The Illusionist 2006

     The setting of this film is the late nineteenth century in Vienna.  Eisenheim is a renowned illusionist and he is reunited with the Duchess von Teschen.  She volunteered from the audience to participate in an illusion during one of his performances.  Eisenheim and the Duchess have not seen each other in fifteen years and at that time they were teenagers.  They recognize each other as Eduard Abramovich and Sophie von Teschen.  They had a doomed romance because of their class differences.  The Duchess is soon to be wed to the Crown Prince Leopold.  For the Crown Prince this will be a marriage in pursuit of power.  He could overthrow his father Emperor Leopold.  He could also overtake the Hungarian side of the empire.  The Crown Prince is well known to use violence against women if it suits his needs or purposes.  The Duchess realizes that she still loves Eisenheim and he also realizes he is still in love with the Duchess.  It would jeopardize her life to leave the Crown Prince.  Eisenheim humiliates the Crown Prince at a private show and this results in an incident between the Crown Prince and the Duchess.

     The story is fictional but some details are based on the life of Austrian Crown Prince Rudolf.  He was the only son of Emperor Franz Josef.  The character of Eisenheim is closely based on magician and supposed clairvoyant Erik Jan Hanussen.  He was famous in Vienna in the early 20th century and he was murdered by Nazi soldiers in 1933.  There is great attention to detail with the most beautiful fashions, the details in sets and costume designs plus stunning cinematography.  There is a dream-like glow and it is possible to see something extraordinary out of the ordinary in this film!!  3 1/2* (I liked this movie)        

110 min, Drama directed by Neil Burger, wirier by Steven Millhouser and Neil Burger with Edward Norton, Paul Giamatti, Jessica Biel, Rufus Sewell, Eddie Marsan, Jake Wood, tom fisher, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Eleanor Tomlinson, Karl Johnson, Vincent Franklin, Nicholas Blane, Philip McGough, Erich Redman, Michael Carter.

Note:  Imdb 7.6 out of 10, 3 1/2* Roger Ebert, Metacritic 68 out of 100 with 37 critics (positive 29, mixed 8) 8.7 out of 10 with 554 user scores (positive 482, mixed 47, negative 15), Common Sense Media Cynthia Fuchs, age 14+ 3* out of 5*, 3* violence, sex, language and 3* drinking drugs & smoking, Letterboxd 3.3* out of 5*, Amazon 4.6* out of 5* with 1246 reviews.

Special Note:  The setting is Austria but filming was primarily done in the Czech Republic.  Norton received intensive training in sleight of hand and other stage magic techniques from British magician James Freedman and American magician Ricky Jay.  This was done so the crew would not have to use CGI to take the magical illusions.  Liv Tyler was originally cast in the role of the Duchess.  The Illusionist is one of three 2006 films to feature both the topic of magic and magicians as main characters in 2006.  The others are Scoop and The Prestige.  Rufus Sewell has recently been in the series The Man in the High Castle.