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The Illusionist (2006) DVD Review
The Illusionist (2006) DVD Credits:
The Illusionist (2006) Directed by:
Neil Burger
The Illusionist (2006) Written by:
Neil Burger
The Illusionist (2006) Cast:
Edward Norton, Paul Giamatti, Jessica Biel, Rufus Sewell, James Babson, Brian Caspe, Tom Fisher, Aaron Johnson, Eddie Marsan, Erich Redman, Ellen Savaria, Jake Wood
The Illusionist (2006) Released by:
Not available at this time
Region:
1
The Illusionist (2006) DVD Release Date:
9th January 2007
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The Illusionist (2006) Synopsis:

"The Illusionist" is the story of a magician in turn-of-the-century Vienna who falls in love with a woman who becomes engaged to a prince. He then uses his powers to win her back and undermine the stability of the royal house of Vienna.

The Illusionist (2006) DVD Review:

As always seems to be the case when similar films come out together, whenever one of the magician films of 2006 is mentioned, they are compared to each other. I have talked to many who felt that The Illusionist was the stronger of the two, and some who would swear by The Prestige, which followed shortly after. This is no way to judge films, because if this were both horrible we would still argue over which was better. The Illusionist is an interesting film, but the more I think about it the more I start to feel that the real trick is on the viewers.

The film is adapted from Steven Millhaser’s short story, ‘Eisenheim the Illusionist’ and directed by Neil Burger. It tells the story of a talented magician (Edward Norton) in early 1900 Vienna. We are told the mystery of the magician from his first encounter with a traveling magician to his young romance with a girl who is stolen from him by her wealthy family of high status. She is to be a duchess and he is the son of a carpenter. A chance encounter during one of his performances brings them together again. He asks for a volunteer and she is offered up by a prince who is set to marry her. She is a part of high society and he has reached his own level of success as a poor boy can. He reaches his success through celebrity, which is the only way that he is able to get any attention from the high class girl he fell in love with as a young man. When the prince takes an interest in the magician, he finds himself challenged.

It’s a period film, and even the cinematography takes this into consideration. There is a soft flickering of the image in the flashback sequences, almost as if we are watching old picture shows of memories. It is an effective technique to subtly bring us into a magical world as viewers, but it only works because it is so subtle. Much of the film is extremely subtle and underplayed. This may work for some viewers while others will just be frustrated that although they are given answers at the end of the film, they may not be answers to the questions you had hoped would be answered.

The DVD contains an audio commentary track with Neil Berger as well as two short featurettes. The first is a making-of featurette, which is fairly straight-forward, and the second is an interview with Jessica Biel about the film. There is also a theatrical trailer.

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The Illusionist (2006) DVD review written by: Ryan Izay

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