He sits in front of the stage, staring to the solemn crowds. He was expected to conjure another magical stunt. But what they did not know was that he was preparing his greatest masterpiece, the one thing he had been trying to perfect all his life: the act of vanishing. His name is Edward, also known as Eisenheim "The Illusionist", and this film is not mainly about the illusions he make but about his journey to save the woman he had always wanted to be with.

Set in the turn-of-the-century Vienna, it tells the tale of a young boy who encountered a magician in the fields. He learned tricks and waves of the hand, and when he was balancing an egg in a stick while walking in a street, he inspires a young girl who apparently was a Duchess in the palace. Like two little love birds, childhood attraction sparked among them but her parents seized her from the place and was told off "not to mingle with the peasants". But off they went, striving to be with each other, giving her a locket that can only be opened in a secret way. And in a fateful night as they were being chased by guards, they hid inside their secret place in a cave. As he cannot fulfill the wish of the girl to make them vanish, they were found and separated throughout their lives. In a furtive oath to attain the act that he ever wanted to do, he set off to become a magician and 15 years later, he became famous and was known as the Illusionist.

In the core of the film, we see Edward or Eisenheim (Edward Norton) as a man bereft of his fate and his will to love, and because of his frustration he strived to become somebody, and not just a magician that throws crows out of his black gloves, or let an orange tree grow out of an orange seed. It was on that act on the stage when he suggested anyone to volunteer their own self. Anyone that doesn't fear death at all. The Crown Prince Leopold (portrayed with astounding veneer by Rufus Sewell) offered his bride-to-be, Duchess Sophie, to take the challenge. It was on their first meeting of the eyes that Edward knew she was that girl who wished to vanish with him under that cave, and he failed her because of his lack of ability.

As love is suddenly rekindled between them, the local policemen headed by slowly invetigates the relationship between the two, resulting to a Romeo and Juliet melodrama. However, the film brilliantly sidestepped this factor and focused more on the character of Edward, who captivated the people by his trickeries. It was until he started conjuring spirits or ghosts in front of the crowd that performed a silent revolution against the Crown Prince that he compromised the monarchy and was forced to confess his fraudulence.

In this easily likeable film, we are presented with three different elements: love story, magic and mystery. All of these were almost perfectly choreographed to achieve something that belongs to the Burtonesque-Shyamalan filmmaking order. Neil Burger had crafted a film that echoes the Hitchcockian mysteries of our time, the haunting visual sweeps of M. Night Shyamalan and even the creepy dimensions of Tim Burton. And then there's the love story to boot. It's a kind of film in which a critic isn't supposed to schmoozle the whole story because there are "twists" along the road, and audience would feel the benefit of just enjoying the film without further clues.

Some say that the movie The Prestige, also a recent period piece about wizardry and magic, has actually explained more details about the secrets behind the waves of the hand. As I have seen The Prestige myself, I could say that it was entirely different from The Illusionist, and the former was about a tale of obsession and rivalry and about secrets of magic and the answers to the buzzing questions. However, The Illusionist is a film that doesn't deal with answers but rather gives the audiences questions. As Eisenheim, we realised in the end, that he indeed performed his greatest act of all, his final "illusion", we know that we have seen magic and we are not supposed to know it detail by detail but intead, to feel the impact and the awe of it all. How the orange tree came about, how he managed to let a sword stand on the floor on its own, how he managed to conjure spirits on the stage and how he manage to disappear himself; all of these doesn't need answers because it's what the film wanted us to feel. It's a whole lot of mystery, and this man named Eishenheim is a man of mystery himself.

I dig this film and I quite enjoyed it. Edward Norton, one of the best actors living today in my opinion, was fascinating as Eisenheim and he truly came back into the silverscreen in top form. He eludes awe, magnificence and mystery in him that you cannot truly predict his character. Paul Giamatti is the one thing that Hollywood thespians should be afraid about because he's coming very well in his career. Jessica Biel, although trying to struggle at the balance scale between these two amazing actors, did just fine and mostly let her lips did the acting.

I'd love to watch this film again, and maybe again and again. It's visual cinematography is just so lush as if your eyes could swallow it all, and the score by Philip Glass was haunting, audibly visceral and sweeping in the right places. It finely captures the film's mystery-feel and love echoes. This is a totally different film from The Prestige and I could say that The Illusionist was much better conceived than the Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale starred film.


Rating: A-