The Illusionist

"Nothing is what it seems"

2006 1h 50m EN

👍

7.3

SOLID

★7.3TMDB · 5,510

FantasyDramaThrillerRomance

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

With his eye on a lovely aristocrat, a gifted illusionist named Eisenheim uses his powers to win her away from her betrothed, a crown prince. But Eisenheim's scheme creates tumult within the monarchy and ignites the suspicion of a dogged inspector.

“Nothing is what it seems”

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Cast

Edward Norton
Eisenheim
Paul Giamatti
Inspector Uhl
Jessica Biel
Sophie
Rufus Sewell
Crown Prince Leopold
Eddie Marsan
Josef Fischer
Aaron Taylor-Johnson
Young Eisenheim
Eleanor Tomlinson
Young Sophie
Jake Wood
Jurka

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Neil Burger
Writers: Neil Burger, Steven Millhauser
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Made its money back 5.3× over at the box office.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 20 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Neil Burger, shot by Dick Pope. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Philip Glass. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Editor Naomi Geraghty shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Edward Norton and Paul Giamatti and Jessica Biel carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "Nothing is what it seems".

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0443543 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Neil Burger directs. Dick Pope behind the camera. Philip Glass scores. Naomi Geraghty cuts. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Made its money back 5.3× over at the box office.
2Released 20 years ago.
3Directed by Neil Burger, shot by Dick Pope. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
4Original score by Philip Glass. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
5Editor Naomi Geraghty shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
6Edward Norton and Paul Giamatti and Jessica Biel carry the top of the cast.
7Marketing tagline: "Nothing is what it seems".
8IMDB entry: tt0443543 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
9Classified under 11 themes, including "princess", "magic", "rivalry", "love".

The technical file

Cinematography: Dick Pope
Original score: Philip Glass
Editing: Naomi Geraghty
Production design: Ondřej Nekvasil
Costume design: Ngila Dickson
Makeup / hair: Denise Dellavalle
VFX supervisor: Viktor Müller
Sound: John T. Reitz
Stunt coordinator: Ladislav Lahoda
Runtime: 110 min · 1h 50m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $16,500,000
Box office: $87,892,388
Return: 533% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): PG-13
IMDB: The Illusionist (2006)

Awards

Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Composer

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

Also by

Neil Burger

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Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

GeekMasher2013-03-15
★ 9.5/10
When I looked at this film for the first time I was unsure it would be any good... I was completely amazed by how this film was good. The actors all played there role very well. The film has a very good storyline and I was compelled to watch it. All in all a great movie, worth watching.
John Chard2019-02-02
★ 8/10
Life and death. Space and time. Fate and chance. Theses are the forces of the universe. The Illusionist is directed by Neil Burger and Burger adapts the screenplay from "Eisenheim the Illusionist" written by Steven Millhauser. It stars Edward Norton, Paul Giamatti, Jessica Biel and Rufus Sewell. Music is by Philip Glass and cinematography by Dick Pope. How splendid, a period romantic mystery that's filled with the mysticism of magical conjurings and political volatility. Plot essentially has Norton as Eisenheim The Illusionist, who later in life runs into Sophie (Biel), his childhood sweetheart, and finds that she's on course to marry Crown Prince Leopold (Sewell). Leopold has a bad reputation and it's not long before Eisenheim comes under Leopold's disdain, forcing Eisenheim to try and pull off the ultimate magic act to save Sophie and himself. Creator Neil Burger crafts a picture that has everything going for it. The story is rock solid with intrigue credentials, where appropriately for a story based around magic tricks nothing is ever as it seems. The period flavours are smartly assembled, the Czech Republic locations smartly standing in for turn of the century Vienna, the art production is on point with the era of setting, as is the costuming. Glass drifts a tender melancholic score over the piece, while Pope's cinematography is simply gorgeous, offering up colour lensing that's aura enhancing, the kind you could get lost in for days. The magic tricks are beguiling, as they should be and are in fact required since the narrative tantalisingly suggests Eisenheim may have supernatural powers? The story itself has no historical worth, but is fascinating none the less. It all builds towards its revelations, and much hinges on if the pay off is worth the admission fee? Most assuredly so it is, even if from a personal point of view this writer wouldn't have minded if pic had finished five minutes before the final revelation. Either way, and with smart acting (Giamatti as the police inspector standing out) without histrionics holding things at the top end, this is delicate film making that engages the emotions fully for entertainment rewards. 8/10
JPV8522019-08-28
★ 9/10
Seen this movie several times over the years and still find it so entertaining and satisfying thanks in large part to Edward Norton's performance. In some ways, although not as expertly directed, I prefer this over The Prestige, which is a great movie in its own right.