If there is a more melancholy movie than the instant animated classic “The Illusionist,” I’m not sure I can handle it.
I love melancholy — the sweet longing for something just out of reach, as opposed to outright, soul-crushing depression — and for adult viewers, “The Illusionist” walks right up to that heart-rending abyss and takes a good look into the depths. Whether you think it’s all bitter and no sweet may depend on the mood in which you start watching.
Children will see this beautifully made film on a far different level. They’ll be absorbed in the quiet antics of the rabbit escaping from the magician’s hat in the corner of the screen, or the acrobat brothers bouncing their way through a threadbare hotel lobby. “The Illusionist” plays to many audiences in a nonverbal reverie of what might have been and possibly never was.
The Scottish/French Oscar nominee is a partially autobiographical tale from the late great French actor Jacques Tati. Set in the late 1950s, it follows the declining career of a small-time magician as he plays seedier and seedier vaudeville venues with his ill-tempered rabbit. Reduced to playing private parties, he accepts an invite to travel to remote Scotland, where he captures a young woman’s fancy.
The father-daughter relationship unfolds before a sublime background of lovingly drawn scenes of the Scottish coast, Parisian streetscapes and craggy Edinburgh. The illusionist is in decline, but his surroundings are exquisite, and he and we take energy from the backdrops.
See how long it takes for your children to notice the almost complete lack of comprehensible dialogue. Everything we need is communicated by gestures and mumbles — these deepest matters of the heart do not require speeches.
In the age of streaming and movies-by- mail, I rarely have the urge to buy a DVD. “The Illusionist” will break that mindset; I’ll buy a copy just to see the drawings.
“The Illusionist”
Rated: PG, for some mature themes of sadness and adult longing.
Best suited for: Children 8 or older, adults who enjoy near-perfect animation and movie nostalgia.
Provided by Sony Pictures Classics
