The Illusionist -- 2006 -- PG-13

A love story set against the backdrop of a magician's trade exemplifies the basic idea behind this tale of a master magician and his childhood lover lost due to her place in society. The magic is more than just his stage tricks, though, as an elaborate tale unfolds that seems conventional, but you learn once the secret is out, that a lot more went on than we initially suspeected.

Eisenheim is the stage name of a boy who left his young life to pursue all the greatest secrets to being an effective master at the slight of hand arts. He was driven to this departure primarily due to threats by the family of the girl he had fallen in love with (and we're not talking unrequited love here; think Romeo and Juliet). Fifteen years later, he comes to town to find her engaged to the local ruler who is said to be somewhat violent in his private dealings with women. When the pair recognize each other, they vow to to what they planned fifteen years before: run away together. But with scrutiny of the crown and local police everywhere, they can't get a moment alone much less plan a getaway. Meanwhile, Eisenheim shows no fear of the ruler which only serves to make the ruler want to shut him down and throw him out. After a turn of events, Eisenheim finds that he doesn't wish to leave, but corrode the ruler's position from the stage in a most subtle way.

Really, this is the story of our Illusionist, his girl, the ruler, and the detective who wants to figure out what the heck is going on with these three. These four are fairly well rounded throughout the tale. We get a good balance of plot and character moments so we get some measure of understanding of these people, and once it all falls into place like a well planned game of Tetris, we understand these people rather well.

It does have a surprise ending to it that unfolds like a Japanese thriller; that being it feels like a sudden psychotic episode as it is all visually explained at the last minute. Despite the suddenness of the final explanation, it was all put together very cleverly to make it work the way it did, and I do have to admit a certain amount of pleasure at seeing it laid out there.

The film moved pretty quickly from point to point, so I didn't get bored watching this. It focused on the characters using the magic as a backdrop instead of it being one long, overdrawn magic show, which is a good way to have done it.

One point that bugged me, but could have been deliberate within the story, was a point where the lovers are exchanging a case of some kind and they kiss on the street in front of everyone. I thought that was toeing the line of disbelief a bit much.

Another interesting thing I noticed in all the films I've watched is that it rarely matters the time frame when people have these sex scenes; it actually matters more when the film was made. Anymore, these types of scenes seem rather obligatory, and in the framework of this tale, seemed very much that way. In older films, these scenes are implied rather heavily when they are necessary for the plot, and completely non-existent when they aren't essential for the story...and most of the time, they aren't. During the period this story was set in, it is unlikely that this pair would have done anything. It is possible, yes, but since they weren't exactly in the time or place of free sex, it seems that there would be more retraint on their parts. Did the scene lend much to the story of their characters? Not really. We already had a tale of separated and frustrated love. We already understood their connection and situation. This scene seemed like it was thrown to satisfy a particulr demographic element. Twenty or thirty years ago, it wouldn't have been here at all, and we would have lost nothing to the story.

The film was actually quite good despite its shortcomings. The magic sections were completely enjoyable and even more so when some things got explained. Tension ran high and I was riveted for the last half of the film to see how it all played out. So it was, overall, very good.