The Illusionist

I have no idea what overcame me today while I watched this movie today during STAC.

It's one of those things that you can't really talk about because there's just so much to talk about.

For one, the animation itself had me on the brink of tears. I would feel a ripple of astonishment and wonder every ten minutes due to the shear amount of beauty the film had. It humbles me to think about the amount of work it took to animate The Illusionist. The director, Sylvain Chomet, also directed another film we watched in STAC called The Triplets of Belleville. That one was much more lighthearted than The Illusionist, but I did find many similarities. Both films had nearly identical color palettes, both flip flop in between the need for technology and its complications, and both are visually stunning. 

Today's film was so damn beautiful and so damn depressing and so damn unfulfilling all at once. The pauper-esque girl that ran off with the magician started out as such a charming and curious character but by the end of the film, I despised her for what she had done. The man who saved her from a life of work and dullness was repaid in ignorance and selfishness. I never once got the feeling that there was romance between the girl and the magician. It was always more like a father who wanted the best for his daughter. Even during times when money was tight, a smile on a daughter's face was enough.

Witnessing the evolution of both the magician and the girl's character throughout the film was devastating to my psyche. I think that is what caused me to want to sob uncontrollably after the film had ended. Just typing about it is making my eyes misty. The tremendously complex relationship between the two along with how the animation was executed just did it for me. The irony that was in the last couple of scenes hit me so hard because it exemplifies the idea that awareness is not an endless reservoir. The release of the rabbit and the endless vicious cycle of being pushed down but having the courage to get back up again is completely shot with the note that the magician left Alice near the end: 

"Magicians do not exist."

This film broke me in the best way possible. 

I want to watch this film over and over and over again and just let my spirit shatter into beautifully tragic pieces.