Review of The Illusionist (2009) by Chan L — 28 Mar 2011

In "The Illusionist," Tatischeff is a magician in 1959 Paris, playing to ever increasingly sparse crowds. Even his rabbit wants no part of his show, as he tries to make a break for it before being brought back to its owner.(He does not claim the rat as his own, though.) London is no better but a small remote Scottish town finally provides the appreciative audience he deserves. Maybe too appreciative as teenaged Alice stows away and steers the magician towards Edinburgh.

As much as I admire the Pixar films, sometimes I have an urge for good old fashioned animation and that is something "The Illusionist" provides in abundance, especially in the wonderful way it captures Edinburgh, based on an original screenplay by Jacques Tati.(Showing a clip from "Mon Oncle" is an especially nice touch.) Tati's movies with minimal dialogue and a gentle visual humor of a man's conflict with the modern world come into full bloom here with a melancholy evocation of the end of a bygone era of Vaudeville performers. That dovetails well with Alice's growing up, as she becomes less childlike over the course of the film. However, cheap shots at rock and roll lessen the movie's overall impact.