Those of you who are not particularly intrigued by French comedies from the 1950′s might be unfamiliar with Jacques Tati. Those of you who are familiar with the man, though, will probably be full of reverence for him. Monsieur Tati was a tall, slender man, who made a few highly regarded films. They always focus on physical comedy, but his art is more that of a mime then of a slapstick clown. Like many comedians, his work took a while to be recognized by serious film critics, and he is now mostly forgotten outside of cinematic circles. So when an unproduced script of his was made into an animated film last year, the fans went a little giddy with anticipation.

This script concerns a down-on-his luck magician who picks up a travel companion in Scotland. This girl follows him to Edinburg, where they settle down in a little hotel. He makes money doing magic shows and odd jobs, while she cooks and saunters across town. The relation between the two is never really made clear, but every implication that it might be corporal is quickly discarded. The whole notion of sex in the universe of this film is preposterous in itself: the movie is much too charmingly innocent for that. But that doesn’t mean the story never touches upon the more serious sides of life, and many of the characters (including the saddest clown in cinema) don’t end up well by the end of the film. But it would be shortsighted to call this a sad film. If anything, it’s realistic: not everyone becomes a star, after all. The lifelike quality of the film makes it tragic at times, but also a lot more humorous.

The comedy of the film is the polar opposite of the sort of comedy we’re accustomed to, were someone presents us with a joke and we laugh or don’t laugh, dependent on whether we found it to be funny. This sort of comedy works only in front of exactly the right audience, and whether we like them or not depends solely on whether they make us laugh or not. L’illusionniste, on the other hand, doesn’t contain a single gag. It just presents us with a certain situation and lets it up to us how we react to this. It’s not humorous because it plays with our expectations, but because it gives us the space to come to an understanding of the situation. It might not be the funniest movie you’ll ever see, but it’s probably the one that is likeliest to make everyone laugh.

At the helm of this remarkable project was monsieur Sylvain Chomet, whose previous film credits consist only of Les Triplets de Belville. This film was honored by both the Cannes festival and the Academy when it came out, which was no less then eight years ago. A lot of work must have been spent on L’illusioniste, and it shows: the animation is absolutely gorgeous. It never shows off, but the staggering amount of detail and the delightful character animations just fill the movie with an intensely charming atmosphere.

It is somewhat ironic that the part of the L’illusionniste that Tati himself had direct involvement with, the script, is also the films only weak point. The character of the girl, who is rumored to be based one of Tati’s daughters (one of whom was illegitimate), is especially tedious: she might be charming, but she’s also quite greedy, thankless and incredibly shallow. But don’t let such a minor hiccup keep you from seeing this miraculous movie. L’illusionniste is a product of genuine love, and one of the most lovable films in recent memory. Highly recommended.

A-

Max

Notes: Rated PG for thematic elements and smoking, 80 minutes.