I recently watched Sylvain Chomet's animated "The Illusionist" released at the end of 2010. I was really looking forward to watching this film.
Firstly because Chomet's previous animated film, The Triplets of Belleville from 2003 was a delightfully eccentric, quaintly European adventure-comedy which I thoroughly enjoyed...as much for its storytelling as for the fact that it was so different from typical American animated fare. The other reason for looking forward to The Illusionist was that it is based on an unproduced screenplay by Jacques Tati, the legendary French director, who made 2 of my favourite classic comedies, "Mr. Hulot's Vacation" and "Mon Oncle".
The protagonist of The Illusionist is the spitting image of Jacques Tati's on-screen alter ego Mr. Hulot from the aforementioned two films. The film follows the unnamed illusionist/ magician as he attempts to find gainful employment in various clubs and theatres, having to compete for stage time with a variety of other entertainers. Along the way, he crosses the path of an impressionable young girl who believes he is a real magician and decides that he is her ticket to a more exciting world. But 'exciting' is a relative term, as the illusionist in reality works in the fringes and underbelly of the entertainment world, filled with has-beens and eccentrics...no beautiful people here. His fellow entertainers seem to be wading through the detritus of their own lives, somehow trying to last till the inevitable end; this is in stark contrast with the wide-eyed young girl who somehow manages to use this world as a stepping stone to her own personal salvation.
Tati apparently wrote the screenplay as a message of reconciliation to his estranged daughter, essentially portraying the illusionist (his alter ego) as a well-meaning, but simple man. At the end of the story, the illusionist can take some comfort from having helped the young girl discover a new life, although (and this is why it is bittersweet) there seems to be nothing better for him to look forward to himself.
Firstly because Chomet's previous animated film, The Triplets of Belleville from 2003 was a delightfully eccentric, quaintly European adventure-comedy which I thoroughly enjoyed...as much for its storytelling as for the fact that it was so different from typical American animated fare. The other reason for looking forward to The Illusionist was that it is based on an unproduced screenplay by Jacques Tati, the legendary French director, who made 2 of my favourite classic comedies, "Mr. Hulot's Vacation" and "Mon Oncle".
The protagonist of The Illusionist is the spitting image of Jacques Tati's on-screen alter ego Mr. Hulot from the aforementioned two films. The film follows the unnamed illusionist/ magician as he attempts to find gainful employment in various clubs and theatres, having to compete for stage time with a variety of other entertainers. Along the way, he crosses the path of an impressionable young girl who believes he is a real magician and decides that he is her ticket to a more exciting world. But 'exciting' is a relative term, as the illusionist in reality works in the fringes and underbelly of the entertainment world, filled with has-beens and eccentrics...no beautiful people here. His fellow entertainers seem to be wading through the detritus of their own lives, somehow trying to last till the inevitable end; this is in stark contrast with the wide-eyed young girl who somehow manages to use this world as a stepping stone to her own personal salvation.
Tati apparently wrote the screenplay as a message of reconciliation to his estranged daughter, essentially portraying the illusionist (his alter ego) as a well-meaning, but simple man. At the end of the story, the illusionist can take some comfort from having helped the young girl discover a new life, although (and this is why it is bittersweet) there seems to be nothing better for him to look forward to himself.
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