The Illusionist (Widescreen Edition) | 
 enlarge | Director: Neil Burger
Actors: Edward Norton, Paul Giamatti, Jessica Biel, Rufus Sewell, Eddie Marsan
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Category: DVD
List Price: $19.98
Buy Used: $4.24
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Rating:  459 reviews
Sales Rank: 2115
Format: Ac-3, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, Dvd-video, Subtitled, Widescreen, Ntsc
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), English (Dubbed)
Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Number Of Items: 1
Running Time: 109
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.3
Dimensions (in): 7.6 x 5.4 x 0.7
MPN: FOXD2240239D
UPC: 024543402374
EAN: 0024543402374
ASIN: B000K7VHQ4
Theatrical Release Date: September 1, 2006
Release Date: January 9, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
Studio: Tcfhe Release Date: 01/13/2009 Run time: 110 minutes Rating: Pg13
Amazon.com
First screened in Europe and scheduled for limited release in the U.S., The Illusionist offers welcome proof that "arthouse" quality needn't be limited to the arthouses. Set in turn-of-the-century Vienna, this stately, elegant period film benefited from a crossover release in mainstream cinemas, and showed considerable box-office staying power--granted, teenage mallrats and lusty males may have been drawn to the allure of Seventh Heaven alumna Jessica Biel, who rises to the occasion with a fine performance. But there's equal appeal in the casting of Edward Norton and Paul Giamatti, who bring their formidable talents to bear on the intriguing tale of a celebrated magician named Eisenheim (Norton) whose stage performance offends the Crown Prince Leopold (Rufus Sewell), a vindictive lout who aims to marry Duchess Sophie (Biel), Eisenheim's childhood friend and now, 15 years later, his would-be lover. This romantic rivalry and Eisenheim's increasingly enigmatic craft of illusion are investigated by Chief Inspector Uhl (Giamatti), who's under Leopold's command and is therefore not to be trusted as Eisenheim and Sophie draw closer to their inevitable reunion. Cleverly adapted by director Neil Burger from Steven Millhauser's short story "Eisenheim the Illusionist," and boasting exquisite production values and a fine score by Philip Glass, The Illusionist is the kind of class act that fully deserved its unusually wide and appreciative audience. -- Jeff Shannon Beyond The Illusionist 
"Eisenheim the Illusionist" and Other Stories | 
Paul Giamatti in a More Loveable Role | 
Magic Kits & Accessories | Stills from The Illusionist
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| Customer Reviews: Read 454 more reviews...
 Don't Believe What You See November 27, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
It's odd, but in the year 2006 there were two major motion pictures to feature stories about magicians and/or illusionists. The first film was The Illusionist, while the second film was The Prestige. In my humble opinion The Prestige is a superior film mainly because of the film's technical execution under the watchful eye of director Christopher Nolan.
But I digress.
The Illusionist is a surprisingly engaging suspense film with strong supernatural or "fantasy" elements. Writer/director Neil Burger made the film on a relatively small budget, but this doesn't have a negative impact on the end result. On the contrary, The Illusionist is a better film than most supernatural thrillers because it relies on characterization to carry the story, rather than over-the-top action and unnecessary special effects. The few special effects in the film are subtle and understated, which in some strange way only makes them more impressive.
The story is set in Vienna, during the dawn of the 20th century, where an illusionist named Eisenheim causes a commotion with his startling magic tricks. He soon attracts the intention of the social elite, including Vienna's own Crown Prince Leopold. Leopold, an arrogant, ambitious, and cynical man, feels threatened by Eisenheim's extraordinary abilities. He is outraged that Eisenheim knows more than he, and so as a ploy to reveal Eisenheim's methods, Leopold offers his fiancee, the beautiful Duchess Sophie von Teschen to participate in one of Eisenheim's illusions. However, Crown Prince Leopold is ignorant to the fact that Eisenheim and the duchess were once childhood sweethearts and that Eisenheim made her a promise that they would one day be reunited. After Eisenheim's uncanny performance, he and the duchess rekindle their romance. When the jealous Crown Prince Leopold learns that the duchess has been unfaithful to him, he is consumed by jealousy and rage. When the duchess' body is found to have been murdered, the public suspects the crown prince has killed her, though they dare not voice their suspicions. But Leopold suspects Eisenheim's trickery played some part in his fiancee's death, so he assigns Chief Inspector Uhl to uncover Eisenheim's secrets. Yet, Uhl is confounded when Eisenheim begins summoning disembodied spirits during his performances, and when Eisenheim conjures Duchess von Teschen's spirit on stage, the audience cries out that Crown Prince Leopold has murdered her. Fearing that a revolution against the monarchy may be at hand, Uhl doubles his efforts to unravel the growing mystery surrounding Eisenheim's abilities, the duchess' death, and what part if any that the crown prince had to play in her murder. But Uhl's investigation takes him deep into a world of illusion and conspiracy, where nothing is what it seems.
One of the film's greatest strengths is the extraordinary ensemble cast, which features Edward Norton as Eisenheim the Illusionist, Paul Giamatti as Chief Inspector Uhl, Rufus Sewell as Crown Prince Leopold, and Jessica Biel as Duchess Sophie von Teschen. While Norton, Giamatti, and Sewell give typically strong performances, the real surprise is Jessica Biel, who gives what may be her most complex and convincing performance yet.
Where the film fails ever so slightly is that director Neil Burger seems to be attempting to make some sort of a statement about the role that spirituality plays in politics. But this shortcoming is outweighed by the film's many superlatives. Employing numerous sleight of hand tricks to manipulate the audience's perception of the storyline, Neil Burger creates an ambiguity, which will leave viewers questioning whether anything truly supernatural occurred or whether the seeming magic that took place was just an elaborate deception. I'll let you decide, but remember: Don't believe what you see.
Also recommended:
Houdini: The Movie Star
Time After Time
The Adventures of Baron Munchausen
Fairy Tale: A True Story
Criss Angel: Mindfreak: The Complete Season One
Criss Angel: Mindfreak: The Complete Season Two
 You that think you know, but you really have no idea... October 30, 2008
"The Illusionist" does not fail to entertain. The film satisfies a wide audience with its ability to weave romance, mystery, and suspense all into one plot. Right from the beginning of the film, the understated texture of the film adds an appealing aesthetic quality that draws the audience to wonder what secrets and illusions lie deeper below the surface.
The beginning scene sets the stage for the rest of the film. Eisenheim (Edward Norton) performs a scandalous magic trick on stage that causes terror and fright in his audience. Inspector Uhl (Paul Giamati) then attempts to arrest Eisenheim on the account of disturbing the peace. The rest of the film follows a back and forth movement of events that gradually reveal the mystery of Eisenheim's past, present, and future.
All of the events in the movie revolve around the young adolescent love between Eisenheim and his beloved Sophie (Jessica Biel) that ended when Sophie's family separated her from Eisenheim. Their love seems tragically lost until they are reunited by chance 15 years later. At the time, Sophie is more or less betrothed to Crown Prince Leopold (Rufus Sewell) and seems set to marry him until fate brings Eisenheim back to her. The strange thing about their evolving love is that things aren't always what they seem. The two lovers experience joy and tragedy through dramatic events. The audience may be convinced that Eisenheim and Sophie's love is all but lost...until an unforeseen twist is revealed.
Even though "The Illusionist" is more or less a romance story, it will entertain multiple audiences. There is no real in-depth character development, but the mysteriousness of each character helps to add to the enigmatic theme of the plot. Each scene of the movie leads the audience to question and predict the acts and motives of the great Eisenheim. Viewers may think they have solved the mystery of the lovers, but they will be astonished by the small details that are gradually revealed throughout the film.
"The Illusionist" possesses uniqueness in its delivery of plotline. The qualities of the movie are of a different variety than most romance and suspense movies. You will definitely want to watch it more than once to catch all of the small details.
*Spoiler* October 27, 2008
This movie ends like the Sixth Sense. One can say the movie has two endings. The first ending, when Paul Giamatti finds out he also cannot touch Edward Norton, was very good. It would mean that Edward Norton himself was a ghost, sort of like Bruce Willis finding out he too is a ghost in the Sixth Sense. The second ending in which Paul Giamatti has a series of revelations (shown to us using flashbacks) was a bit too much for me, as it seemed too eager to end on a Hollywood-style high note.
Excellent atmospheric historical romance October 12, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Eward Norton gives a wonderfully understated performance in this historical romance set in Vienna at the turn of the century. He plays a marvelous magician who has fallen in love with a daughter of the aristocracy intended for marriage to the nasty megalomaniac Crown Prince who regards her as a ripe fruit worth picking and then throwing away. How will he win her? By magic obviously.
Norton is backed up by a superb performance by Paul Giamatti as a cynical police chief trying to advance his career without entirely giving up his morals. Jessica Biel as the female lead is innocent and lovely.
In some ways, this movie is a harmless piece of wish-fulfillment and fantasy rather than an actual exploration of historical themes. But the acting is so good, the photography (the movie was all filmed in the Czech Republic) so lovely, and the music by Philip Glass so haunting that it somehow all works.
At the heart of the movie is a mystery never explained: how does the illusionist work his magic? His feats move beyond conventional illusion into the realm of the supernatural. Yet we accept it because the movie has woven its web so well.
First-class entertainment!
A top notch film October 5, 2008
The marvelous film The Illusionist was released in 2006 to reasonable success at the box office. But its art house feel and understated (and excellent)acting apparently appealed to only so many people. It did not make great play with the media and was not splashed across the covers of magazines, with the possible exception of celebrity gossip circles for the youthful Jessica Biel. Even an ardent viewer of films such as myself missed this one at the theater.
So, seeing this film two years later on DVD, with little or no fanfare, only added to my pleasure at finding this gem. Director and screen writer Neil Burger effortlessly presents a cat and mouse detective mystery against the backdrop of turn of the century Vienna. Edward Norton, who plays Eisenheim the Illusionist, and Paul Giamatti, who plays Inspector Uhl, both aptly demonstrate their exceptional acting skill and range.
A must see.
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