The Illusionist

What’s the Story?

The son of a cabinetmaker, young Edward Ambramovitz falls in love with a beautiful girl, Sophie. He charms her with his interest in magic and ornate devices, but because she's royalty, their friendship, even as it develops into young love, is forbidden. After they're dragged apart one night, he disappears, leaving Sophie to follow her fate, that is, to be married off in a royal arrangement. All this is revealed (as flashback) at the film's beginning by Viennese Police Inspector Uhl (Paul Giamatti), who is assigned by Crown Prince Leopold (Rufus Sewell) to discover the truth behind a mysterious magician called Eisenheim (young Edward grown up, played by Edward Norton). The prince is affianced to Sophie (now played by Jessica Biel), and means to contain the appeal of the showman. Not only does Sophie appear strangely drawn to him, but so do all his subjects. The film follows Uhl's investigation as it comes to encompass Sophie's bloody murder.

Is It Any Good?

A ravishing romance framed as a slow-moving mystery, THE ILLUSIONIST smartly questions the distinctions and overlaps between belief and truth. On one hand, it concerns a young couple whose love is denied by their class differences. In between, the film also looks at class and gender conflicts, with an acknowledgment of racism of the day (19th century Vienna).

Aided considerably by Philip Glass' typically swirling score, the film uses Uhl's skepticism to offset Edward's inscrutability and Sophie's passion, but all three characters live earnestly in a realm of faith and trust. While they all oppose the practical, egotistical prince by nature, they also fall under his rule. Leopold, by turn, hates their romanticism.