The technique of the whole movie is abandoned. Although both use body movements instead of words to express the characters, the magician uses the traditional lens more deliberately than the Belleville. It does not use those fast editing. Changing camera positions and exaggerated close-ups, such a technique, has been abandoned for many people.
The beginning of the film was abandoned. Although there are people like Beratar who insist on shooting black and white films, monochrome films, silent films, and even hand-painted animations have been gradually abandoned by most people.
The magician himself is abandoned. Every time he takes the stage, his audience will appear to be increasingly few, his pay is getting less and less, and it is becoming more and more difficult for him to find a job to make ends meet. He doesn't fit into this era, he doesn't know how to use machines, he doesn't know how to drive a new car, he may also be abandoned by his wife (so he can't see his daughter). In the end, he himself even abandoned magic. He let go of the rabbit that was most important to him. He left that city. On the train, he no longer made pencils longer for children, and he no longer gave them illusions. , Perhaps in his heart, he thought he was also abandoned by Alice.
That clown was abandoned. No one wanted to watch his performance anymore. He became an unhappy clown. He became destitute and destitute. He would even be beaten as a tramp on the street by children. He had to get himself drunk every day, remembering his glory in the music played on the record, and finally chose to hang himself alone.
Ventriloquist is abandoned. Like the clown and magician, he has become an unnecessary character in the new era. He can't survive through work, so he has to sell someone who can sit on the table with him like his family. I ended up living on the streets. Even so, no one was willing to give him alms. Only the magician who was also an outcast gave him a coin. Here, he also met a puppy who was also abandoned. The Ventriloquist's doll has also become an abandoned thing. Even if its price drops repeatedly, no one is willing to buy it. In the end, it became a free gift.
At the end of the film, the lights of the entire city are extinguished, and everything ceases. The scene where the light disappeared everywhere seemed to indicate that they would not be able to escape the destiny of being abandoned in the future.
Since this animation is not Sylvia’s own script, the whole film is not as spicy and extreme as the Belleville Trio, not as comical, and appears very realistic. If judged to the extreme, it is indeed inferior to Belleville. I thought that because of the difference in the script, I did not see Sylvia's extreme self-style, which would make me feel very disappointed, but the whole animation is still touching.
For the new things in the animation, Sylvia tried to make them look annoying, such as the sissy band, the new car driver, the new owner of the ventriloquist room, and the new employers of the magicians. For old things, it makes them look beautiful, such as the small village that has just been powered on, where magicians are more popular, and the bar owners there are more enthusiastic, and they won’t undercut the magicians’ remuneration. In the beautiful city, Sylvia also showed the old grannies as cute and wise, while showing the American culture as superficial and stupid as possible (because for the French, that is also a new thing). I really feel that Sylvia is a very old-fashioned person who sticks to traditions.
If you have watched Jacques Tati's performance, I believe you will be impressed by Silvia's animation performance. I look forward to Silvia's next work, which can be an absolute extreme self.
There is also an easter egg. Not long after the opening, when the magician got off the train and started boarding the ship, a policeman appeared below. This policeman was the policeman in Sylvia’s animation debut The Old Woman and the Pigeon. He was also in the beautiful city at the same time. Appeared as an easter egg.
View more about The Illusionist reviews
