The Illusionist is a 2006 period drama written and directed by Neil Burger and starring Edward Norton, Jessica Biel, and Paul Giamatti. Based loosely on Steven Millhauser's story "Eisenheim the Illusionist", The Illusionist tells the story of Eisenheim (Norton), a magician in turn-of-the-20th-century Vienna.
The film premiered at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival, opened the 2006 Seattle International Film Festival, and was distributed in limited r...
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The Illusionist is a 2006 period drama written and directed by Neil Burger and starring Edward Norton, Jessica Biel, and Paul Giamatti. Based loosely on Steven Millhauser's story "Eisenheim the Illusionist", The Illusionist tells the story of Eisenheim (Norton), a magician in turn-of-the-20th-century Vienna.
The film premiered at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival, opened the 2006 Seattle International Film Festival, and was distributed in limited release to theaters on August 18, 2006, eventually expanding nationwide on September 1.
The film begins in medias res as Chief Inspector Walter Uhl (Giamatti) recounts the story of Eisenheim for Crown Prince Leopold, following Uhl's visit to the theatre to arrest Eisenheim during what appears to be necromancy passed off as a magic show.
Eisenheim was born the son of a cabinetmaker in Austria-Hungary. One day when he was a teenager, Eisenheim (played as a young man by Aaron Johnson) meets a traveling magician along a road. The magician performs...
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