The Illusionist casts some real drama

By Amanda Koehler
Collegian Editor
September 13, 2006

Do you believe in (movie) magic? If the answer is “yes,” Edward Norton and company will keep you enthralled while watching Neil Burger’s The Illusionist.

In The Illusionist, a magician named Eisenheim (Norton), who can perform tricks such as growing an orange tree in a matter of seconds and conjuring up the dead, has become famous in early 20th century Vienna. At a performance, he brings a volunteer from the audience on stage with him, and recognizes her as his childhood sweetheart, a duchess named Sophie (Jessica Biel). The two start to meet in private and fall in love again.

Unfortunately, Sophie is engaged to Crown Prince Leopold (Rufus Sewell), who is out to overthrow his father’s empire. Suspicious of Sophie and Eisenheim’s relationship, Leopold tells Chief Inspector Uhl (Paul Giamatti) to arrest Eisenheim for his magic, which is a hard task for the chief, who is sympathetic to Eisenheim but knows that obeying the prince will help him rise in rank.

Not much more can be said about the plot without giving too much away, but The Illusionist, based off of a short story by Steven Millhauser, is more than just a love story. It is, more importantly, a mystery that keeps unfolding up until the last few minutes of the film.

Norton perfectly plays Eisenheim, who stands by his craft and stands up to the prince. Biel, whose 7th Heaven acting was sometimes cringe-worthy, is surprisingly adequate as the strong Sophie.

Sewell is excellent as the demanding prince. He really makes the audience frightened of his character. He gets so incredibly angry in some scenes that you can even see the vein throbbing in his forehead — now that’s acting!

Sewell is excellent as the demanding prince. He really makes the audience frightened of his character. He gets so incredibly angry in some scenes that you can even see the vein throbbing in his forehead — now that’s acting!

Nothing can compare to seeing a magician live, so a little of the amazement of Eisenheim’s magic is lost on a movie-going audience. However, viewers can still appreciate the special effects that help “create” the magic, and the best scenes of the movie are when Eisenheim is on stage performing. The costumes and scenery are also engaging and important to the enchantment of the film.

Another film about magicians, The Prestige, starring Christian Bale and Hugh Jackman, is slated to come out this fall. Will audiences be seeing a trend of films that focus on magic? If The Illusionist is the first of a number of such movies, the others have big capes to fill.

koehlera1@lasalle.edu