"The Illusionist" has an interesting history, and it seems downright magical that it made it to the cinemas at all. The project originated as a script by French comedy master Jacques Tati, completed with his writing partner Henri Marquet shortly before Tati would tackle his large-scale comedy masterpiece "Trafic." A small tale, about an aging magician and the young girl he befriends, the script was deemed "too painful" for the director, since the script was an exorcism of sorts, as it dealt with the daughter he abandoned many years before. Several years ago, one of Tati's daughters gave the script…...
- 12/24/2010
- The Playlist
Jacques Tati is a name that is well known amongst the Criterion Collection. With such films as M. Hulot’s Holiday (1953, Spine #110), Mon Oncle (1958, Spine #111), Playtime (1967, Spine #112) and Trafic (1971, Spine #439) in the collection already, is there any surprise that Tati is still an inspiration for filmmakers around the world, still in his home country of France. Even animators look to him as a source of comedic genius and always want to replicate what he’s done on the big screen.
Which is exactly what Sylvain Chomet, who did the wonderfully animated film The Triplets of Belleville has done with his new film, The Illusionist. Not to be mistakened for the Edward Norton starrer, this ‘illusionist’ is about an older magician who might have lost the spark of his entertainment business. What’s uncanny is the eerie resemblance to an aged Jacques Tati this magician has.
I’m a bit excited about this film,...
Which is exactly what Sylvain Chomet, who did the wonderfully animated film The Triplets of Belleville has done with his new film, The Illusionist. Not to be mistakened for the Edward Norton starrer, this ‘illusionist’ is about an older magician who might have lost the spark of his entertainment business. What’s uncanny is the eerie resemblance to an aged Jacques Tati this magician has.
I’m a bit excited about this film,...
- 3/24/2010
- by James McCormick
- CriterionCast
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