In October 2006, the movie The Illusionist was released. He talked about the life and love of the famous Viennese illusionist Eisenheim. Let's find out more about this character, as well as his literary prototype.
The film "Illusionist"
Eisenheim is the main character in The Illusionist. His role was played by the famous American artist Edward Norton.
In addition to the project, actors such as Paul Giamatti (Inspector Ull), Rufus Sewell (Prince Leopold) and Jessica Bill as the beloved protagonist of Sofia starred in the project.
This tape was so successful that it earned almost 88 million at the box office with a budget of $ 17 million.
Most full-scale shooting of the tape took place in the Czech Republic, although the plot of the scene is the Austrian Empire.
During the installation process, many scenes were cut from the project. In 2014, the full version of the project, including additional materials, was released in the form of a television series on The CW Television Network.
Plot of the film
At the center of all events is the adroit and highly successful illusionist Eisenheim. Once, during a speech, he meets a childhood friend - Duchess Sofia von Teshin. The sorcerer understands that he still loves her and that the girl reciprocates him.
However, she cannot control her fate, as her relatives force her to marry the Crown Prince Leopold.
To find happiness, the illusionist draws his beloved into intrigue, which gives them the opportunity to crack down on all enemies and gain freedom.
The early years of the hero
Having considered the brief content of the picture, it is worthwhile to dwell in more detail on the biography of the illusionist Eisenheim.
His real name is Edward Abramowitz. He was the eldest son of a well-known cabinetmaker in Bratislava.
Starting to help his father quite early, Edward quickly mastered his skills and even surpassed his parent.
Once the hero met a wandering wizard who showed him a couple of tricks, and then disappeared into the air, along with the tree under which he was sitting.
After this, the young man “fell ill” with illusionism and began to invent various devices for tricks. And at first he successfully sold them to other magicians.
Once Edward met the young Duchess Sophia. Despite their different backgrounds, they became friends and even wanted to run away together. However, they were found and separated.
In the future, the young man leaves the parental home and begins to travel the world. So he learns from famous magicians and soon appears on the stage under the pseudonym Herr Eisenheim. His performances are popular with the public, and he becomes rich and famous.
One day at one of his performances in Vienna, Crown Prince Leopold and his retinue come. The heir meets the sorcerer and invites him to his castle. In the bride of the future emperor, the illusionist Eisenheim recognizes his childhood love - Sofia.
Fate after a new meeting with Sofia
After a new meeting, Edward learns from the impresario about the life of his beloved. It turns out that her future husband intends to overthrow his father from the throne and take his place. Sofia, thanks to her own origin, should help him win the sympathy of part of the nobility. However, if the plan does not work, like Leopold, his bride may go to jail or lose his head altogether.
In addition, the Crown Prince is known for his cruel disposition. It turns out that he beat one of his mistresses, and in order to hide the beatings, he pushed her from the stairs, and the girl died.
Soon after meeting the heir, the illusionist comes to his castle. Here he shows some stunning tricks. The prince, with all his might, is trying to humiliate the sorcerer and reveal his secrets to his retinue.
Then Eisenheim cranks up the deft trick with the Crown Prince's saber and makes him a fool in the eyes of those around him.
In retaliation, Leopold forbids the representation of an illusionist. At the same time, he learns from a devoted inspector Ulya that the sorcerer secretly meets with his bride. In a fury, the heir invites her to his hunting lodge and sets up a scandal there. The next morning, the girl’s body is found in the river.
Eisenheim asks the inspector for justice, but sees that Ul is too devoted to the future monarch. Then he comes up with a new series of tricks in which he calls the spirits of the dead. His ideas cause a stir, and the Crown Prince fears that the illusionist may raise a rebellion.
He orders to arrest the magician during the next performance. However, when you try to do this, the hero melts in the air.
The astonished inspector repents of helping the crown prince and informs the emperor of his plans. Leopold denies any involvement in the death of Sophia and, fearing his father's wrath, kills himself.
In the finale, a street boy brings Ulu a package from Eisenheim. The astonished inspector understands how the magician and the duchess fooled everyone. They poured drugs into Leopold's wine, and he did not remember anything about the evening of the "death" of his bride. Then they threw up evidence, and Sofia herself drank the medicine, thanks to which she seemed dead.
After her “death”, Edward remained to cover up the tracks and crack down on Leopold. However, after his disappearance, he came to his beloved, and now they are free and happy together.
Book by Stephen Millhauser "The Illusionist Eisenheim"
After reviewing the biography of the film hero Eisenheim, it is worth learning a little about his literary prototype.
The script for the film was based on the plot of the book “The Illusionist Eisenheim”, written in 1990 by Stephen Millhauser.
Edward's biography in this work is in virtually nothing contrary to his film version. However, the book does not have a love story or a dive with the Crown Prince Leopold.
Millhauser’s work simply tells about the fate of the great magician and his fantastic tricks. Unlike the film, in the final it does not become clear that Eisenheim is a clever con man. Since the secrets of his magic remain unsolved.
The real story of the death of the Crown Prince
As for the storyline associated with the suicide of the heir to the Austrian Empire, Leopold really committed suicide. However, why he did so, history did not find out.
The only piquant detail: with him his mistress Maria Alexandrina von Evenings passed away. Whether this was a double suicide, one of the young people killed another, and then himself, or whether the lovers became a victim of a third person, it was not possible to establish.