The Illusionist (2006)
Directed by Neil Burger, Starring Edward Norton, Paul Giamatti and Jessica Biel
The illusion of a possible resurrection of a soul is a deception in itself, for some, but they seem real for others who believe in the existence of the other dimension. Interesting enough, it is quite similar to the Prestige, yet quite different in its own terms. First of all, I love Edward Norton. My most vivid performance of his was in the Fight Club. I always thought that he is a superb actor, pretty much effortless, which makes it memorable. Somehow, the ending was quite predictable for you knew somehow it will go that way. The cinematography was simply amazing. Could life be an illusion as well, most of the time? We see yet we don't see, or we choose to see what we only choose to see. Most of us see through our own filter of how things should be, not how things the way they are. We feel the pain yet it seeps so deep into the body and soul that the subconscious makes you believe that they 
may or may not be real after all, depends on your perception of things. Life is a great illusion after all, and we are but the characters that take part in the process of storytelling. Whether the story of life is compelling, frustrating, imaginative, adventurous, torturous, fulfilling, or not, it all depends on who are the characters and who is telling the story? And maybe, whose story are we telling? As someone who dreams to be a writer someday, I will write my own story and tell it the way I see fit. No more lies, no more illusions, no more hiding, and no more buried treasures of the unwanted feelings. The illusionist no longer remain.
Life has been crazily insane, in the worst and good way. Creating your own stories has never been easy but one can almost always fall back onto the readily available. I have seen some real good action films lately. Of course, action hero IRONMAN tops the list because it managed to really pack a punch with amazing actions and story to go with. I laughed my heads off when watching KUNGFU PANDA, not knowing what to expect when I stepped into the cinema with my two eagerly anticipating young boys and a BIG old boy (He laughed the loudest among the four of us). I was completely thrilled till the very end. Incredible animation, impeccable attention to details and interesting storytelling, fantastic
charaterization. MADE OF HONOUR initially reminded me of My Best Friend's Wedding, when I first heard of the synopsis. The film was just a get away sort of film for me, an afternoon just hide away, not having to face those daily grinds of work and all. Nothing unusual, fairly predictable but what mesmerized me the most was the breathtaking scenary of Scotland! One image that I would not forget for a long long time was a full view of a moon with the vast night landscape that your eyes could possibly take in. The silence of exhaustion, the loosing battle that I fear I could no longer cope, I 
wished I could go on a vacation, strip those frustrations away and come back a new person...or maybe it is not the journey beyond that I should be looking out for, but rather the road within that I have to take to emerge as a new person, a stronger person, ready to the face yet, another long and challenging battle ahead...
