I was attracted by the introduction of "the sheriff's pursuit of the truth behind the magic" in the introduction of the film, and thought it would be a classic European movie that created puzzles (magic), decryption, and enlightenment. However, most of the magic parts retained the answers, while The murder part is a bit bland.
The part that was the most "fantastic" or intriguing to me was the magician's first few magic shows. As the movie said, "It's not just magic, it's art. A young man can be called a master by his performance." The performance is themed around several "philosophical" propositions, time, life. The moment an orange tree grows from bud to maturity is truly amazing. If you can watch such a performance in the real world, you will definitely feel something after the shock.
However, the rest of the film feels a little more cryptic. The "magic" that the Duchess was killed was too clumsy compared to the others. Especially the death of the Duchess, the "corpse" floated on the river, the magician cried when he found it, there was no autopsy other than the family doctor, and there was no burial (especially at the Duchess level, shouldn't it be a grand funeral?). Relying only on suspended animation, "scattered gems", and still angry pills constitute a suspended animation. While I admit that, from a story-driven perspective, the death didn't need to be refined, and Norton's acting was brilliant, it left the viewer uninterested and made the sheriff even more stupid.
The highlight of the film is naturally magic. If it is a magic show, you will naturally applaud when you see a miraculous performance, but as a movie, without solving the mystery, it will only make people feel unfinished. In particular, in reality, 100% know that magic is a skill, but it is still unknown whether there will be fictitious elements in the movie, such as the sword in the stone (powerful magnet?), soul projection, etc. If the director deliberately added some infeasible magic for the effect, it would be a bit stuck in the throat.
The background of the times is also a major feature. In the twentieth century, Vienna, like other cities in Europe, experienced the Enlightenment, and the monarchy was gradually replaced by the republic. The prince in this film is a self-proclaimed republic and hopes to overthrow his father's rule. The movie just uses this as a background, like a little bit of water, to let the viewers who are "sensitive to politics" taste it for themselves. No matter what the audience thought, the prince died anyway, and the magician and the duchess lived happily together. That being the case, I don't need to comment too much. After all, there is no point in commenting on the political system in a fictional, romantic movie.
Overall, Norton's acting is excellent and his magic is philosophical, but that's it. Essentially, it's just a love movie with a little suspense element.
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