114) The IllusionistDirector: Sylvain ChometYear: 2010Plot Summary: The Illusionist is one of a dying breed of stage entertainers. With emerging rock stars stealing his thunder in the late 1950s, he is forced to accept increasingly obscure assignments in fringe theatres, at garden parties and in bars and cafés. Then, while performing in a village pub off the west coast of Scotland, he encounters Alice, an innocent young girl, who will change his life forever.
There may be no more than five words of dialogue spoken in The Illusionist, but you'd be hard pressed to find a more moving film about life as this one.
The film's story is as straight forward as they come telling the tale of an ageing magician who finds himself being pushed out of the limelight by the pop groups of the early 1960s. The opening scenes as he competes against these acts are bittersweet, touching, funny and even give a great insight into the beginning of the social changes of the 60s from the point of view of someone who has lived his entire life in the traditional manner.
The fact that the entire movie is made up of hand-drawn animation in an era where animated cinema comes in the form of computer generation and 3D, in fact, helps emphasise this theme of the old vs the new. Furthermore, like how The Illusionist shows that there is still beauty in the traditional, the hand-drawn animation here is as breathtaking as anything you'd see in the Blockbuster kids films. You certainly feel like you're witnessing a great work of art as you watch Sylvain Chomet's newest release.
When the magician later meets the young Alice, one of the few people still awestruck by his abilities anymore, and travels to Edinburgh with him, this is when the heart of the movie really kicks in. The relationship that they share there will leave not a single person in the cinema with a dry eye as he cares for her, looks after and even takes an extra job at a garage in order to treat her to a new dress or a pair of high heel shoes.
Their relationship, in the end, makes for one of the most moving tales about life that I've seen in a long, long time as the magician finds happiness in life through his experiences with the girl, and as Alice realises that the world isn't the magical place she once though when she met her new friend. It sounds upsetting, and I'd by lying if I said there weren't moments of heartbreak in The Illusionist, but it's also refreshingly honest at the same time.
Another magical hit from Sylvain Chomet.
4/5
0 comments:
Post a Comment