Film Review: The Illusionist
In French, with English subtitles
This animated film from France earned a Best Animated Film nomination at the Oscar Awards. It is for this reason, in addition to the fact that it's made by Chomet, the same director who made The Triplets of Belleville, which I love, that I got interested in watching the film. I was expecting so much from this film, given the premise: an underpaid, aging illusionist travels from places to places to stage his acts, and earn, despite disinterested audience until he meets a young woman, interested in him or his tactics, who travels with him, and change his monotonous daily existence. The story-telling, however, is a little bit wanting, although it's presented in a way that, at least in my end, I can feel for the illusionist. Another good thing about the movie is the texture of the finished product, which captures the state of the city and of the illusionist's state of being. But it's still a worthwhile watch. I will always prefer this film to the film that beat it in the Academy Awards that year.
Rating: 3.5/4.0
Note: This was the 2nd film I saw on the plane (MNL-JFK).
Comments