Blu-ray Review: The Illusionist

The Illusionist is a film I somehow missed during its theatrical run, which surprises me as I am such a big fan of Paul Giamatti’s work and that of the other main cast members. But now it has a special Blu-ray release as part of the MVD Marquee Collection, giving me another chance to check it out. The movie stars Edward Norton as Eisenheim, an illusionist at the top of his game, Paul Giamatti as Inspector Uhl, Jessica Biel as Sophie and Rufus Sewell as Crown Prince Leopold.

When the film opens, Eisenheim is on a bare wooden stage staring intently toward the audience, holding their attention. They are silent, including a row of policemen at the back, until a shimmering form on stage causes a woman to shout out, “It’s her!” Inspector Uhl then steps onto the stage to announce the illusionist’s arrest, which throws the crowd into an uproar. Uhl is soon instructed to put an end to this troublesome magician, the crown prince suggesting he must have some information he can use against him, something from his past. Uhl agrees, saying, “In fact, we know all about his life.” And that is how the film transitions to the past, to show how Eisenheim first encountered magic. What I like is that what we see next isn’t quite believable, but Uhl (in voice over at this point) acknowledges that the story is uncertain. “Who knows what actually happened?” It’s interesting, because it leaves us wondering how reliable the information we’ll receive will be. For, as Uhl says, he has pieced together the story of Eisenheim’s life from all those who have known him. So the story not only relies on memories of people, but on their willingness to tell the truth to a policeman. It’s an intriguing set-up.

As a boy, the illusionist meets the young Duchess Sophie Von Teschen, who is scolded for taking an interest in a peasant. She secretly keeps seeing him, in spite of being forbidden from doing so. And one evening she runs to him. “Make us disappear,” she urges him, as we hear the men searching for her getting closer. What is nice here is we see him concentrating, just as we saw Edward Norton concentrating in the opening shots. But the men come and separate them. The story then moves forward fifteen years to the illusionist having taken the name Eisenheim and gained some popularity with the people. He is performing for an audience, an audience that includes Inspector Uhl, who applauds him enthusiastically. Uhl fancies himself an amateur magician himself, and shows a genuine interest in how the illusions are performed. And in an official capacity, he has to inspect the theatre because the crown prince is planning on attending the next performance, and takes some joy at looking over the props.

When Eisenheim seeks a volunteer from the audience, the prince offers his date, the duchess. When she ascends the stage, Eisnheim asks her, “Do you know me?” and then “You’re quite certain that we’ve never met before?” That is such a great moment, because of course those questions are asked routinely at magic shows to assure the audience that a volunteer is not in on the act, but here he is also truly asking the questions, sensing her familiarity. Such a good touch. And I love the moment of recognition from Sophie a little later. She soon arranges to meet him secretly, as she knows she is followed everywhere. So there is a love story at the heart of this film. After the prince is embarrassed by Eisenheim at a command performance, he orders Uhl to shut him down. It’s interesting, because of course I was assuming that the prince’s anger toward the illusionist would be related to his love for Sophie. But it’s more to do with the prince’s love for himself, and his arrogance. Interestingly, it is after that scene that Eisenheim and Sophie begin their physical relationship.

While the prince plans a dangerous political move, Eisenheim and Sophie put their own lives in danger to be together. This is a love story, but also a tale of intrigue and mystery. Yet one of my favorite scenes is that between Edward Norton and Paul Giamatti when Uhl questions Eisenheim about his relationship with the duchess. It’s a simple scene, but so effective because of the actors involved. Here is a chance to see two incredibly talented actors delivering excellent performances. In addition, Rufus Sewell gives an excellent and at times scary performance as the prince. The Illusionist is an enjoyable and engaging film, in large part because of these performances.

Special Features

The Blu-ray contains a commentary track by screenwriter and director Neil Burger, who talks about the short story and the process of adapting it for the film. Interestingly, Sophie is not a character in the short story. The actor who played the young Sophie had her first kiss on screen, which must have been so weird for her. It’s cool that Edward Norton learned to do his own sleight of hand for this film. It’s also cool that the production took the trouble of portraying the tricks the way they would have been done at that time (admittedly with a bit of CGI enhancement), and Neil Burger kind of explains each of the illusions. I can’t believe that horrid hallway that Paul Giamatti walks down is a real place, that the set dressers didn’t add any of those animal heads.

The disc also includes a short making-of featurette, which includes interviews with cast members Edward Norton, Jessica Biel, Rufus Sewell and Paul Giamatti. Edward Norton talks about Ricky Jay advising him on the magic. There is also a separate interview with Jessica Biel, though some of it is included in the making-of featurette. The film’s trailer is also included.

The Illusionist was directed by Neil Burger, and was released on Blu-ray on June 25, 2019 through MVD Marquee Collection.

Blu-ray Review: Winter Passing

MVD Visual’s Marquee Collection consists of Blu-ray editions of some older films that are worth taking another look at, as well as some titles you might have missed the first time around. The latter is the case for me with Winter Passing, an absolutely wonderful and moving film starring Ed Harris, Zooey Deschanel, Will Ferrell and Amelia Warner. This film tells the story of a young woman who returns home for the first time in several years to retrieve correspondence written by her famous parents during their courtship, and discovers a strange new dynamic in the house in which she grew up.

When we meet Reese (Zooey Deschanel), she is at an audition in New York. She is asked to sing, which she wasn’t prepared for, and is adorable as she delivers her rendition of “My Bonnie Lies Over The Ocean.” She did well enough to get cast, for the film then cuts to a scene from a production of Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale. Interestingly, what we see is Leontes approaching the “statue” of Hermione, and we don’t catch any of Reese’s dialogue at all, but rather just see her approach on stage. This positions her as something of an outsider in her own life, for though she is cast in the play, the film chooses to show us another actor’s performance instead of hers. (My guess is she’s playing Perdita, whose next line would be “So long could I stand by, a looker on.”)  After the performance, Lori (Amy Madigan), a book editor, approaches her. It is only a moment before Reese realizes her presence has nothing whatsoever to do with her performance, but rather to do with her father, a famous author who has not published a word in many years. Lori is there because Reese inherited the courtship correspondence between her parents and she wishes to purchase it from her and publish it. This is an excellent scene. We learn quite a lot, such as the fact that Reese missed her mother’s funeral, but none of the information feels like exposition. Plus, both Zooey Deschanel and Amy Madigan deliver excellent, natural performances.

Reese is clearly troubled, hurting. In an early and powerful scene, done with very little dialogue, she tells a lover to leave, then deliberately slams her hand in a drawer. Soon another lover asks her, “What are you so afraid of?” She answers, “I don’t know.” It is an honest answer. I love that this film takes its time, letting us get to know Reese and care for her before introducing the other main characters. And if Reese is troubled, things are even stranger and more difficult for her father (Ed Harris). Following his wife’s death, he has taken to living in his garage and sleeping outside, while two boarders live in his house. They are quite protective of him, with one of them, Corbit (Will Ferrell), asking to see some form of identification from Reese before letting her in. When Reese does finally get inside the house, we see that it is full of books, which makes it look like heaven to me. However, one room has been turned into a driving range. Reese has been made an outsider in her own home, though both Corbit and Shelly (Amelia Warner) do their best to make her feel welcome. And soon Reese begins to put her life back together by repairing her relationship with her father. This is a moving, touching and rather tender story, and it had me in tears before the end, something I was not expecting. If you haven’t seen it yet, I highly recommend checking it out.

Special Features

The Blu-ray contains a short behind-the-scenes featurette, which includes interviews with cast members Zooey Deschanel, Amy Madigan, Will Ferrell, Ed Harris and Amelia Warner. The film’s trailer is also included.

Winter Passing was written and directed by Adam Rapp, and was released on Blu-ray on June 25, 2019 through MVD Marquee Collection.

DVD Review: Transit

We are living in frightening and twisted times, when a significant portion of the world’s population is once again falling for fascism, something that seemed unfathomable only a few years ago. And so stories of World War II have an even stronger appeal than normal. We need these stories to tell us how to avoid mistakes and horrors of the past. Transit is based on the novel by Anna Seghers, and takes place during the German occupation of Paris. One thing that is unusual and remarkable about Transit is that it takes the 1944 novel and places in a time that combines the early 1940s and the present, creating a sort of present where the past has never quite left. And while that might or might not have worked ten years ago, it feels just exactly right at this moment, and immediately pulls us into the world of these characters.

At the beginning of the film, we learn that Paris is being sealed off, and that the time to escape is now. In a café, Georg (Franz Rogowsi) is asked by a friend to take two letters to a writer named Weidel, but when he arrives at the hotel he learns that Weidel is dead, having taken his own life. “He caused me more trouble than the occupation,” the woman running the hotel tells him. Georg takes some of the writer’s things, including a manuscript. When he returns to the café, he finds his friend and the other patrons being lined up by the police, and soon is on the run himself. There are others in the same predicament, but it isn’t long before Georg is separated from them. The film drops us into this world, with no explanation of what has happened. Of course, no explanation is necessary. But with the current situation of the world, I began to wonder if at some point in the near future World War II movies will need to offer some exposition or backstory. While the world promised to never forget, it seems that many people have done just that.

Interestingly, approximately fifteen minutes into the film, we suddenly get a bit of narration, which takes a moment to get used to, this new voice, this other perspective. “Finally he had opened the writer’s bag. He began to read out of pure boredom.” The narrator becomes another character in the story. What is also interesting is how normal the world is. Cars pass by, people continue to live their lives, while a darker force gains control. And that is certainly how it is here in the United States right now, most of us going about our normal lives while immigrant children are dying in cages and ICE conducts massive raids and minorities live in fear. At one point in this film, illegals refuse to seek medical care out of fear of being arrested, something that is happening in our country now.

Georg makes his way to Marseilles, where things have not yet gone completely wrong. But there is the knowledge that whatever calm and normalcy may exist will soon be shattered. And this story takes place in that brief and uncertain time. When Georg goes to the consulate to turn in Weidel’s things in hope of receiving a finder’s fee, he instead finds that he is believed to be Weidel. He then sees a way out. He just has to arrange for transits for the U.S. and Spain because there is no direct passage to Mexico, the country that has expressed a willingness to take Weidel in. Things are complicated when a beautiful woman enters Georg’s life. The film ends up being a surprisingly intimate story, about loss of identity and trying to regain at least part of it through love. And it features some excellent performances.

Special Features

The DVD contains bonus material, including a feature on the making of the film. This feature focuses on an interview with director Christian Petzold, who talks about the process of turning the novel into the film. He talks about taking something that is set in the past, but shooting it in the present. “As if the ghosts of the past are running around in our present,” he describes it. He also talks about the film’s perspective, about the narrator. This feature also includes interviews with cast members Franz Rogowski and Paula Beer, as well plenty of behind-the-scenes footage. This is approximately twenty-four minutes. There is another interview with Petzold, in which he talks about his interest in films and about Transit. This one is approximately six minutes.

Also included is a Q&A with Christian Petzold for the Film Society at Lincoln Center. Unlike the previously mentioned features, this one is conducted in English. He talks about adapting the book, about using voice over and explains how the narrator is an unreliable witness. He also explains why he doesn’t like doing period pieces, and talks about why he usually uses female protagonists in his films. This is approximately twenty-six minutes. There is also an interview with Franz Rogowski which is conducted in English. He talks about his character and about the way the director works. He tells an interesting anecdote about being robbed and how that helped him connect to this character. This is approximately nine minutes. There is a shorter piece on Rogowski, featuring an interview and some snippets from his films. The film’s trailer is also included in the special features.

This DVD release also includes a booklet with notes by Christian Petzold, as well as a piece by Ignatiy Vishnevetsky and an interview with Petzold.

Transit was directed by Christian Petzold, and is presented in its original German and French, with English subtitles. It was released on DVD on July 9, 2019 through Music Box Films.