Animation Saturday: The ILLUSIONIST (2010)

Title: THE ILLUSIONIST (2010)

   Sometimes images with the absence of words, convey the human emotion best. Coupled with the right music, and you have a heartbreaking pure moment of art. The Illusionist by Sylvain Chomet has several of these, none as effecting as the last few moments of the film. I knew the moment was coming, knew it's meaning, yet when it arrived, i found myself trying has hard as possible to hold back the welling. This speaks to the skill of the artist at work, and 2 films in, Chomet is certainly that. There is a beauty and artistry that hand-drawn animation has to it. The subtle lines and curves, the crush of colors. One is able to buy more into the emotions and story at hand due to the disconnect. Herein lies the issue with CG animated features, the added texture may look beautiful, yet the mind know it is something not real, attempting to be. We, as an audience find ourselves more guarded to these films, in a sense because they are a threat to what we believe, can't possibly be. Personally though, it's never been an argument for me, while there are plenty of CG animated features that i do enjoy, it's more so the story they are telling, rather than the sight, i am engaged in. It's a testament to many artist out there, that in the last 2 years, the dark horse in the Oscar category of Best Animated Feature, is a non-major produced hand animated film.
     The story of and behind The Illusionist has been written about many times over. It concerns an unproduced script by Jacques Tati of "Mon Oncle", "M. Hulton's Holiday" and "PlayTime". It became well documented that a member of Tati's family wrote a revealing and exposing (though not forthcoming) letter to Roger Ebert (click here). I feel though that the film should be viewed on it's own merits, as it's own piece of work. Tati may have wished his film to be different, and Chomet says that story was by Tati, and himself is credited as adapting it.
  The film takes place over an unnamed period in 1959. An aging, and faltering magician (based off of Tati himself), makes his way across the british countryside, taking his show where he can. During a stop on an island, he is befriends Alice, who subsequently follows him on his journey to Edinburgh. To help support his and her lives, he takes various odd jobs whilst trying to keep his act a foot. It's episodic in nature, with long pieces and short pieces combined. The animation is gorgeous through and through, and as a testament to it, Chomet has English, and French spared through out, along with gibberish, so that everyone can understand what is happening in the film. This isn't a disney or dreamworks film here. The note that is left for Alice is exceptionally heart-aching. There are many dark stretches throughout as we may often find in life. It's a film without any real twists, with something to say if you are willing to listen. If there is any justice in the world, it will win the Oscar on the 27th of February.
**** 1/2 out of *****