The Illusionist

The Story

In a world where nothing is as it appears, an illusionist and a police inspector face off in a challenge of wills that attempts to determine where reality ends and magic begins... all the while blurring the line between power and corruption, love and devotion, vigilance and mania and ultimately, life and death.

Edward Norton plays a mysterious stage magician, Eisenheim, who bends nature's laws to his will in front of awestruck crowds. Paul Giamatti co-stars as Vienna's shrewd Chief Inspector Uhl, a man committed to uphold the law and for whom magic holds no place in his ordered world. Jessica Biel shares the screen as the beautiful and enigmatic Sophie von Teschen, who finds her future inexorably altered when she encounters the man called Eisenheim, and Eisenheim comes dangerously close to unlocking the dark secret of the monarchy that she holds.

When Eisenheim begins to perform his astounding illusions in Vienna, word quickly spreads of his otherworldly powers... even reaching the ears of one of Europe's most powerful and pragmatic men, Crown Prince Leopold (Rufus Sewell). Certain that the illusionist is nothing more than an accomplished fraud, Leopold attends one of Eisenheim's shows, convinced that he can debunk him during the performance. But when the Prince's beautiful fiance and companion, Sophie von Teschen, assists the magician onstage, Eisenheim and Sophie recognize each other from their childhoods -- and a dormant love affair is rekindled. With Eisenheim and Leopold vying for Sophie's affection, it quickly becomes apparent that both will go to any length to claim and keep her love.

As the clandestine romance continues, Uhl is charged by Leopold to intensify his efforts to expose Eisenheim, even while the magician gains a devoted and vocal public following. With Uhl doggedly searching for the reasons and the man behind the trickery, Eisenheim prepares to execute his greatest illusion yet.

Cast

Edward Norton .................... Eisenheim
Paul Giamatti .................. Inspector Uhl
Jessica Biel ................................. Sophie
Rufus Sewell ... Crown Prince Leopold
Eddie Marsan ................. Josef Fischer
Jake Wood .................................... Jurka
Tom Fisher ................................ Willigut
Aaron Johnson ............oung Eisenheim
Eleanor Tomlinson ....... Young Sophie
Karl Johnson ........... Doctor / Old Man
Vincent Franklin ...................... Loschek
Nicholas Blane ..................Herr Doebler
Philip McGough ................Dr. Hofzinser
Erich Redman .................. Count Rainer
Michael Carter ............ Von Thurnburg

Eisenheim: "Everything you have seen here has been an illusion."

Chief Inspector Uhl: "Promise me you won't do it again."
Eisenheim: "I promise you you'll enjoy this next show."

Chief Inspector Uhl: "As a boy, I'm told, he had a chance encounter with a travelling magician. One version of the story was that the man himself vanished... along with the tree. People began to think he had some sort of special power... or at least that he was a bit different. And then he met her."

Chief Inspector Uhl: [pacing] "Eisenheim, I don't want to arrest you. I'm a cynical man, God knows... but if your manifestations are somehow real... then even I'm willing to admit, you're a very special person. And if it's a trick, then it's equally impressive. Either way, you have a gift. So don't make me put you in jail!"