Illusion

Before I get to discussing the plot of "Illusion", I should point out that the DVD, amazingly, is NOT captioned in any way (at least the DVD I saw). This is a serious problem not just for people like me who are hard of hearing because the film stars Kirk Douglas AFTER his major stroke....and it's very difficult to understand him without captions. It's a shame, as I am thrilled they'd hire a disabled man but you might struggle to understand the film at times.

Douglas plays an aging movie director who will be dying soon. One day, he has what you can only assume is a dream or vision. In this experience, a man (is he an angel?) transports the director magically to a movie theater...complete with a bed for the director. The man shows the director three short films.

The first shows the directors son, Chris, as a teen who is smitten with a girl. It's a tad creepy the way he follows her and the story ends after Chris goes through hell trying to get the girl. It also turns out that the director abandoned the son, long, long ago.

The second film shows Chris about a decade later. He and the girl have gone their separate ways. He is a goth who works for a very self-absorbed no-talent performance artist. One day the artist announces to Chris, his assistant, that he saw the most amazing woman on the street and Chris' job is to find her and invite her to a big event. He's also told if he doesn't find her, he's losing his job and not getting paid! When Chris tracks her down with the clues the artist gives him, he finds it's the same girl from the first film.

In the third and supposedly final film, you see Chris again...about a decade later. He's just being released from prison and goes to the old town looking for the girl. He cannot find her but is befriended by a nice guy (Bryan Cranston) who invites him to his house for a party. At the party, he sees the girl...but it appears that she's married to this nice man and has his child. But is this all? Is there, possibly, a fourth reel?

The film is both very surreal in style and existential as it asks questions about the meaning of life. Both make it a film that many probably might not like, as it's anything but a Hollywood style film. It is something that might appeal to folks who like the films of Ingmar Bergman as well as Kurosawa's later films, as these two famous directors were some of the few who did films that explored these issues. Overall, a truly unique and interesting movie...one that you really should see if you want something different...or if you don't mind exploring your life and life choices.

If you were disappointed with 'Pride and Prejudice', fell asleep during 'The New World' and tried to get your money back from watching 'Elizabethtown' then you will be very well entertained by illusion. I was hooked about seven minutes into it when Mr. Baines (Douglas) reveals his notion of what romance is in film and literature. 'Illusion' only continues deliver. There are nougats of wisdom spread throughout an aesthetically rich canvas. Whenever there is a brief moment where you feel a line is too cinematically familiar there will be this raw emotion spilling out and for the first time you believe the words, because you feel the pain. The film is thick with visual and auditory nuances that make this movie a must-see-again, (i. e. notice how Cristopher always carries that same wallet in the same pocket and his pants will always be more worn in the same corner). There are mini-movies inside the movie each so different from the other yet with reoccurring themes. Plus, the soundtrack was awesome, even though I didn't recognize any of the songs. Oh, and also Christopher aged seamlessly. Lately it seems as though American film has had yearning for the extreme. As if the only ones worthy of their story being told on screen are those uncommonly brave in extraordinarily difficult situations who decide to take the difficult route. This is a film about average people who are in coincidental but plausible circumstances and who take the easy way out most of the time. These are things we all do. This is a story we have all lived; what makes this story special is that it was told by a spectacular cast and overseen by an incredible director with a vision of where American Cinema should be heading.

I saw the screening of this movie at the 2005 Sarasota Film Festival. The sold out theater LOVED this movie! Acting/story/directing was top notch. Mr. Goorgian charmed the viewers during the Q & A session after the screening. The story moved quickly and we couldn't wait to see the outcome. Mr. Douglas was excellent, but Mr. Goorjian stole the show with his acting. He stated that this film has strengthened the already solid bond between himself and his own father. "The best film of the Festival"...."It brought tears to my eyes"....."Excellent"....were some of the comments from film viewers. Every father and son should go see this movie.

The "Illusion" reminds me of Cinema Paradiso and Broadway Danny Rose in that it challenges the viewer to suspend its belief and follow the fantasy of second chances and missed opportunities. This is done in an effective manner with the main characters played by Kirk Douglas and Mike Goorjian.

The challenges of the film are evident in how much to show both the viewer and Douglas' character without giving away the whole truth. Goorjian's character is consistently interesting in that with no direct intervention of a patriarch, he is destined to attack life in unconventionally original ways. An example of this is the wooing of his first and only love by round-robin poetry. Douglas is very engaging, searching for his son through the only medium which he can relate-cinema. Understandably, neither character changes, until the very end.

It is a sad statement on the affairs of father/son relationships. Not being able/unwilling to relate seems to be the common theme in this film. However, when it counts, a true father's voice will always ring loud and clear. The performances are consistent and distant at the same time.

This is clearly a complex film which simply describes lost relationships rediscovered in the only medium that can truly impacts everyone. Yet its appeal can translate to all ages.

This film should be seen all and I feel that Kirk Douglas may finally have found his first Oscar.

The concept of our lives somehow being recorded by some celestial camera and ready for viewing at Judgment Day is an old one. What distinguishes Illusion is that there is no judgment except the one in your own mind as life on this plane ends.

That's what is happening to legendary film director Kirk Douglas as his life ends. During some dream he's visited by the ghost of a former film editor passed away long ago. And they go to the movies and see a life of his estranged son played by film creator Michael Goorjian and his pursuit of the love of his life Karen Tucker.

In the end Douglas asks for a different ending to the film and some heavenly editing.

Illusions is an ambitious undertaking and while it doesn't totally succeed there's enough there for us to enjoy and appreciate life. God knows we all look back at things we might have done differently, would we could edit out portions of our lives. In fact I'm not sure of an autobiography exists where the author is 100% truthful.

Goorjian and Douglas give wonderful performances. And Kirk did come back to do one more. But I think in many ways this is an epitaph film for him.