Director: Sylvain Chomet

***originally written 13 September 2010***

This is not the 2006 movie with Edward Norton. I haven’t seen that movie. I was told it wasn’t very good. No, this particular Illusionist comes from the same peculiar pocket of French animation that gave us Belleville Rendezvous back in 2003. That pocket belongs to Sylvain Chomet, and what a delightful set of curiosities he keeps. Fashioned in a pleasingly traditional manner from line-drawings and watercolours, The Illusionist thoroughly transports the viewer into it’s world, a trip back to 1959, Scotland, and the dying art of the music hall magician. It’s a requiem for another time and place, not so long ago, evocative and bittersweet.

The illusionist in question is named Tatischeff, French in origin. He has a willful rabbit in a hat, a tired routine, and his own aging, lumbering body to contend with. And Rock n Roll is happening…