When At First You Practice To Deceive-Edward Norton’s “The Illusionist” (2006)-A Film Review

DVD Review

By Film Critic Sam Lowell  

The Illusionist, starring Edward Norton, Paul Giamatti, Jessica Biel, 2006

The trials and tribulations of young love, hey, maybe older love too can lead to some strange consequences although not always as in the film under review The Illusionist in fin de siècle Vienna. You know in the old Austro-Hungarian Empire that was blown to dust at the end of its tether at the end of World War I. But that was later here we are all dewy with innocent, well, mostly as thwarted love between two young people from very different social classes, in a society that was very, very class conscious, try to overcome all obstacles to consummate their love. A regular Hollywood boy meets girl story but with interesting, very interesting twists right up until the end as you would expect from a show that features a magician in the lead role.        

Without any sleight of hand on my part here is how this one played out when the deal went down. A young son of the lower classes, Edward, played by Edward Norton, who has an interest in magic like a lot of kids, gathered the attention of a young Duchess, Sophie, played by Jessica Biel, so you already know that this is a match that will have troubles from day one in class-bound Austria. Their love is thwarted then but some fifteen years later after travelling the world Edward came back to Vienna as a professional illusionist of some renown and ability. Sophie, in the meantime as expected, had been paired with nobility, the Crown Prince Leopold no less. Tough luck, sorry, Edward.  Well maybe not so sorry when all things got worked out. Sophie and Edward meet at one of his performances and rekindled their young love romance on the sly and eventually consummate their thwarted love. Or they think on the sly because the jealous, half mad Leopold had his toady social climbing police agent, Uhl, played by Paul Giamatti, set his agents to spying on Sophie. Once Uhl informed the Prince that Sophie and Edward had been seen together in a rage he banned Edward’s show.       

   

As a sub-plot that drives some of the film this upstart impetuous Leopold had plans to overthrow his father, Franz Joseph, and needed an alliance with Sophie’s family to connect the dots in the plot. Both Edward and Sophie know that they cannot stay together under these circumstances so they plan an elaborate ruse, a gem of an illusion, in order to take the dastardly prince out of their equation. Sophie feigned being murdered by the well-known women beating prince and the play was on as Uhl tried to thwart Edward’s accusations against the Prince and illusionary actions to bring the “dead” Sophie back to life on stage and scandalize him among the citizenry of the Empire. Funny this deception worked, worked so well that Leopold once his plot plans folded in his face shot himself. Falling for Edward’s well-thought out deception Uhl had egg all over his face in the end but admired his cleverness and tenacity. As for Edward and Sophie they naturally lived happily ever after. Far away from Vienna. For once when you practice to deceive things worked out for the better. See this one and watch closely as the plot unfolds.