The highlight of my Berlin trip last week, and handily my favorite film of this still-young year, Sylvain Chomet’s “The Illusionist” merits all the excruciating magic-based puns that critics will inevitably coin for it in 2010.
To give you an idea of what I’m so excited about, the following Arte.tv video gives a taste of the rapturous animation on offer. (You’ll need to brush up on your French for the accompanying interview.) It’s one of those irritating self-starting affairs, so I’ve placed it after the cut.
Comments
7 responses to “A glimpse of ‘The Illusionist’”
Do we have a major animated contender in the works? What’s the distribution info on ‘The Illusionist’?
I hesitate to say “major,” but I see no way this doesn’t get an Oscar nod. Respect from the animators’ branch will be considerable, and critics will line up behind it.
Not sure what the US distribution situation is, but it shouldn’t have trouble securing it.
If it’s been bought, there hasn’t been an announcement yet but I’d expect Sony Classics to be all over this.
That would be exactly the right fit.
Can’t wait to see this, I loved Triplets of Belleville.
I think we have the winner of the next Animated Feature Oscar here… I believe no one, including the Academy members, want to see another year with Pixar dominating this award. And Toy Story 3 will probably be seen just as a fun time at the theatre, nothing more. Chomet is very well known and liked with Belleville, and he can easily win. I’d really want to see that.
It doesn’t yet have a US release date. It has been shown behind closed doors on the festival circuit for the last 2 years and no North American distributor has picked it up. The best chance to see it might well be through a private art house cinema as a mainstream release seems unlikely. Hollywood has invested to much in 3d to let anything from the outside upstage its thunder.