The Illusionist

T

TeAnna K

New member
For anyone wanting to see an excellent, plot driven movie, I can recommend The Illusionist

Set in turn-of-the-century Vienna, it features Eisenheim, a stage magician who uses his abilities to secure the love of a woman far above his social standing. A woman he knew in childhood, before circumstances forced him to travel far and wide, learning his abilities.

Note, this is not Harry Potter, it's a clever love story, with political intrigue, and some nicely understated effects for the stage magic, and a nice twist at the end. The Illusionist is a movie for adults and older children. Not because of any seriously unsettling content, it's simply the themes may bore very young minRAB.
 
Weird! Two magician movies in the space of one month!? :eek:

So which is better? The Illusionist or The Prestige?

I haven't seen either but I heard The Prestige was very good.
 
Presitige for me hanRAB down - I downloaded both at the same time watched the prestige twice in 24 hours, then again at the cinema when it came out.

Illusionist was a bit meh for me - zero chemistry between Norton and thingy - however I appreciate that he was playing it all stilted and 'victorian' on purpose
 
I saw The Illusionist last night. I know this thread was started before the UK release, so I wondered if anyone else had seen it by now.

What did you think? Did you see the twist coming? Or even was the twist real?
 
I thought it was OK but nothing special. The story didn't really draw me in, I kept guessing what the period was supposed to be and thinking that the love story in the film was so feeble and contrived the film would have worked better if it had been left out - however, it was necessary for the twist. But it was still boring!

I found The Prestige much more intriguing and better as a film.
 
the twist was so obvious, i didn't think it was *the* twist

if a film like this when you aren't shown something as major as one of the main characters being killed then it obviously hasn't happened

also the whole making her appear dead, bringing her back thing was such a con - zero attempt to explain what he'd done so there was no 'oh *thats* what that was about' moment.

i found it an insult to my intelliegence actually
 
Saw this last week as well, wife and daughter wanted to see it more then I did. Reasonably good film, with a good performance from Edward Norton. Only thing about it was that it seemed very drawn out, but the 'twist' at the end was well done and overall a film to watch on lazy Sunday afternoon.

As for Rufus Sewell, he plays real good baddies - Knight's Tale anyone?
 
how can people NOT have got the twist the moment it (didnt) happen??

and im sick of films like this where the policeman at the end has a revelation and the whole of the plot unspools whilst he realises what has really gone on

and how lame to have him guessing because he seems someone who was previously in disguise
 
So, for those that have seen it, what DID happen at the end. Was she really still alive, or did we just see the inspector imaginging what might have happened?
 
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