What makes a period film worthy of your time and attention span? The abilities of the actors to convince us they are of that time. The abilities of the directors and cinematographer to convince us that the time is real. The extent to which the costumes and setting, along with the acting and directing transport us to the time. If one fails, in my mind, the movie fails.

Circular fade ins and fade outs, scratchy screens, gold tinted scenes and soft directing create a vision of turn-of-the-century Vienna that is magical. The Illusionist is a work of film art and visual art. My expectations were null for this film because I hadn’t read much about it and am not a fan of Jessica Biehl. But, Jessica Biehl and Paul Giamatti were surprisingly good and Edward Norton as usual held his own. Rufus Sewell was a delightfully evil character. The plot was well perceived and the twists in the film were completely unexpected.

Compare The Illusionist to The Prestige, the other film about magicians that came out about the same time, and there’s no comparison. Nothing went right in the latter and all things were predictable, unbelievable or simply uninteresting including the acting and plot itself. What makes The Illusionist a much better film is that all the singular elements of fine filmmaking came together effortlessly. Where The Illusionist is about illusions, as mystical and thought provoking as they are, The Prestige is about trickery, and the ability to deceive as proof of the tricksters’ status in his field. The Prestige is about the competition of two men to see who is best at deception.

Sounds interesting, and sounds like a film that should have focused on character development. However, the film had a confused storyline without much character development so the tricksters were more annoying and self-possessed than fascinating even in their deceptions. It’s very possible for characters who are inherently deceptive or even evil to be so fascinating that you cherish every second of the screen time they’re given and watch in amazement their abilities to caress then strike you from scene to scene with their malevolence. Both Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale are strong actors, but they were not able to save the film from falling apart mid way through. Jackman’s character flopped about the screen like a dying fish that wouldn’t die. Bale’s character just had nothing redeeming about him though he held my interest more than Jackman’s.

The Illusionist, on the other hand, is a strong film from opening scene to ending credits with characters that held my interest and a plot that fascinated me. In turn-of-the-century Vienna, Eisenheim, a magician (Norton) uses his abilities to secure the love of a woman (Biehl) far above his social standing. Norton’s proven himself as an actor who can deceive us with ease and/or one who can evolve right on the screen within the two hours allotted in a graceful, and most importantly, completely believable way (see Primal Fear, American History X, the 25th Hour). Paul Giamatti as the Inspector who is hired by the Crown Prince Leopold (Sewell) to shut Eisenheim down is truly amazing. Giamatti has a tendency in playing characters who are very sad, pathetic creatures. But, Giamatti’s Inspector Uhl is simply a different character. Curious, intelligent and very present on screen. Rufus Sewell’s villainous Leopold was convincing enough to inspire distaste for the character and praise for the actor. Jessica Biehl’s Sophie, was a surprise and a delight. Where most new young actresses fresh from the small screen, trying to transition to the big screen fail, she succeeds. Here acting is subtle, convincing and memorable enough not to roll my eyes next time I see a trailer of a film in which she co-stars.

It’s been a while since I’ve seen a film that’s as subtle and memorable though not ground-breaking. Sometimes you just want to plop your arse on your couch and watch a film that’s surprisingly satisfying. It’s nice to have no expectations going in and accolades coming out, Accolades all around for The Illusionist.