Edinburgh International Film Festival – Day 1
Wednesday, June 16th, 2010
The Illusionist: With spectacularly detailed hand-drawn animation, French director Sylvain Chomet backs off from the surrealist expressionism of his debut feature The Triplets of Belleville, and goes for something a bit more warm and personal. The story concerns the trials of Monsieur Tatischeff, an aging Parisian illusionist who finds he can no longer find any work due to the growing popularity of emerging rock-and-roll bands, so he packs up his belongings (including an obese, finger-biting rabbit) and moves to – surprise – Edinburgh, where he meets and befriends a young girl who believes his magic to be real. They take care of each other, her showering the magician with attention, him buying her what gifts he can with the meager money he earns. Eventually the girl’s attention slips more towards the glamour and fashion of the upper class, and Tatischeff does what he can to support the girl, even as it nearly bankrupts him. She grows up, falls in love with a handsome young man, and eventually she and Tatischeff drift apart. The movie is filmed with nearly no dialogue (although there are moments where a short phrase or word is spoken by one of the lead characters, these are generally used as an extension of their facial expressions than as a communications tool in itself), and relies on the style of comedic comedy that the originator Jacques Tati was famous for (the movie is based on an unproduced screenplay by Tati). Despite this, it’s a much more reserved, somber film than I may have been expecting, silently longing for yesterday’s memories while finding a way to get through the setbacks each new day presents us. Some moments of comic relief include the drunken Scotsman, who always seems to be there to give Tatischeff a thumbs up or slap on the back for encouragement before stumbling off to the side, as well as Chomet’s depiction of a ridiculously silly pop band called the Britoons with their ceaseless encores and schoolgirl-like giggles. In a day and age in which Pixar is overpraised for making ‘serious animated films adults can enjoy’, it’s fantastic to see a hand-drawn movie with this much honesty and no-frills sentiments.
Trailer for The Illusionist