Two Movies
Mar 27th, 2007 by lisa
I recently watched The Prestige, and not long after that The Illusionist. Both movies are about magic and magicians. But that’s pretty much where the similarities end.
The Illusionist takes place at the turn of the century in Vienna. It’s a love story that concerns a magician and a lady. They fall in love when quite young and are separated by the girl’s family only to meet again later as adults. Things get sticky when it is revealed that the lady is engaged to Crown Prince Leopold, and the now accomplished master magician is still very much in love with her.
Ed Norton turned in a stunning performance, he was probably the best thing in what I found to be a very predictable, slow-moving movie. It had a nice look. It was very stylized in a sepia-tone wash, but overall I was mostly bored.
The Prestige takes place around the same time in Victorian England, and concerns two rival magicians who are driven by an intense passion to best one another. This drive ultimately leads each of them to make great sacrifices. It’s a compelling story with many twists, surprises and a chilling ending. It makes you think, not just about magic and passion, but about just how far someone will go to beat a rival, and just how much one is willing to sacrifice to win.
The acting was brilliant for most of the performers, most notably Michael Caine (no surprise) and the leads Christian Bale and Hugh Jackman. There was also a delightful performance by David Bowie as the genius wizard Nikola Tesla. That was a treat, because I’ve alwasy been fascinated by Tesla and I thought Bowie portrayed him perfectly. The plot never moved slowly and always kept me guessing. It wasn’t infallible, but it was smart and compelling. I recommend it highly.
I loved both of these movies as well. I actually liked “The Illusionist” a bit more myself (probably because of the love story aspect of it and the fact that I’ve always been a huge fan of Norton and Giamatti).