The Illusionist (2006) - A good ensemble makes Burger's period magician indie worthwhile

♥♥♥

Stars appear in desaturated sepia tones on this dreary poster for Neil Burger's The Illusionist

In Vienna in 1889, magician Eisenheim impresses the inhabitants and the city's chief inspector with his incredible illusions. But he gets into a fix when he attempts to reignite his relationship with the duchess girlfriend of prince Leopold.

The Illusionist is written and directed by Neil Burger (Limitless (2011)), based on the short story Eisenheim the Illusionist (1990) by Steven Millhauser (Edwin Mullhouse (1972)).
Burger has crafted a supernatural romantic period drama, which becomes compelling thanks to its good actors; Edward Norton (The Red Dragon (2002)), Paul Giamatti (Saving Mr. Banks (2013)), Rufus Sewell (Extreme Ops (2002)), Eddie Marsan (Tyrannosaur (2011)), Jessica Biel (Accidental Love (2015)) and Aaron Taylor-Johnson (Anna Kareninia (2012)) as young Eisenheim are all good.
Unfortunately the film ends very dissatisfactory, without real illumination for its audiences. - The illusions are so incredible that one concludes that the magician must have supernatural abilities. SPOILER In this light it is not sufficient that the ending simply suggests that Eisenheim and the duchess 'merely' duped everyone.
Apart from this, I also found that Philip Glass' (A Bronx Sole (2006)) recognizable score feels a bit overly familiar at this point in film history, and the photography (by Dick Pope (Topsy-Turvy (1999)) and visual  concept, - one of browning everything up and setting it in a vignette light, - only struck me as pseudo-refined.

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 16.5 mil. $
Box office: 87.8 mil. $
= Big hit (5.32 times the cost)
[The Illusionist premiered 22 January (Sundance Film Festival, Colorado, USA) and runs 110 minutes. Shooting took place in the Czech Republic, including Prague, from April - May 2005. The film opened #20 to a 927k $ first weekend in 51 theaters (a good 18k $ average) in North America, where it peaked in 1,438 cinemas and at #5 (different weeks), behind holdover hit Invincible, new-comers Crank and The Wicker Man and holdover hit Little Miss Sunshine, leaving the top 5 again the next week, grossing strong 39.8 mil. $ (45.3 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Spain with 12.5 mil. $ (14.2 %) and Mexico with 7.2 mil. $ (8.2 %). Roger Ebert gave the film a 3.5/4 star review, translating to two notches better than this one. It was nominated for 1 Oscar, Best Cinematography, which it lost to Guillermo Navarro for Pan's Labyrinth. It was also nominated for an Independent Spirit award, won a National Board of Review award and many other honors. Burger returned with The Lucky Ones (2008). Norton returned in The Painted Veil (2006), Giamatti with a voice performance in Asterix and the Vikings (2006) and in the flesh in turkey Lady in the Water (2006); Biel in 7th Heaven (1996-06)) and theatrically in Home of the Brave (2006). The Illusionist is certified fresh at 73 % with a 6.9/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of The Illusionist?