Silvain Chomet (Triplets of belleville) pays gentle tribute to Jacques Tati and it's beautiful to look at. With no discernible dialog, The Illusionist tells a simple story of an aging magician traveling to Scotland. On his way to Edinburgh, he makes an impression on a country girl and unbeknownst him, she tags along for the ride.
I always thought Tati's material is better suited for animation. Just like other Tati films, it's about changing times. His vaudevillian humor and Chaplinesque sight gags surrounding klutzy M. Hulot never really appealed to me. But in The Illusionist, things are decidedly subdued and nostalgic. The animation is beautifully done though, conveying melancholic mood of the yesteryear. And there is that undeniable Tati's gooey humanistic touch. It resembles Satoshi Kon's warm hearted anime Tokyo Godfathers, more so than Chaplin's The Kid.
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