History Main / TheIllusionist

* 2006 film ''Film/TheIllusionist''.
* 2010 animated film ''WesternAnimation/TheIllusionist''.

* For people with an extraordinary ability to create illusions, see MasterOfIllusion.

* 2010 animated film ''WesternAnimation/TheIllusionist''.

[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/the-illusionist_f.jpg]]
''Nothing is what it seems.''

A 2006 PeriodDrama loosely based on Steven Millhauser's story "Eisenheim the Illusionist".

The Illusionist tells the story of Eisenheim, a magician in Vienna in the late 1800's and the most ornate plan ever for running away with a woman. The film begins near its climax and most of the film takes place in a FlashBack.

No relation to the [[{{Ptitlep1hztg2s}} 2010 animated film]].
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!!Tropes:
* AmbiguouslyJewish: Eisenheim, aka Eduard Abramowitz, has a Jewish surname, and is a stage magician in the early twentieth century. If so, it adds another reason why he and Sophie have to go to America to be together.
* AdaptationExpansion: ''Heck'' yes.
* BlackAndGreyMorality: The Villain is a murderous asshole planning a coup d'etat, while the hero is somewhat....extreme in the methods that he uses to get what he wants.
* CaliforniaDoubling: 19th century Vienna was shot in present day Czech Republic.
* CassandraTruth: [[spoiler: "He's planted everything!" "You're drunk."]]
* ChekhovsGunman: [[spoiler:The man seen with Eisenheim at the train station.]]
* ChildhoodMarriagePromise: Implied with the locket.
* ConspicuousTrenchcoat: Sophie is followed everywhere "for her protection." [[spoiler: Eisenheim uses this to his advantage.]]
* DuelingMovies: With ''ThePrestige''.
* DrivenToSuicide
* EverythingsPrettierWithButterflies
* TheEvilPrince
* [[spoiler:FakingTheDead, complete with a very convincing temporary FauxDeath.]]
* HappilyEverAfter
* [=~Hey, It's That Guy!~=]: [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Adams_%28TV_miniseries%29 John Adams]] is investigating [[FightClub the Narrator]].
** [[EastEnders Max Branning]] is a [[{{Mooks}} mook]].
* HowWeGotHere
* InspectorJavert: Inspector Uhl is a cross between this and an ObstructiveBureaucrat.
** This at least ''appears'' to be the case. In the end, he's revealed as one of the few truly moral characters in the film, while Eisenheim got far less sympathy from this editor than he began with.
* MagiciansAreWizards: While ''ThePrestige'' justified its use of this trope, this film handwaves it. Badly.
** Though methods existed for all his tricks, you just never learn about them without the DVD commentary.
* [[spoiler: MurderTheHypotenuse: In the most convoluted way possible.]]
* OffstageVillainy: We get told the prince is violent towards women and a cruel manipulator, but never really see it.
** Although we do see him backhand Sophie once. And plan a coup d’état.
* PetTheDog: Eisenheim, after his first successful show, playfully and quietly giving a windfall of coins to a few urchins.
* PlayingHamlet: Edward Norton is clearly not the same age as Jessica Biel.
* PrinceCharmless: Then again...yeah.
* TheReveal
* RebelliousPrincess: Well, duchess, at least; she wants desperately to run away with Edward despite the fact that he's the lowborn son of a cabinetmaker.
* ShadowArchetype: Eisenheim and the prince are this ''[[BlackAndGreyMorality to each other]]''. Both are [[WellIntentionedExtremist well-intentioned extremists]] in love with Sophie who [[IDidWhatIHadToDo did what they had to do]] in order to get what they wanted. Eisenheim [[spoiler:frames an innocent man for murder]], while the prince is a drunk and a wife beater who is planning a coup because [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans he genuinely thinks it's better for the country.]]
* ShutUpKiss: Spectacularly.
* StageMagician
* SurroundedByIdiots: The prince certainly thinks so.
* UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans
* VictoriousChildhoodFriend
* WhatDoYouMeanItsNotSymbolic: The recurring motif of the [[ButterflyOfDoom butterfly]] - secrecy, a double life, [[spoiler: rebirth, a new life]]... nicely handled.
* WhodunnitToMe: Sophie's ghostly appearances at Eisenheim's shows seems to be trying to get the public to figure this one out.
* XanatosRoulette
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<<|{{Film}}|>>

* ShadowArchetype: Eisenheim and the prince this ''[[BlackAndGreyMorality to each other]]''. Both are [[WellIntentionedExtremist well-intentioned extremists]] in love with Sophie who [[IDidWhatIHadToDo did what they had to do]] in order to get what they wanted. Eisenheim [[spoiler:frames an innocent man for murder]], while the prince is a drunk and a wife beater who is planning a coup because [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans he genuinely thinks it's better for the country.]]

* ShadowArchetype: Eisenheim and the prince. Both are WellIntentionedExtremists in love with Sophie who [[IDidWhatIHadToDo did what they had to do]].

* SurroundedByIdiots

* [[spoiler:DesignatedHero: Wait a minute, he framed an innocent man!]]
** [[spoiler: Well technically the prince could very well have murdered her anyway in the future given the right chance. The fact that he was a murderous asshole who was planning to take over the empire certainly makes him more sympathetic.]]

* FridgeLogic: [[spoiler: Should the prince go down for murder for merely being a JerkAss? Think about it.]]
** Though the movie heavily implies that the prince [[spoiler:had killed a woman before]], but they were vague enough to make you really wonder about it. He did like to beat women up for sexual reasons.
** And the couple certainly relied a lot on coincidence in order to achieve their goals.
** Well, he was staging a coup--those rarely end bloodlessly, and it may have caused the Prince to become a bit of TheCaligula

* [[spoiler:ChekhovsGunman: The man seen with Eisenheim at the train station.]]

* [[spoiler: ChekovsGunman: The man seen with Eisenheim at the train station.]]

http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/the-illusionist_f.jpg

The Illusionist tells the story of Eisenheim, a magician in Vienna in the late 1800's.

The film begins near its climax and most of the film takes place in a FlashBack. Eisenheim is the son of a cabinet maker who runs away from home and travels the world, learning the stage magician's art. After a favorable review in Vienna, his show is attended by the Crown Prince Leopold of Austria and his bride-to-be, the Duchess Sophie von Teschen. We learn that she and Eisenheim were childhood friends and they begin an illicit love affair.

The Crown Prince however has become obsessed with Eisenheim after Eisenheim managed to place an illusion before him that he could not work out. More than that, Duchess Sophie is the linchpin in his desire to unite Austria and Hungary and overthrow his father. Through his agent, Chief Inspector Uhl, the crown prince hears of her infidelity and, in a drunken rage, kills her.

Eisenheim spends weeks in mourning and then, in his grief, begins performing an altogether different kind of show. With a horde of Chinese assistants in backstreet theaters he seems to bring the spirits of the dead back to the world of the living, including what seems to be the ghost of the Duchess who seems to be trying to tell the audience something. The crown prince instructs Uhl to find a way to shut him down but Eisenheim outmaneuvers him and nearly causes a riot when he is arrested. [[spoiler: As the crown prince starts to loose his grip on affairs Uhl starts to investigate the coup and eventually sends his findings to the only man who can punish the Prince, the Emperor himself. Uhl confronts the Prince and, as the Emperor's guardsmen arrive to arrest the prince, the prince draws a gun, and shoots himself.]]

Eisenheim spends weeks in mourning and then, in his grief, begins performing an altogether different kind of show. With a horde of Chinese assistants in backstreet theaters he seems to bring the spirits of the dead back to the world of the living, including what seems to be the ghost of the Duchess who seems to be trying to tell the audience something. The crown prince instructs Uhl to find a way to shut him down but Eisenheim outmaneuvers him and nearly causes a riot when he is arrested. As the crown prince starts to loose his grip on affairs Uhl starts to investigate the coup and eventually sends his findings to the only man who can punish the Prince, the Emperor himself. Uhl confronts the Prince and, as the Emperor's guardsmen arrive to arrest the prince, the prince draws a gun, and shoots himself.

* AmbiguouslyJewish: Eisenheim, aka Eduard Abramowitz, has a Jewish surname, and is a stage magician in early twentieth century magician. If so, it adds another reason why he and Sophie have to go to America to be together.

** Well technically the prince could very well have murdered her anyway in the future given the right chance. The fact that he was a murderous asshole who was planning to take over the empire certainly makes him more sympathetic.

* ShutUpKiss

* MagnificentBastard: Eisenheim is a nice version (debatably), but really, can you call him anything else after the XanatosRoulette? [[spoiler:By the looks of Uhl's expression, he's probably thinking the same thing.]]
** Well the prince isn't exactly moral.

[[spoiler:Naturally, given the movie's title, all is not as it seems. Eisenheim has in fact pulled off one of the most majestic and glorious {{Xanatos Roulette}}s in film. Using a fake doctor and drugs he faked the Duchess' death and used the fact that the Crown Prince was so loud and so drunk that he could not recall the details clearly to drive him to obsession. From here he caused events to precipitate into the finale, allowing himself and the Duchess to escape the Crown Prince they only way they ever could, by his death.]]

* BlackAndGreyMorality: The Villain is a murderous asshole planning a coup d'tat, while the hero is somewhat....extreme in the methods that he uses to get what he wants.

** Although we do see him backhand Sophie once. And plan a coup d'tat.

** Although we do see him backhand Sophie once.

* [[spoiler:DesignatedHero: Eisenheim gets a happy ending? Cool... Wait a minute, he framed an innocent man!]]

*[[spoiler:DesignatedHero: This troper didn't realize he was supposed to be a good guy (after finding out what really happened) until he heard someone talk about it afterwards.]]