Movie : The Magician
Director : Brielle S. Carroll
Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.”
Søren Kierkegaard
When one unearths that which should have remained hidden, he opens a Pandora’s Box over which he has very little control!
The Magician is a bildungsroman disguised as a tale about complicated family dynamics, significant revelations and magic tricks performed by a neophyte that are sometimes silly, sometimes amusing and most of the times both.
The movie tells the story of Eric, an aspiring magician who finds comfort and an intense amount of satisfaction in performing magic tricks and capturing the priceless reactions out of his audience members. From the outset the passion of Eric for magic is evident.
However, Eric doesn’t feel at home in a place of cacophony. Tranquility is not a frequent guest in the house of Eric as it is filled with loud and sometimes outrageous arguments, disagreements and banter.
Fate does for Eric that which it does best. It initially baffles him and eventually changes him forever. Eric. He discovers a secret that was kept hidden from him by his parents for his own good (according to them). Eric momentarily feels devastated but he soon recovers from his gloom with glee and pride for being a descendant of the great Magician and illusionist, Harry Houdini.
Eric as he destined to, prepares himself to go on stage for the first time. He receives a couple of useful advices from Houdini himself. The advices being both practical and profound. One about always having an escape plan and the other about existence.
The narrative is layered and it is a story well told. With astute direction and cinematography , The Magician becomes a drama full of intense emotions. It is also story about passion and overcoming obstacles.
The performance of Colin Mash as Eric deserves a mention.
The transformation of Eric from boy to man as a result of a chance revelation is the real magic in the movie. The magic that transforms individuals, experiences which reduce them to ashes only for them to rise up like a phoenix and become what they deserve by adding colours on the canvas of fate.
