The Illusionist at Thame Cinema this Saturday (18/12/10)

THE ILLUSIONIST France/ UK 2010, 83 minutes, PG certificate – Directed by Sylvain Chomet, Starring voices of Edith Rankin, Eilidh Rankin, Jean-Claude Donda.

In an era dominated by computer generated three dimensional animation, with all its sass and knowing irony, it is great to be reminded of what classical hand-drawn animation has the power to deliver. Jacques Tati wrote this script in 1956, and it has only now been realised for the screen by Chomet following negotiation with Tati’s family.

The story follows an ageing conjuror, forced to leave his native France in the late 1950’s to travel to England in search of work. The skills of pulling a rabbit out of a hat, or doing a few coin tricks, are fast becoming obsolete in a culture on the brink of the 60’s – he secures a painful gig as support act to a new pop band, waiting in the wings to entertain screaming adolescents who will almost certainly laugh at him rather than with him. His journeys take him to the Scottish Highlands, where he meets and befriends a stage-struck young girl who follows him to Edinburgh and becomes his prot