Burger and I had to go back and ask, “Who is this guy?” My question still stands. He appears to have only done one other film. I predict HUGE things from him. Any Director would give their left nut for a script, cast and film crew this good. To have this as his second movie is mind blowing.
I can’t figure out why it’s only been nominated for one Oscar.
Historically the film is spot on. Film is the “new technology” and almost unknown.
The character of Leopold, while fictional, is based on the real Prince Rudolf of the Austro-Hungarian empire who himself was involved in a monarchy shaking scandal.
The illusions have an old fashioned, elegant feel to them that definitely reflect the time. It actually makes you nostalgic for older slight of hand and inventive magic. The CG of the illusions are smooth and subtle, instead of showy or over the top, and make you think that no CG was used at all.
If you asked me the color of anything in this movie (with the exception of the oranges or the butterflies) I don’t know that I’d be able to tell you. The entire film has a beautiful washed out, sepia tone to it that exemplifies the time period.
The costumes look heavy and only truly comfortable when in various stages of undress.
Accents are wisely avoided and instead the characters involved use a proper, succinct form of speech that makes you think of etiquette.
THE PERFORMANCES:
Rufus Sewell:- Prince Leopold
It’s a shame that I always forget that he exists, although this is probably very telling. He consistently turns in solid performances in either period pieces or as a creepy heavy. No exception here. You relish hating him.
Jessica Biel:- Sophie
Jessica Biel appears to be making the run from actress to ACTRESS with her last few film choices. It isn’t often that you see someone transition from roles in movies like Texas Chainsaw or Blade 3 to starring opposite two of the top 10 actors of this new generation. She holds her own here. She’s convincing and belongs in this cast. I’ll bet she’s happier than hell that the first actress in this role dropped out.
Good for her. I’m interested to see what she comes up with next.
Ed Norton:- Eisenheim The Illusionist
While this isn’t the strongest performance that he’s ever turned in (American History X edged out Fight Club for that honor) it’s still excellent. I’ve come to the conclusion that even at his worst, Ed Norton is vastly superior to most other actors around. His preparation for this role was immaculate and it was obvious that he spent hours practicing slight of hand to make his movements appear liquid and effortless.
I’d pay 10 bucks to watch him pick his nose for 2 hours.
Well… maybe not, but he’s still fantastic.
And finally:
Paul Giamatti:- Chief Inspector Uhl
He definitely deserved an Oscar nod for this.
Giamatti is a good actor. A very good actor. I mean scary good, frighteningly good.
Good the way that DeNiro and Pacino were good before they became caricatures of themselves.
Multiple Oscar, go down in history good.
This is evident after watching him in The Illusionist and Lady In The Water back to back. He convincingly plays characters that are so opposite, you have trouble believing it’s the same man playing them.
He has a calm, quiet, cunning darkness in this movie that transforms him from the pudgy hapless schmuck he normally portrays in to someone who you not only can’t trust but someone you might not want to meet in a dark alley.
People have said that his portrayal of Chief Inspector Uhl is very reminiscent of Hercule Poirot. I have to disagree simply because I found this character much richer, much more sinister.
He portrays a character that is torn between his want of power and his necessity to do right, his admiration for Eisenheim and his frustration with him, and he does this subtly, completely without theatrics or histrionics.
Not only is he the show pony in this film but he is the embodiment of the argument “any truly good actor can play any part”.
Now I want to see him as a villain.
Now I’ve decided I want him to play me when they film my life.
Notice I didn’t say if, but when.
Hopefully he’ll work out a bit first.
At one thousand, four hundred and thirty three words, this whole "Lean and Mean" thing can eat me.
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