Contagious Entertainment
Miracle Pictures
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The Illusionist | |
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Directed by | Neil Burger |
Screenplay by | Neil Burger |
Based on | "Eisenheim the Illusionist" by Steven Millhauser |
Produced by |
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Starring | |
Cinematography | Dick Pope |
Edited by | Naomi Geraghty |
Music by | Philip Glass |
Production companies | |
Distributed by | Yari Film Group Releasing Freestyle Releasing [3] |
Release date |
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Running time | 109 minutes [4] |
Countries | United States Czech Republic [5] [6] |
Language | English |
Budget | $16.5 million |
Box office | $87.8 million |
The Illusionist is a 2006 American romantic mystery film written and directed by Neil Burger and starring Edward Norton, Paul Giamatti, and Jessica Biel. Based loosely on Steven Millhauser's short story "Eisenheim the Illusionist", it tells the story of Eisenheim, a magician in turn-of-the-century Vienna, who reunites with his childhood love, a woman far above his social standing. It also depicts a fictionalized version of the Mayerling incident.
It premiered at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival and opened the 2006 Seattle International Film Festival; it was distributed in limited release to theaters on August 18, 2006 and expanded nationwide on September 1. It was a critical and commercial success.
In 1889 Vienna, Austria-Hungary, a magician named Eisenheim is arrested by Chief Inspector Walter Uhl of the Vienna Police during a magic show involving necromancy. Later, Uhl explains the story of Eisenheim's life to Crown Prince Leopold.
Eisenheim was born Eduard Abramovich, the son of a carpenter, and became interested in magic. He fell in love with Sophie, the Duchess von Teschen, but they were forbidden to see each other as Eduard was a peasant. They kept meeting secretly but were caught and separated by force. Eisenheim studied magic by travelling the world, and 15 years later, returned to Vienna to perform. During one performance, he encounters the adult Sophie and learns that she is expected to marry the Crown Prince Leopold, who, it is rumored, is brutal towards women and even murdered one. Leopold invites Eisenheim to give a private performance at the palace. During the performance, Eisenheim humiliates the prince in front of the royal guests; in response, he is banned from performing again in Vienna. When Sophie comes to offer him help, they make love. Eisenheim asks her to flee with him, but she is afraid they will be caught and executed. She reveals that the Crown Prince is planning a coup d'état against his elderly father, the Emperor Franz Joseph I.
At the Mayerling hunting lodge, Sophie tries to end her engagement with Leopold. Her body is discovered the next morning in the Vienna Woods, an unknown man blamed. This throws Eisenheim into depression. He buys a theatre and begins a new series of shows focusing on the summoning of dead spirits. Leopold secretly attends one, during which Eisenheim summons the spirit of Sophie, who says that someone in the theater is her murderer. Leopold, unnerved, orders Uhl to arrest Eisenheim for fraud, but Eisenheim avoids jail by confessing to the public that his show is an illusion.
Eisenheim is threatened that if he summons Sophie in his next performance, he will be imprisoned. Uhl attends the performance, and in spite of the warnings, Eisenheim summons Sophie again. Uhl storms the stage with his officers, but to the shock of the audience, Eisenheim himself is revealed to be a spirit when Uhl's hand passes through him.
Uhl reveals to Leopold that he has found evidence—a jewel from Leopold's sword and Sophie's locket—which could implicate Leopold in Sophie's murder. Uhl reveals that he knew of Leopold's plan all along, but chose to support him anyway as he thought Leopold would be a better emperor and Uhl could secure a promotion to Chief of Police by supporting the Crown Prince. However, Sophie's death made him realize that the Crown Prince is unfit to rule, so he changed his mind and informed the Emperor and the Austro-Hungarian General Staff of Leopold's conspiracy. As officers of the imperial guard of the Austro-Hungarian Army arrive, Leopold shoots himself in the head. Uhl leaves and places Sophie's locket in his pocket.
As a boy approaches him, he is jostled by a bearded man in a long coat. The boy gives him a package containing Eisenheim's notebook about the Orange Tree trick, which Uhl had been unable to figure out. He shouts to the boy asking who gave him the notebook, and the boy replies "Herr Eisenheim." He realizes the person who jostled him stole the locket. He chases the man, but he boards a train and escapes. Uhl realizes the jostling and the notebook are a message from the illusionist, and he begins to rethink recent events. He concludes that Sophie and Eisenheim staged her death so that she could be free of Leopold, with her ghostly apparitions being nothing more than illusions. Uhl laughs delightedly at the brilliance of their plan. Far away, Sophie and Eisenheim start a new life together in a cabin at a beautiful mountain. Eisenheim places Sophie's locket in her palm.
This section needs additional citations for verification .(August 2017) |
The script was based loosely on "Eisenheim the Illusionist", a short story by Steven Millhauser from his 1990 collection The Barnum Museum . Together with The Prestige and Scoop , The Illusionist was one of three films in 2006 to explore the world of stage magicians.
Magic consultancy and technical advice during the production was supplied by James Freedman, Ricky Jay, Michael Weber, and Scott Penrose. Director Neil Burger wrote, "Starting in pre-production, James (Freedman) became a major collaborator: brainstorming, designing, and refining everything from small sleight of hand tricks to major narrative set pieces. He worked with Edward Norton preparing him for his stage performances and acted as a hand double in various scenes. His contribution was enormous." [7] Aaron Johnson, who plays the teenage Eduard in the beginning of the film, also learned how to do the ball trick seen in those scenes. [8]
The original story, on which the movie is based, does not include the artifice of the protagonist framing the crown prince for murder.
Although the film is set in Austria, it was filmed mostly in the Czech Republic. The city of Vienna is represented in the film by Tábor and Prague, while the scenes set in Eisenheim's childhood village were shot in Český Krumlov. The Crown Prince's castle is actually the historical fortress of Konopiště (near Benešov), formerly the home of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria. The front gates of Leopold's Vienna palace (the Hofburg) were actually the front gates of Prague Castle. All other shots were at Barrandov Studios in Prague.
As of June 29, 2008 the film had earned worldwide box office receipts of $87,892,388, including $39,868,642 in the United States, exceeding its reported $16.5 million budget. [9] In the first five months after it was released on DVD in January 2007, it earned $35.99 million in rental revenue. [10]
The Illusionist received mostly positive reviews. Rotten Tomatoes gives it an approval score of 74% based on 194 reviews, with an average rating of 6.94/10. The consensus reads, "The Illusionist is an engrossing, well-crafted story of mystery, magic and intrigue that is certain to enchant, if not hypnotize, audiences." [11] On Metacritic, it has a score of 68 out of 100 based on 37 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews". [12]
Jonathan Rosenbaum's review in The Chicago Reader praised Paul Giamatti's performance of "a character who feels sympathy for the magician but owes allegiance to Leopold and is therefore divided and compromised ... Giamatti's performance is subtle, expressive, and richly nuanced." [13] Stephen Holden, in his review for The New York Times , praised Edward Norton's role, which, according to him, "perfectly fits his disturbing inscrutability". [14] Variety wrote that Jessica Biel "is entirely stunning enough to fight to the death over". [15] Roger Ebert rated 3.5/4 and wrote that, "The movie sets up a fascinating parable about art, religion and politics, and the misty boundaries between them". [16]
Director of Photography Dick Pope earned a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Cinematography, losing at the 79th Academy Awards to Guillermo Navarro, cinematographer for Pan's Labyrinth .
The soundtrack for the film was composed by Philip Glass and was released on 15 August 2006.
On October 14, 2014, it was announced that The CW was developing a TV series based on the film. [17]
In June 2020, a Japanese musical adaptation starring Haruma Miura, Naoto Kaiho, and Reika Manaki was announced and set to run from December 2020 to January 2021; however, following Miura's death in July 2020, the project was put on hold. [18]
On October 28, 2024, it was announced that composer Andrew Lloyd Webber will be adapting the film into a stage musical with Chris Terrio as book writer and Bruno Major as lyricist. Jamie Lloyd is also attached to direct the musical with Michael Harrison co-producing with Lloyd Webber (as part of Lloyd Webber Harrison Musicals). Further creatives are to be announced as well as plans to open the production in either London or on Broadway. [19]
Erik Weisz, known as Harry Houdini, was a Hungarian-American escape artist, illusionist, and stunt performer noted for his escape acts.
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Paul Edward Valentine Giamatti is an American actor. His accolades include a Primetime Emmy Award and three Golden Globes, as well as nominations for two Academy Awards and a British Academy Film Award.
Edward Harrison Norton is an American actor, director and producer. After graduating from Yale College in 1991 with a degree in history, he worked for a few months in Japan before moving to Manhattan to pursue an acting career. He gained recognition and critical acclaim for his debut in Primal Fear (1996), which earned him a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor and an Academy Award nomination in the same category. His role as a redeemed neo-Nazi in American History X (1998) earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor. He also starred in the film Fight Club (1999), which garnered a cult following.
Rudolf, Crown Prince of Austria was the only son and third child of Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria and Duchess Elisabeth of Bavaria (Sisi). He was heir apparent to the imperial throne of the Austro-Hungarian Empire from birth. In 1889, he died in a suicide pact with his mistress Baroness Mary Vetsera at the Mayerling hunting lodge. The ensuing scandal made international headlines.
David Seth Kotkin, known professionally as David Copperfield, is an American magician, described by Forbes as the most commercially successful magician in history.
Archduchess Gisela Louise Marie of Austria Princess of Hungary, Princess of Bohemia, Princess of Galicia and Lodomeria, Princess of Croatia, Slavonia and Dalmatia was the second daughter and eldest surviving child of Emperor Franz Joseph I and Empress Elisabeth of Austria. She became a Princess of Bavaria through her marriage to her second cousin, Leopold.
Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg was the wife of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne. Their assassination in Sarajevo sparked a series of events that led, four weeks later, to World War I.
Alex Michael Jennings is an English actor of the stage and screen, who worked extensively with the Royal Shakespeare Company and National Theatre. For his work on the London stage, Jennings received three Olivier Awards, winning for Too Clever by Half (1988), Peer Gynt (1996), and My Fair Lady (2003). He is the only performer to have won Olivier awards in the drama, musical, and comedy categories.
Paul Kieve is an English professional illusionist and whose consulting work for both stage and screen has contributed to changing how magical special effects in productions are approached. He is the only illusionist ever to have won a New York Drama Desk award. He created the illusions for the 2014 Kate Bush concert Before the Dawn.
Johann Nepomuk Hofzinser was an Austrian-Hungarian magician and illusionist. He used the moniker "Dr. Hofzinser" as a stage name after retiring in 1865.
Christopher Nicholas Sarantakos, known professionally as Criss Angel, is an American magician, illusionist and musician. He is often referred to as one of the world's most successful illusionists, generating in excess of $150 million in tourism revenue for Las Vegas in one year.
Neil Norman Burger is an American filmmaker. He is known for the fake-documentary Interview with the Assassin (2002), the period drama The Illusionist (2006), Limitless (2011), and the sci-fi action film Divergent (2014).
The Mayerling incident is the series of events surrounding the apparent murder–suicide pact of Rudolf, Crown Prince of Austria, and his lover, baroness Mary Vetsera. They were found dead on 30 January 1889 in an imperial hunting lodge in Mayerling. Rudolf, who was married to Princess Stéphanie of Belgium, was the only son of Emperor Franz Joseph and Empress Elisabeth, and was heir apparent to the throne of Austria-Hungary.
Steven Millhauser is an American novelist and short story writer. He won the 1997 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for his novel Martin Dressler.
Kevin James is an American magician, known for creating several unique magical effects, such as the "Floating Rose" which is performed by David Copperfield.
The Yari Film Group (YFG) is an independent film company headed by producer Bob Yari. The company deals in financing, production, acquisition, sales and distribution of theatrical feature films.
Cold Souls is a 2009 American comedy-drama film written and directed by Sophie Barthes. The film features Paul Giamatti, Dina Korzun, Emily Watson, and David Strathairn. Giamatti stars as a fictionalised version of himself, an anxious, overwhelmed actor who decides to enlist the service of a company to deep freeze his soul. Complications ensue when his soul gets lost in a soul trafficking scheme which has taken his soul to St. Petersburg. The film then follows Giamatti desperately trying to recover his soul.
Magic in the Moonlight is a 2014 romantic comedy film written and directed by Woody Allen. The film stars Eileen Atkins, Colin Firth, Marcia Gay Harden, Hamish Linklater, Emma Stone, Simon McBurney, and Jacki Weaver. Set in the 1920s on the French Riviera, the film was released in the United States on July 25, 2014, by Sony Pictures Classics. Magic in the Moonlight received a mixed reception. Critics praised the performances of Firth and Stone, but found the film's writing formulaic.
Clementine de Vere, also known by her stage name Ionia, was the most influential female magician in the first half of the 20th century. A British magician and illusionist, she was also known as Clementine Weedon and Princess Clementine Eristavi Tchitcherine. She was a British citizen, although she was born in Belgium and lived in France for a long period. She performed with the stage name "Ionia - the Enchantress" or the "Goddess of Mystery".