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-   Movie Talk (https://forum.dvdtalk.com/movie-talk-17/)
-   -   The illusionist (merged) (https://forum.dvdtalk.com/movie-talk/473984-illusionist-merged.html)

Nuff 01-10-07 01:12 PM
Originally Posted by ShaunoftheDead
I just saw this and liked it ok
Spoiler:
and think the ambiguous ending was a little pat and too cut and dryly explained.
...
Hmm I came away with a different impression.
Spoiler:
I did not find the ending ambiguous at all, what was ambiguous about it to you? They revealed that his magic was tricks not real magic. The two lovers planned the whole thing and set the prince up. They both got away scott free. What's left to be ambiguous about?

baracine 01-10-07 01:44 PM
Originally Posted by Nuff
Hmm I came away with a different impression.
Spoiler:
I did not find the ending ambiguous at all, what was ambiguous about it to you? They revealed that his magic was tricks not real magic. The two lovers planned the whole thing and set the prince up. They both got away scott free. What's left to be ambiguous about?

I think what ShaunoftheDead meant was that the tricks looked so supernatural, he wondered if they were or if there could be a rational explanation for them. By saying
Spoiler:
"they were not real magic", you are actually saying yourself that a successful stage trick is "false magic" but that supernatural manifestations are "real magic".
I don't think professional magicians would agree with that definition. But the film succeeds in blurring the line between the two concepts.

lxl 01-10-07 10:49 PM
I am a little disappointed.

Spoiler:

I don't really think the ending is ambiguous, it's also too predictable.

I don't quite like what the illusionist and the girl did to the prince. The prince was not a great man, but he certainly did not deserve that.

Daytripper 01-11-07 12:11 AM
Originally Posted by lxl
I am a little disappointed.

Spoiler:

I don't really think the ending is ambiguous, it's also too predictable.

I don't quite like what the illusionist and the girl did to the prince. The prince was not a great man, but he certainly did not deserve that.
Didn't the police inspector say to someone (about the Prince) "He will kill her, he's done it before". I just watched it for the second time and I'm pretty sure he did. If that's the case, the Prince deserved what he got. Especially if he got away with it. I know for a fact it was told he beat his women.

baracine 01-11-07 08:20 AM
The Prince being all-powerful and practically immune from prosecution besides being a very bad, devious and self-centered person
Spoiler:
had it coming
. And I couldn't have foreseen the ending. I was too "entranced".

Nuff 01-11-07 04:03 PM
Originally Posted by baracine
...But the film succeeds in blurring the line between the two concepts.
That's what I disagreed with. The ending removed any blur between the two and made it clear (IMO).

baracine 01-11-07 04:58 PM
Originally Posted by Nuff
That's what I disagreed with. The ending removed any blur between the two and made it clear (IMO).
The fact is no illusionist, even today, could create this kind of illusion on stage so the viewer may be forgiven for believing in the supernatural for at least that part of the film.

matrixrok9 01-15-07 07:15 PM
Movie was okay. First half was really good, 2nd has was predictable and bland.

Spoiler:

Use of CG in the magic tricks ruined the movie because it takes you out of the movie. Plus when I saw the CG I thought the filmmakers were going to explain what Norton was using, but evidently was suppose to be "real". I can't recommend a movie that is about practical magic yet uses CG. Just defeats the whole purpose of the film.

fmian 01-16-07 01:39 AM
When Giamatti was going through Nortons shack at the end I noticed
Spoiler:
a model head that looked like that of the little boy who walked through the theater as a ghost. this would indicate that Norton was using dummies or prosthetics as part of his ghost illusions.

That may go some way towards explaining the magic he was doing.

B.A. 01-16-07 09:31 PM
Just watched this tonight - not a bad flick. Predictable, but good none-the-less. I really enjoyed Norton and Giamatti (as always).

Brent_MN 01-16-07 09:59 PM
I didn't find it predictable at all. :shrug:

Actually, I couldn't believe it.

Setzer 01-24-07 11:30 AM
I watched this for the first time last night. Loved it. Makes me wish I would have seen it in theaters! Norton and Giamatti gave outstanding performances. This is easily one of my top films of '06.

QuePaso 07-09-07 09:42 AM
I just watched this. I really enjoyed it and i thought the way it went down was awesome. Nortons character was well devised and
Spoiler:
I really liked the magic he used and even i doubted if it was fake or not with the ghosts. And those model heads in his house really showed theres more to it then simply amazing spiritual powers. I mostly thought that norton was setting up the prince to pay for killing her, but the ending with her being alive even surprised me.


Overall, very nice flick and a enjoyable time.

movielib 07-09-07 10:03 AM
I just watched it a second time with a bunch of my wife's relatives who were visiting. They have widely varying tastes and it was one of the few movies I've shown them that every one of them liked. And while I did guess the "twist" very early when I first saw it in the theater, none of them did. Not a great film but good and enjoyable on a repeat viewing even knowing everything.

Spoiler:

I didn't mind that, while it was obvious the film was saying everything Eisenstein did was a trick, it was equally obvious what he did was too good to have been so. Dramatic license.

TheMovieman 07-09-07 10:41 AM
In his commentary Neil Burger said
Spoiler:
the ending was how Giamatti's character thought how the whole thing played out. That's why when we see Norton meeting Biel, it looks hazy. IIRC, he said it was possible Norton just disappeared and went to live alone somewhere in the countryside.


Not saying I agree with it, but that's how he interpreted and (I guess) filmed it.

Jack Straw 09-03-07 01:06 AM
Can someone explain to me how
Spoiler:
a doctor and chief inspector who supposedly weren't in on the "trick" examined a body with an apparent slit throat who was really still alive, and both found no pulse or other evidence indicating this woman was faking? Lame.

fmian 09-03-07 03:55 AM
Originally Posted by Jack Straw
Can someone explain to me how
Spoiler:
a doctor and chief inspector who supposedly weren't in on the "trick" examined a body with an apparent slit throat who was really still alive, and both found no pulse or other evidence indicating this woman was faking? Lame.
Spoiler:
The family doctor was in on it, and shooed away anyone else who tried to get a close look at the body.

The Antipodean 09-03-07 02:33 PM
Originally Posted by Jack Straw
Can someone explain to me how
Spoiler:
a doctor and chief inspector who supposedly weren't in on the "trick" examined a body with an apparent slit throat who was really still alive, and both found no pulse or other evidence indicating this woman was faking? Lame.
They made it pretty clear at the end that
Spoiler:
the doctor was in on it
.

Red Dog 10-15-07 01:39 PM
Just watched it. Pretty good. I really like Giamatti.


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