(Take me away…)
CAST: A bunch of animated - in more ways than one - charmers whose every gesture speaks a thousand words.
DIRECTOR: Sylvain Chomet
WARNING: Minimal SPOILERS and appropriately brief reviews of one awesome flick straight ahead…
It would be completely corny for me to describe THE ILLUSIONIST as magical. Why? Well , it’s an animated film about a French magician who travels to the British Isles on a gig who finds himself on an unexpected journey (literally and figuratively) with a young Scottish woman whom he dazzles with his skills. But I don’t know how else to describe it, folks. This flick is simply… magical. If that’s corny, well, then the truth is corny. Bring on the maize!
Anyhow, THE ILLUSIONIST is from Sylvain Chomet, the French genius who brought us the reportedly wonderful THE TRIPLETS OF BELLEVILLE. I’m ashamed to say I haven’t seen the latter, but if it’s even half as good as the former, then it must be a something wonderful. That’s how good THE ILLUSIONIST is. If I could invent a rating higher than *****, this movie (and THE FIGHTER) would be the one to do it for.
I won’t give anything more away, except to say that during their journey, the Magician and the Girl (who are never, to my recollection, given any proper names), fall into a kind of love. Think you know where the story is going with this? You have no idea. You don’t even have the first clue. And that’s how it should be when you walk into the theatre. The better for you to be… dazzled. Like I was.
And that’s all I will say. That, and see this movie now. It’s why movies are made. And it’s why we love movies…
BUT, EVEN MORE SERIOUSLY: In our review for WAKING LIFE (review # 147 ), itself a memorable animated film, we talked about how futile it is to describe certain things to another person. It’s like trying to describe one of your dreams to someone - and them trying to describe to you theirs. Or what makes you love someone - and what makes them nuts about somebody. Certain things you have to experience on your own. Like WAKING LIFE. Like THE ILLUSIONIST.
I mentioned above that THE ILLUSIONIST makes virtually no use of clear dialogue. Just gestures and sounds from its characters. You’d think this would hamper the story. But it doesn’t. If anything, it enhances the story to such a vivid and visceral degree that you are entranced. Words truly get in the way. Let’s not forget - films are a visual medium. Someone famous whose name I cannot recall right now once said, “The greatest cinematic weapon is… The Close-Up.” And I agree - one shot of an expressive face is more compelling than ten pages of dialogue, however cleverly written.
Someone I know who is not famous but is no less brilliant once said to me that people’s words reveal so much about them. While that is true to a certain degree, I have to humbly disagree and state that people’s actions and faces reveal the most about them - not their words. After all, anyone can choose some nice, sweet compliments to mask their true intentions. I doubt you’d find sincerity in their eyes or face, though. By the same token, someone who is seemingly sharp-tongued, acerbic, or downright indifferent to you, may actually be harboring deep concern for your well-being. Or as my Dad always said: not everyone who smiles at you is your friend, and not everyone who glares at you is your enemy. Sage words.
The point is we can choose our words carefully - much more carefully than we can conceal our emotions. And sometimes actions and gestures themselves can be just as complicated or hard to read, even more so than words themselves. The next time someone smiles at you in the hallway, ask yourself if it’s a real smile. Does that person really like you? Or is it for show? Or worse? The next time you walk into an elevator and see someone glaring at you, ask yourself if it really signifies anger. Perhaps that person wants to tell you something, but can’t. Perhaps the glare is frustration for not being brave enough to reach out.
By stripping all dialogue from a film, and substituting it with action and gestures, you end up paring down a story to its core. You end up seeing things you might have missed or misinterpreted, had dialogue been present. A whole new world of seeing and understanding the story opens up. In THE ILLUSIONIST, the story is about unexpected human connection - and its core is the bond between The Magician and The Girl. And words aren’t necessary to show that. Just their actions, gestures - and faces.
Now, no more words…. Just go see this movie. And get swept away…
