[Revisit Review]
The first time I watched Sylvain Chomet's The Illusionist I was a blubbering, crying mess barely ten minutes into it. This time around, I managed to keep myself from weeping. But it was no easy task. The Illusionist is one of the most deft blends of comedy and tragedy since Charlie Chaplin's The Gold Rush (1925). But whereas Chaplin veered more towards comedy, Chomet veered more towards tragedy. The Illusionist is one of the best films about father-daughter relationships that I have ever seen as well as a devastating reflection on modernity in the entertainment industry. The scenes with the suicidal clown and the alcoholic ventriloquist...I tremble just thinking about them. The animation is a wonder to behold, magnificently capturing the body language and visual style of Jacques Tati. One last thing: without realizing it, I serendipitously discovered that I re-watched The Illusionist on the fourth anniversary of my first viewing of the film on February 10, 2011. Maybe there's a bit of magic in this film after all...
9/10
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