TECHNICAL QUALITY: DVD
Fairly-interesting companion piece to The Illusionist (2005) in that the desire to make magic tricks as close to the non-existent real thing leads to great personal danger for the performers.
There are far too many characters and themes jostling for position in this movie to make it cohere effectively. Unlike other performers, the very best magicians have to live their act offstage as well as on it to be entirely convincing. This makes personal relationships difficult because the performance becomes much more important than the relationship.
The rivalry between competing magicians is compared to the rivalry between Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla as the lesser man tries to compete with the better to solace his mediocrity. This film tries to be about the sacrifice necessary to succeed, compared to the mediocrity of those who can only copy and/or steal other men's ideas. Yet, as in Amadeus (1984), the latter still feel bitter and resentful at the end of all their attempts to thwart others because they know that such feelings are all they can actually achieve.
Here there are no revelations about how magicians traditionally fool audiences in ways that have never changed: Misdirection, not saying what is going to happen before it does, pretending that the magic is real and the sheer showmanship and self-sacrifice required for greatness on the stage. As with the electric car or claims about the unhealthiness of smoking, competition for profitable business is so intense that there is a strong desire to quash progress in the interests of those profits, much like the similarly-themed movie The Man in the White Suit (1951).
The promise of this film is that science could be like magic, if only we were equal to the task. Here, the scientific breakthrough alluded to is so great that it has to be disguised as magic in order to avoid the inevitable cultural shock and claims of scientists playing God. If only the filmmakers' grasp could have exceeded their reach, this could have been a clever exploration of Mankind's potential for greatness. However, it is merely about performance - on stage and in movies – and not even about the whys and wherefores of genuine drama.
A film about the false faith in the impossible that science denies, but which so many humans seek because reality is so prosaic. It is only by telling stories that we ever - temporarily and enjoyably - escape reality and indulge our most fantastic whims.
This overly-intellectual film cannot – for that very reason - create empathetic characters for the audience to root for. No matter what, the actors are working against the script - rather than with it - and only the fabulous Rebecca HALL emerges with anything like acting prestige from it.
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