Eisenheim The Illusionist
Prof. Myrna Monllor Jiménez
English 124
Eisenheim, The Illusionist
Received the Pulitzer
Prize for Fiction in
1997 for his novel
Martin Dressler.
Steven Millhauser
“Stories, like conjuring tricks, are invented
because history is inadequate to our
dreams…” –page 285
References to
Harry Houdini
Born in Hungary
known as an
escape artist
Jewish
visited Germany
Took his name
from Robert
Houdin, a
French magician
Accused of fraud
by the police
Exposed
spiritualists
Houdini’s Spirits
Reference to Spiritualism
Vienna at the turn of the 20th
century
radical politics
intellectual and artistic change
widespread discontent
crumbling moral order
Empire in problems
city of Klimt, Freud, Mahler
Plot Development/Structure
Story
Historical Background
Eisenheim’s story told
in chronological order
Eisenheim’s
disappearance without
any explanation
Narrator
3rd person
narrator
Reporting/Facts
Beginning of the story
“It was the age of levitations and
decapitations, of ghostly apparitions and
sudden vanishings , as if the tottering
empire, were revealing through the
medium of its magicians its secret
desire for annihilation”
Metaphorically
compares the
empire to magic
Characterization Story:Eisenheim
Jewish
A skilled
cabinetmaker
who constructed
trick
cabinets
Proud,
Brooding,
revengeful
Eisenheim’s nature was like that: he proceeded slowly and cautiously,
step by step…and then he would take a sudden leap.
Eisenheim’s description
“Eisenheim was a man of medium height, with
broad shoulders and large, long-fingered
hands. His most striking feature was his
powerful head: the black intense eyes in the
austerely pale face, the broad black beard,
the thrusting forehead with receding hairline,
all lent an appearance of unusual mental
force. The newspaper accounts mention a
minor trait that must have been highly
effective: when he leaned his head forward,
in intense concentration, there appeared over
his right eyebrow a large vein shaped like and
inverted Y. “
Antagonists in the story:
Benedetti
“Benedetti, whose real name was Paul
Henri Cortot, of Lyon, was a master
illusionist of extraordinary smoothness and
skill; his mistake was to challenge
Eisenheim by presenting imitations of
original Eisenheim illusions.”
“Benedetti stepped into a black cabinet and
was never seen again.”
Antagonists in the story:
Passeur
“ Passaeur took the city by storm; and for the
first time there was talk that Eisenheim had
met his match, perhaps even…his master.”
“ Passaeur’s final performance was one of
frightening brilliance…Suddenly he burst
into a demonic laugh, and reaching up to his
face he tore off a rubber mask and revealed
himself to be Eisenheim.”
Inspector Uhl
Eisenheim deliberately crossed boundaries
and therefore disturbed the essence of
things. In effect Herr Uhl was accusing
Eisenheim of shaking the foundations of the
universe, of undermining reality, and in
consequence of doing something far worse:
subverting the Empire. For where would the
Empire be, once the idea of boundaries
became blurred and uncertain? Page 301
Eisenheim’s Tricks
•
•
•
•
TheVanishing Lady
The Blue Room
The Flying Watch
The Spirit Cabinet (or
Specters of the Inner
Sanctum)
• The Enchanted House
• The Magic Kettle
• The Arabian Sack Mystery
References to the Devil
The Satanic Crystal Ball
The Book of Demons
The Pied Piper of Hamelin
The Devil’s Factory
The Master
A wizard who had sold his soul to the devil in return for
unholy powers. Page 288
The Ghosts
Elis
Greta
Frankel
Rosa
Ending of the story
“ All agreed that it was a sign of the
times; and as precise memories faded,
and the everyday world of coffee cups,
doctor’s visits, and war rumors returned,
a secret relief penetrated the souls of
the faithful, who knew that the Master
had passed safely out of the crumbling
order of history into the indestructible
realm of mystery and dream.”
Central Conflicts of the Story
• Political turmoil in Vienna
• Spiritualism and illusionists as escape
from reality
About the Movie
• 16.5 million budget
• Nominated for Best
Cinematography (Dick
Pope)
About the Movie:Neil Burger
Interview with the
Assassin (2002)
The Illusionist (2006)
Limitless (2011)
Bride of Frankenstein (2012)
Music
Kundun (1998)
The Truman Show (1999)
The Hours (2002)
Philip Glass
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNi20KKB2FE
Sepia toned
Grainy film
texture
Looks as if
the audience
is looking
through a
lens
Imitates turn
of the century
films
Beginning of the Film
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FPVPswaa50s
Beginning of the Film
Beginning of the film
The story begins…
Analyzing the First Scene
• What is the first thing we see after the
initial credits?
• What is happening on stage?
• Which characters do we see in the initial
scene?
• What is the situation?
• At what point in the story plotline are
we?
Plot Timeline
How are the two
arrest scenes
different?
Eisenheim
is arrested.
Uhl begins
telling the
story until..
Esenheim
is arrested.
Uhl
discovers
the truth
and
confronts
the Prince
Uh solves
the puzzle
with the
help of
Eisenheim.
Plot development film
• Eisenheim at the theatre
(in media res), Uhl is
about to arrest him
• Inspector Uhl’s telling of
the story in flashback,
which ends with his
discovery of evidence
against the prince.
• Inspector Uhl solves the
puzzle
• Coda/the lover’s reunite
Central Conflicts in the Film
challenges
Characterization in the Film
Where does
power flow from?
Eisenheim
The hero
“ I want you all to know everything that you
have seen is a trick, an illusion…Our
purpose has been to entertain … nothing
more.”
Inspector Uhl
The antagonist
•
You can’t destroy him. You can’t bring
down the monarchy.
Inspector Uhl
I’m a simple public servant,
How close could we be to
such as he?
Prince Leopold
The Antagonist
What gets
the Prince
into
trouble?
• A fictional Crown Prince based on
Prince Rudolf, Crown Prince of Austria
• The Mayerling Incident (Marie Vetsera)
“The audience is stupid. They are being
manipulated.”
Crown Prince Leopold
The Villain
“It’s a trick, it’s an illusion.”
“He tries to trick you, I try to enlighten you.”
Sophie
The love interest
One day we’ll run
away together, we’ll
disappear.
(foreshadowing)
•
Sophie
I often wish I
had broken free
as you did.
(foreshadowing)
Symbols and Chekov’s Guns
The tree
Butterflies
Cards
The Locket
The Sword
The Gems
The playing card
Hands
“And you kept it all this time”
Symbols
upside down butterfly
Hands
Mirrors
Excalibur
Where does power come from?
Image of Entrapment
God’s Eye View
Ending of the film
Repetition
Ending
Red Herrings
The story
being told by
Inspector Uhl
Sophie’s
Death
Other?
Suspension of disbelief
How does Inspector
Uhl know the intimate details
of Eisenheim’s relationship
with Sophie?
How is it that Eisenheim’s
picture falls exactly beside
the emerald?
How is it that Eisenheim
takes the jewels from the
sword before he and
Sophie had even planned
their escape?
How is it that Sophie’s family does
not claim her body?
Tricking the Eye
What was in the
suitcase
Eisenheim
packed?
Building Suspense
• Beginning with the
ending
• Sophie and
Eisenheim not being
able to disappear
the first time
• Sophie’s fake death
• Eisenheim’s tricks
• Clues
the orange tree
the locket
the gems
• Eisenheim’s
appearance at the end
Foreshadowing Quotes
• “one day we will go away together, we’ll
disappear”
• “ fate and chance, these are the forces
of nature”
• “ the soul’s endurance beyond life”
• “Perhaps, I’ll make you disappear.”
Bibliography
http://www.decentfilms.com/reviews/illusio
nist
http://www.landmarktheatres.com/mn/illus
ionist.html
http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/theillusionist-2006