L'illusionniste
Text: Aidan Mac Guill
If you have a spare 80 minutes this week you could do worse than sit down in a dark cinema and enjoy 'L'illusionniste', the latest film from the brilliant French animator and director Sylvain Chomet.
Chomet is best known as the creator of the Oscar-nominated 'Les Triplettes De Belleville' (or 'Belleville Rendez-vous' as it was released in Britain & Ireland), his retro tale of mobsters, mothers and the Tour de France. 'L'illusionniste', based on a Jacques Tati story, is set in the late-fifties. Tatischeff (Tati's original surname) is a French magician struggling to earn a living, and maintain his dignity, in an era that has moved on from vaudeville and the music-hall.
He is invited to travel to a remote Scottish island, to perform at a party celebrating the arrival of electricity to the community. There he is granted a hero's welcome, and encounters Alice, a young girl who believes Tatischeff to be truly magical. In this curious outsider she spots an opportunity to escape her old-fashioned hometown and experience life in the big city.
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