DVD Review: The Illusionist

DVD Review by Robin Jordan

THE ILLUSIONIST
Released September, 2006
Director and writer: Neil Burger
(Based on a short story, "Eisenheim the Illusionist", by Steven Millhauser)
Stars: Ed Norton, Paul Giamatti(Chief Inspector Uhl), Jessica Biel(Sophie von Teschen)
Leopold: Rufus Sewell(son of Franz Joseph)


Synopsis: A popular magician and performer first entrances crowned heads and the rest of a fictionalized 19th century Vienna, then shocks with “mystic” revelations from beyond the grave that topple a crown prince and lead to a populist revolution mirrored in the love affair between a commoner and a titled lady.

Ed Norton, an actor who has made a career of playing quirky outsiders in popular hits like Fight Club and Red Dragon, plays a gifted illusionist named Eisenheim, a commoner who rises through his skill in crafting ever more complicated and amazing magical feats for the amusement of the crowned heads of Europe. The story is told in flashbacks, beginning with the attempted arrest of Eisenheim and his disappearance into thin air after the death of fictional crown prince Leopold (Rufus Sewell).

The Illusionist successfully casts Norton, an unconventional romantic lead against Jessica Biel, hardly a likely choice for a 19th century lady, with surprising success. Largely because of the masterful portrayal of Chief Inspector Uhl by Paul Giamatti, who seems more at home in the expansive characters of the period than the leads.

Neil Burger, who wrote the screenplay as well as directed, evokes the elaborate magical themes of Steven Millhouser, Pulizer prize winner, who wrote the short story that inspired this film. While critics have complained that the script has little to do with the focus of the source material, Burger manages to craft a compelling mystery and romance for the popular screen while keeping intact a baroque attention to noticing detailed complexity of scene and emotional state that is present in many of Millhouser’s short stories.

Burger and his cast paid scrupulous attention to authentic details in The Illusionist. Norton did many of his own magic tricks, and Biel studied copious source material on habits of speech and dress of the period, right down to the habit of lifting her voluminous skirts with one hand (to indicate that her character is a lady, not a prostitute.)

This film lends itself to the DVD format. As a theatrical entertainment for modern audiences, it fails by its very complexity of plot. As a DVD, which can be paused and reviewed for clues to what is illusion and what is real, the film becomes an interactive game for the viewer. It seems crafted for the video scenario gamer. The venues and possible choices for the characters are well designed and attractive, and the payoffs of clues and sensual titillation are well timed for gamers of both sexes.

I can easily imagine a couple who enjoy creative anachronism and fantasy gameplaying spending several happy evenings debating the merits of Eisenheim’s illusions and their own detective skills.

In a marketplace of quirky, non-sequential independent movies, The Illusionist ranks somewhere in the middle for innovative storytelling, but the gorgeous musical score by Phillip Glass and rich cinematography by Dick Pope (Topsy-Turvy, Vera Drake) raise the quality of the film above mere cleverness and the period “cuteness” of Merchant-Ivory-type vehicles.

The standard DVD has a director’s commentary, several behind-the-scenes interviews, and trailers.

The Illusionist is rated PG-13 for some sexuality and violence. Three stars out of four.