There is a song by Madrugada called 'I'm Life's Wonderful Way of Letting You Down' and this film reminded me of it. The story is a simple enough tale of an aging magician whose career is not far from being over. He finds odd jobs here and there while looking after a girl who followed him to Edinburgh. He takes her in and buys her pretty much anything she wants, mostly clothes. But in the end, he realizes there is no future for them; he isn't her father, nor her mentor and since he has a hard time finding work to support both of them, he decides to leave her in the care of a younger man, with whom she (apparently) fell in love. And that's that.
'L'Illusioniste' is also a film to fall in love with, displaying the most beautiful, authentic animations and a story that is as much pure as it is simple. There's some dialogue in it, though hardly any of it is actually audible, but one can easily get the gist of it - it's never complicated. What ís complicated, are the lives of these two people. They live alongside the world and they are more or less forced to live life by the day. As do many other characters in their surroundings, the hotel they stay at isn't called 'Little Joe Hotel' for nothing. It will be clear by now that this is not a very happy film (even though there are plenty of optimistic and humorous touches that will put a smile on your face), but for that I'll refer you to that song title at the beginning of my review...
This is an honest tale, both in story and animations, that will slowly but surely get under your skin. It did with me, anyway. Highly recommended, but maybe - probably - not for everyone.
10 out of 10.
'L'Illusioniste' is also a film to fall in love with, displaying the most beautiful, authentic animations and a story that is as much pure as it is simple. There's some dialogue in it, though hardly any of it is actually audible, but one can easily get the gist of it - it's never complicated. What ís complicated, are the lives of these two people. They live alongside the world and they are more or less forced to live life by the day. As do many other characters in their surroundings, the hotel they stay at isn't called 'Little Joe Hotel' for nothing. It will be clear by now that this is not a very happy film (even though there are plenty of optimistic and humorous touches that will put a smile on your face), but for that I'll refer you to that song title at the beginning of my review...
This is an honest tale, both in story and animations, that will slowly but surely get under your skin. It did with me, anyway. Highly recommended, but maybe - probably - not for everyone.
10 out of 10.