The Illusionist (2010)

Touches You

Fantastic!

It's funny watching the elements come together in this complicated scam. On one hand, the set-up isn't quite as complex as it seems, but there's an easy sense of fun in every exchange.

The story-telling is good with flashbacks.The film is both funny and heartbreaking. You smile in a scene and get a soulcrushing revelation in the next.

If you have seen Les Triplettes de Belleville, then you will instantly recognize the animation and the style. Even the story. The same rabid capitalism of the '50s, the bleak vision of a life that is clearly worse, but somehow feels more colorful than the present.The story of the production of the film is interesting, too: Wikipedia explains how it is based on a script written by Jacques Tati in order to reconcile with his estranged daughter.But there is a major difference. In Triplettes there is a clear goal of saving the kidnapped bicycle rider, but in L'illusionist there is no goal, just rampant disillusionment (pardon the pun). The ending is not satisfying anybody, with the main character having learned nothing and the silly country girl just having moved from her Scottish village to the big city.Bottom line: I liked the animation, but the story left me with a bitter taste, part nostalgia, part melancholy and part stale alcohol and cigarette ash.

Chomet seems to have nailed his style from the days The Triplets of Belleville.He captures Scotland, in particular Edinburgh, so well that memories of walking around Arthur's Seat and the quirky characters found at the fringe festivals came flooding back.The artistry is truly beautiful with mostly hand-drawn animations and limited use of CGI techniques; but the color work, the color work is sublime.Storywise though, it's charming yet a little too melancholic for my tastes but Tati's comedic nuances and the attention to detail had me favor this over Belleville.

A reoccurring theme of my negative reviews is my attack on novelty. Just because a movie has unique, brilliant aspects doesn't make it a great film. It needs to use its assets and ideas to build its plot, world, and characters. It shouldn't go halfway. Yet so many times I've seen films declared as masterpieces when I felt they were hollow. The Illusionist is the best film to display my point. The Illusionist's animation is beautiful, detailed, colorful, and stylized. But when you judge it on writing, The Illusionist is garbage.Yes, The Illusionist lacks dialog, but that doesn't mean elements of plot and character aren't present. These are people, and there is a story to be told. The main character suffers from the problem of the starving artist, following his dream even when the world barely cares. He has an interesting, noble motivation...until he decides to adopt a daughter. I'm sorry, but this character is a complete ditz. She looks like she should be in her tweens or early teens, but has no understanding of the world around her. She believes in the magic of cheap parlor tricks. She seems to have no idea of the illusionist's poverty. Yet he showers her with gifts he could never afford, with no awareness on her part. She's immature, and he only acts as an enabler.The illusionist could have provided her a humble home, with simple pleasures any child can enjoy. He even gets a solid job! After working hours upon hours on odd jobs, he finally finds one where his skills at magic earn him a decent living. Happy ending? Wrong! He finds the job demeaning, and quits! And without enough money to lavish the young girl like she's a princess, he just leaves her with her boyfriend. Hope they don't break up!This is a sacrifice? BS. This is giving up on someone you supposedly love. Its shameless. Its refusing to grow up, and take responsibility for your actions. In real life, he'd be a deadbeat dad. But we are emotional creatures. And with the right visuals, the right music, and the right angle, we can be believe he's some misunderstood genius, who only wants best for his little girl. I could not care, or even respect, these two characters. It doesn't help this film is horribly paced. Its too slow. There's too little plot. There's not enough personality. And I don't hate silent films! Heck, The Triplets of Belleville was fun, and it was by the same directer! It feels like a 2 hour plus sit...and its only 79 minutes long.I love animation. I'm even giving this movie a star for its wonderful beauty. I can't fall for this film's illusion. It sucks.

This is the animated film that should have won the Oscar it was nominated for in 2011. Unfortunately, the jury chose for -yet another- Pixar blockbuster, not for the originality and poetry of Sylvain Chomet's film. This is an unfair world, but so be it: I am convinced Chomet will get the Oscar some day, if he can keep the level of the Illusionist: a breathtakingly beautiful movie, the best of all animation I have ever seen on the big screen. The rhythm is different from the video-clip-like rhythm of most animation films these days; instead, the slower pace draws our attention on every single significant detail that we would otherwise be unaware of. The references to Jacques Tati as story writer are smoothly integrated. The backgrounds and characters are wonderfully drawn and typical of Chomet's scrupulously detailed and often half romantic, half realist style. I highly recommend this movie to be seen on a big screen, if possible in a theater, for it really deserved to be tasted like a "grand cru", a top ranked French wine.