The Movie
Released within two months of The Prestige back in 2006, another star-driven period piece about European magicians (why does Hollywood do that?), The Illusionist is a touching, bittersweet romance about prestidigitator extraordinaire Eisenheim (Edward Norton) and Sophie (Jessica Biel), the aristocratic woman he has loved since they were both children growing up in Austria. It's a forbidden love, as she is betrothed to the nasty Crown Prince Leopold (Rufus Sewell), heir to the throne in fact. And when Sophie betrays Leopold to be with Eisenheim, violence ensues and lives are changed forever.
But when Eisenheim mounts a new act that claims to summon the spirits of the dead, he incites a social upheaval of sorts, leading to an unexpected guest on his stage, with clues... from beyond the grave? An is-he-or-isn't-he-corrupt police inspector (the always entertaining Paul Giamatti) intends to crack this case, and he gets much more than he bargained for.
Also read David Kempler's review of The Illusionist.
The Picture
The pulse and flicker and curiosities of color are perhaps a deliberate attempt to conjure the look (the illusion?) of a turn-of-the-century motion picture and can therefore be forgiven. Blacks however are dull, largely lifeless, while out-of-focus backgrounds show an unnatural flatness, even giving way to hard ringing in some shots. I blame some of this on the 1.78:1 film being squeezed onto a single-layer BD-25 platter, dictating a modest bitrate and yielding an image that is a little soft, a little noisy. I have to wonder if this is the same master Fox used for the 2007 DVD release.
The Sound
There's a subtle surround presence in the DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 channel track, more noticeable in Philip Glass's surprisingly traditional musical score. Side-to-side directionality is solid, and a gunshot can pack quite a jolt, followed by an organic resonance. These combine with enjoyable discrete moments as when a bird flies out over the audience. Overall volume was however a little low compared to most discs I spin.
The Extras
Disc Two is a DVD, with an audio commentary by director/screenwriter Neil Burger. Also included are a "making of" featurette (four minutes) and an interview with Jessica Biel. Not much insight in her minute-and-a-half, but she's pretty so it's okay. These are in standard definition, of course. This disc appears to be identical to the previously released standalone DVD, right down to the 2007 movie trailers.
Final Thoughts
Well-acted and filmed in some beautiful locations, The Illusionist is an engaging, if emotionally bleak mystery/romance. The audio is fine, although I do wish they'd made more of an effort on the video, and why not just port the DVD extras onto Blu-ray?
Product Details
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