The Illusionist

source: The Illusionist

This is a uniquely wonderful animated film. A silent movie with almost no dialogue. The story is about a man who travels around the theaters of Europe as a magician. He was paid to do magic tricks in a small mansion in London. He bought a pair of red shoes for a woman who worked as a cleaner. And he gave it to her with a magic trick, which was a nice touch. I'm glad I broke up with that woman, because she was a bit of a beggar. The man saw that the woman dating another guy and jumps into the movie theater was amazing art. I was sad when he released the rabbit into the wild.

In the beginning of my comment I must say that animation style, technique, colors and drawings are really great. There are different, colorful characters. Especially I liked vehicle animations, they are like flying. I must add that sounds are also very good and musics. There are great background sounds and instrument sounds. Now let's talk about cons. I watched "le triplets De Belleville" from same director, it was totally great and entertaining but I cannot say this for this animation. It's some kind of boring and not interesting. It's not catching you like the other one. There is nearly no conversation in the animation. Story is not that good. Finally I can say if you really like animations and especially this style watch it just for this but if you search for other things like story and entertainment don't waste your time with this one.

I bought this DVD a few months ago, and as things happened didn't get to see it until yesterday. It's a brilliant piece of animation that's not only based on a Jacques Tati script, but practically has him casted at the lead. To be more precise the aging magician leading the story is an animated incarnation of Tati's Mr. Hulot. The animated character moves like him speaks like him (that is hardly ever) and even thinks like him. For any fun of Tati this is simply sheer magic. The story itself is not the most original, but the way it's being told is so wonderful it feels like an original. It's definitely a bit of animation with a soul. Both comic and moving like most of the great comedians are. If you have the opportunity - don't miss this one.

An amazing hand drawn animation with minimal dialogue and music with breath taking imagery and soundscape. I can't say the same nice things about the story and character developments but its nonetheless a very relaxing and enjoyable movie. A struggling illusionist becomes friends with a poor girl who is searching for a meaning in her life.

This beautiful animated film was written by Jacques Tati in collaboration with his long term writing partner, partner Henri Marquet 1956 as a letter to his estranged eldest daughter Helga Marie-Jeanne Schiel but never made until 2010. It's a story of an illusionist who befriends a young girl who believes through his tricks and sleight of hand that he is a real magician. The story is a tender one filled with love, hope, pain and a kind of redemption, but it is a story about a father's love for his daughter. The animation is gorgeous and there is minimal, almost no dialogue at all. All the communication is done through gestures, looks and body language which for an animated film is very clever. It's not a movie that preaches at its audience, but rather, draws you into a world that is so rich in characters and landscapes but never becomes cliche or dull. If you love good storytelling with real heart and warmth but without becoming cheesy or cringy, this is for you.

The Illusionist is a delightful film following an end of an era Illusionist music hall act. The real treat is the 'illusionist' of the art work of the cartoonist who have produced this magical film. Anybody who has grown up reading Herge's TinTin will appreciate the quality in the detail of this production. There is the sub-plot of a girl growing up which adds to the charm of the film also some tears as well as this pulls at your heart strings. In this day and age The Illusionist is a rear treat as it pure charm wrapped in bountiful artwork of the town & country of Scotland. A film that will linger in the mind long after it has finished.

The animation here is really nice; a refreshing change for those of us all too used to CGI offerings from Pixar and others in recent years. It is stylish, charming, and looks beautiful ... obviously a lot of care went into creating this film. Unfortunately, the plot fails to deliver in the way the visuals do. It is a classic story and well told, but the pace is just too slow. Perhaps as a short this would have worked, but at 82 minutes I really struggled to stay focused. The very sparse dialogue (French and Gaelic) is sometimes hard to understand and I realised in discussion afterwards I had misinterpreted some parts of the story for this reason. All in all, this was beautiful to watch but a little disappointing as a whole.

Just like everyone else, I consider the animation to be absolutely perfect. The film is so wonderfully French, while the colors and environments makes me think of environments in Pelle Svanslös (a Swedish film which is much better than you might think). The film is also beautiful in the way that it is not aware that it is a movie - the actions takes place and you just happen to look at it. They are not trying to entertain you, they simply live their lives. What prevents the film from perfection is that the lack of speech feels forced (to some extent). It's really wonderful that they speak so little, but in some cases it feels unnatural and strange that no one utters any words. It's like the movie gave itself a rule not to speak, a rule that should rather have been a guideline.

With most animated feature films relying almost exclusively on dialogue, it is always interesting to encoundter the ones that do not. In The Illusionist a slice of life is the focus we are dealing with, and it does a great job at showing the hardships and the triumphs of his constant travel to find work. He meets a young woman who accompagnies him through the majority of the movie and the bond they share is quite touching. The animation is some of the best I've seen in a long time with both artistic flair and a great amount of fluid movement that at some points made me think of these characters as real people. A joy to watch, and definitely recommendable to everyone in the mood for a visual story without much dialogue.