Review: ‘Magicians’ shows private lives of performers..
Synopsis: It’s hard to love a professional trickster but you may feel differently after this doc. Filmed over four years, it pulls back the velvet curtain, not to give away trade secrets (you may pick up a few hints), but to introduce us to four magicians at different stages of their lives and careers, strip away the mystique and reveal the dedicated, hard-working dreamers they really are.
Movie: “Magicians: Life in the Impossible”
Country: U.S.
Director: Christoph Baaden, Marcie Hume
Cast: Jan Rouven, Frank Alfter, David Minkin, Jon Armstrong, Brian Gillis
Run time: 87 minutes
IMDb.com User Reviews: “Magicians is fun, funny, poignant, and revealing- in fact upsettingly blunt to some aficionados (as I overheard it at the premiere). But that is the greatest strength of the film: honesty. In recent years, documentaries as a genre have become polluted with fawning love letters to the subject, political propaganda, and sacrificing authenticity for drama. This is no love letter. What you get is an unflinching look at what it takes to be a professional magician. Highs and lows, glamour and glam-less. No smoke, just mirrors. The six magicians (making up four acts) profiled were well-chosen. All stage magicians, but they could hardly be more different, and they occupy totally different magic niches. The contrasting situations and characters creates a wonderful harmony against the thematic melody that runs through each of their lives. Themes of internecine conflict, of arrogance vs humility, and glory vs mundanity. It is here, where the themes are used to seamlessly bridge disparate magicians, that the masterful skill of the film’s creators (Marcie Hume and Christoph Baaden) is the most obvious.” – User Ed Clint from United States
“The ostensible topics of this film – card tricks, slight of hand, and other magic – are treated with skilled cinematography, slowly weaving us through the world of magic as experienced by both the audience and the magicians. But the true magic of the film is found in the subtle yet profound layers it unfolds (with no narrative, simply good documentary art) of the people behind the magic, and the many different paths they take in their love of the craft.
"As someone who was not especially interested in magic before I watched the film, I recommend the film for opening my eyes to this fascinating world. But even for people convinced that magic will never intrigue them, the documentary is worth watching for its masterful treatment of visuals and people.” – User Ellen