The Illusionist

[Pozer]

Goin' to this tomorrow night.  Anyone in the OC area ever hit up the NBFF?

Newport Beach Film Festival
Closing Night: The Illusionist
Feature Film

2005, 110 min, Color
West Coast Premiere

Directed By: Neil Burger
Producers: Michael London, Brian Koppelman, David Levien, Bob Yari, Cathy Schulman
Executive Producer: Jane Garnett, Tom Nunan
Screenwriter: Neil Burger
Editor: Naomi Geraghty
Cinematographer: Dick Pope BSC
Music Director: Philip Glass
Cast: Edward Norton, Paul Giamatti, Jessica Biel, Rufus Sewell

A romantic thriller set in 1900 Vienna, The Illusionist is the story of Eisenheim, a brilliant stage magician, pitted against the power-hungry Crown Prince Leopold and the shrewd Chief Inspector Uhl. Between Eisenheim and the Prince is the woman they both desire, the Duchess Sophie von Teschen. When Sophie is discovered murdered, Eisenheim summons his extraordinary powers in a desperate attempt to overcome Uhl, prove the Prince guilty, and bring down the monarchy before it destroys him.

[bonanzataz]

i just can't picture jessica biel as anything but mary camden. a viennese duchess? i don't think so.
reverend camden's slightly troubled-but-able-to-see the-error-of-her-ways daughter? more like it.

[Gamblour.]

"Nothing is what it seems." I hate Hollywood.

[polkablues]

I have the nasty feeling that Jessica Biel is going to be distractingly bad in this.

[cron]

cool, the 25th hour with chariots!

[MacGuffin]

Trailer

[pete]

sounds a lot like herzog's "invincible".

[MacGuffin]

Edward Norton's Magic, Jessica Biel's Beauty — 'The Illusionist' Has A Few Tricks Up Its Sleeve
Romantic mystery also features Paul Giamatti, hits theaters September 1.

BEVERLY HILLS, California — Edward Norton has been nominated for two Oscars, appeared in instant classics such as "American History X" and "Fight Club," and has even provided a voice for "The Simpsons."

All that stuff, however, pales in comparison to his favorite part about what he does for a living.

"[The best] part of the process is where you're just absorbing a new set of experiences and getting to learn," he said of making movies. "It's like going to camp or going to school again."

Now Norton is ready to school audiences, ending his self-imposed quasi-sabbatical with "The Illusionist," a romantic mystery that hits theaters September 1. Co-starring Paul Giamatti and Jessica Biel, the flick features Norton as Eisenheim, an enigmatic magician in 1900s Vienna. When the conjurer begins a secretive affair with a prince's fiancee (Biel), the local police inspector (Giamatti) puts an uncomfortable focus on his hocus-pocus.

"It's kind of in a genre of its own," Biel said of the flick, which pulled some impressive buzz out of its hat at February's Sundance Film Festival. "You can't label it."

While most people think Harry Houdini invented modern magic, Norton learned otherwise during his research.

"The magician who really started the era of the black-tie theater performance of the high-end magic presentation was this guy named [Jean Eugene] Robert-Houdin," the 37-year-old actor explained.   

The character of Eisenheim is based on the local celebrities who bridged the gap between Robert-Houdin and Houdini. Norton underwent an intensive training program with an old friend to perfect his magical powers.

"When I was first out of college in New York, I used to volunteer as an usher at this one theater, and I saw that Ricky was doing his performances there," he said of Ricky Jay, a respected sleight-of-hand artist who has appeared in "Magnolia" and "Heist". "I saw it, like, 20 times. I was a huge fan of his.

"He ended up being our magic adviser on this film," Norton added enthusiastically, "so I got to work with the master for a couple months. It was just such a thrill."

Together, they revived many of the classic tricks that Robert-Houdin may have dazzled audiences with — and they still worked today.

"A lot of the illusions in 'The Illusionist' are based on [Robert-Houdin] — like the orange tree that grew out of a pot, that was a real one that he did," Norton said.

"They didn't have 'The Matrix', they didn't have things blowing their minds," Norton said. "People weren't as inside the world technologically ... [but] there's things in the movie that [a modern audience] might say, 'Oh, that's a computer trick,' but every illusion in the film is a type of illusion that was being done then. People were doing really amazing ghosts at the turn of the century, things that you would put your hand through, and all that kind of stuff. So we tried to be pretty true to what was going on back then."

While Norton and Jay were perfecting tricks that had crew members scratching their heads, his female lead was getting ready to make a startling reveal of her own.

"I guess I do feel it might be some of the best work I've done yet," Biel admitted, acknowledging critics who've said that her role as dangerous beauty Sophie might be the breakthrough the former "7th Heaven" star has been waiting for. "It was scary every day to go to work with this accent and work with this new physicality. ... I do remember just feeling positive and good about the work that I did."

Working opposite Oscar favorites Norton and Giamatti, Biel quickly realized that the line readings and emotions she was getting off them made her performance seem all the more magical.

"That's what it was every day, just taking it to the next level, and the next level," she remembered. "And bringing your 'A' game, and being able to just throw away everything that you had planned, and listen, and go with it. And follow [Norton]. He just paved the way, and I just followed along."

[ProgWRX]

Anyone watch this yet?
Edit : wow now i realize this movie was released in the US way many months ago wow . 

I caught this today at the local art house. I found it to be very enjoyable and definately above par, but nothing extremely mindblowing. I can only describe it as "restrained". Its beautifully shot and the score is well done (in both its music AND silences). Ed Norton is good but doesnt stand out much, although very fitting for the part IMO. Paul Giamatti is excellent as always. Having seen him only a couple of months ago in Lady in the Water just made it more clear how much of a camaleon this guy is. In just a few sentences he had already established this whole other person on screen IMO. Great stuff. Biel is surprisingly not bad in this. Me and the GF were afraid of her ruining the film and she definately does not. Rufus Sewell is *OK* but i felt he was the weakest of the bunch (could be because the character is so one dimensional?).

In short, a very watchable and overall well done movie. Cant wait for The Departed

[MacGuffin]

*SPOILERS*


The problem is, unlike a great magician's act, the film was pretty obvious where its overall trick started so you're aware of it as it's happening; not left wondering how it was done. It also wasn't helped by a romance that felt flat. Norton's illusions were pulled off by the magicians who did the CGI, so the tricks never felt organic, but instead, make his character feel supernatural and unreal. But once the trick is happening, and the opening illusions give way to the clarvoyant ones, that's when the movie felt more watchable. It just would have been better performed having not seen it with the curtain pulled back.

I can see why the ASC nominated it, because it really was wonderfully shot, and, as Prog also noted, the score really stood out (in a good way).

[modage]

yeah agree with mac.  i have no idea why this was such a word-of-mouth hit that played for months especially when you can see all the twists coming.  it was ok, but The Prestige was infinitely better.  atleast it wasnt as bad as the poster.

[Gold Trumpet]

Personally, I enjoyed The Illusionist more than The Prestige. The fact is simple: The Illusionist was much more fun. While I cared very little for the romantic subplot, I ate up the interaction between the three top actors: Edward Norton, Paul Giametti and Rufus Sewell. The film talked about the romance, but it dealt mainly with these actors. They were all wonderful, bringing ease and charm to parts they have never done before and seeming to enjoy what they were doing. The best thing is that none of the actors really tried too hard. They didn't overact for dramatic effect. They underplayed and the character interaction felt much better to me. I didn't care the end was predictable. I cared about the enjoyment of the scenes.

On one hand, I think The Prestige tried too hard to make art out a bland web of plot configuration, but it also suffered from bad acting. Michael Caine is on auto pilot for many of his roles by just providing a voice that sounds reasonable while doing very little. Years ago, he took an extended break from acting and his return proved that acting is like a muscle - you need to keep flexing it by continually working and developing. Hugh Jackman is an attractive everyman, but the telling fact is he is only that a little less attractive than a model so its very hard to believe him in most roles. Exception, The Fountain. And Christian Bale has to do everything possible to hide his size and bulk in roles because he should be playing Batman in every role he does - but he also has to play real characters and his size makes him always look like an exagerration. The exception was his work in Velvet Goldmine which was excellent.

And yet, here I am praising Edward Norton. I have been a constant critic of his ever since he came into popularity, but he has rejuvenated himself in The Illusionist. He quits trying too hard and eases into a role like a glove and allows his talent to overwhelm. When he did The Score, he was only playing an opportunistic role: a character who has to handle both retardation and criminal toughness. The heist plot was so old it had to be dusted off, but the purpose was to announce Norton as a top actor alongside Brando and De Niro. I didn't like such an introduction after only a few years of work where his only good stuff was in American History X, Rounders and the small part he had in Everyone Says I Love You. Maybe now I can better judge him considering the hype is gone and he has to forge a legacy of being a proven actor. I have not seen The Painted Veil yet, but I'm not sure if he will be able to pull off a romantic character. The very best actors, from De Niro to Day Lewis, continually fail in these roles. Kevin Bacon is the only actor who seems to have no bounds about which character he can do, but I'm hopeful for everything Norton is going to do and shockingly, I'm rooting for him.

[RegularKarate]

i have no idea why this The Prestige was such a word-of-mouth hit that played for months especially when you can see all the twists coming...it was ok

Personally, I enjoyed The Illusionist more than The Prestige.

GT and RK feel the same way... it's like a solar eclipse everyone... I know it's amazing, but you can't look at it directly or you'll go blind.

[modage]

then you can both be wrong together. 

and The Prestige did not play for months.

[Gold Trumpet]

then you can both be wrong together. 

and The Prestige did not play for months.

In my city it did.