Perhaps I should begin by stating that I have not seen Belleville Rendez-vous, have never had any real desire to do so and whilst I have seen a couple of Jacques Tati films he is someone I can take or leave. I checked out The Illusionist on the basis of what amounted to several Rave reviews plus, many of which made a point of mentioning the hand-drawn animation rather than cgi, plus the knowledge that the film touched on vaudeville in Paris in the 1950s. I didn't expect it to eclipse Clouzot's Quai des Orfevres which dealt with French Music Hall in the 1940s or Paris,'36, which did the same for the 1930s and the Popular Front but it is a subject in which I am interested so I checked it out. Whilst I am not prepared to endorse the 'rave' reviews in the National Press I did find it well made and moving with an incredible attention to detail.
Review of The Illusionist
