![]() ![]() ![]() Biel’s character is a bit thinly drawn, though she looks lovely, even in jodhpurs. The performances, as we expect from actors of this calibre, are excellent, with Giamatti redeeming himself after the dreadful Lady In The Water. Sophie, though a member of the aristocracy, is less interested in a suitable marriage than she is in love – Leopold cannot understand her. The two antagonists represent different ways of being – the peasant who has made good through skill and hard work vs the spoiled aristocrat – the modern vs the past. Uhl also harbours increasing doubts about his employer who has some unpleasant skeletons in his closet. He hopes to use Uhl to entrap Eisenheim, but Uhl is torn, admiring the magician. ![]() Leopold is envious of Eisenheim’s genuine popularity and irritated by his inability to discover the mechanisms behind Eisenheim’s elaborate illusions. The central story of the film is the duel between the prince and the pauper, with Biel as the prize. Jealous and baffled, Leopold sets his tame police inspector Uhl (Giamatti) on to spy on Eisenheim, determined to expose him, even as Eisenheim gains a devoted following and celebrity status. But then Leopold encourages his fiancé, Sophie Von Teschen (Biel), to assist the magician on stage, Eisenheim and Sophie recognise each other from their childhood and their dormant love affair is rekindled. ![]() Word soon spreads, and even the pragmatic, worldly Crown Prince Leopold (Sewell) comes to see the show, though he is convinced that Eisenheim is a fraud. Last year we had Wolverine v Batman in The Prestige, later this year we have Magicians, and in the meantime here’s Ed Norton as Eisenheim The Illusionist.Įisenheim is a mysterious stage magician, who appears in turn-of-the-century Vienna and causes a sensation with his apparently impossible, almost otherworldly tricks. You wait ages for a film about magicians and then suddenly loads come along at once. Classification: PG Director: Neil Burger Rating: 3/ 5 ![]()
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