The Cinematheque

“An intricate jewel … It will be admired and loved as much as Hayao Miyazaki’s Spirited Away.”

Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian

French comic-book artist and animator Sylvain Chomet’s follow-up to the irresistible Triplets of Belleville, a worldwide sensation, is another triumph of glorious hand-drawn animation. Based on an unproduced script by French comic legend Jacques Tati, and starring an animated version of Tati himself, the Oscar-nominated film is set in Scotland in the late 1950s, where down-on-his-luck French magician Tatischeff (Tati’s real surname) lands a modest gig in a pub. There, he meets Alice, a naïve lass who believes Tatischeff’s tricks are genuine magic. The aging conjurer doesn’t have the heart to tell Alice the truth, and a tender father-daughter-like relationship develops between them. À la Triplets, The Illusionist is poignant, gorgeously drawn, and employs (à la Tati also) an ingenious aural design using next-to-no dialogue.