A film set in fin-de-siecle Vienna is a favourite for scooping an award at this year's Oscars.
Dick Pope's dreamy cinematography for The Illusionist - a haunting tale of magicians in Habsburg Vienna - has already scooped a couple of gongs, winning the New York Critics and San Diego Critics awards.
The New York Times enthused that the film 'rouses your slumbering belief in the miraculous.'
However, The Illusionist comes up against some fairly stiff competition, with a couple of other gloomy greats in the offing - Alfonso Curaron's Children of Men and rival magician tale The Prestige.
As it was, Vienna was largely recreated in the Czech Republic, with Prague and Tabor doubling as the Habsburg capital. Milos Foreman did likewise for his 1980's classic Amadeus. However, given that Prague was capital of Austrian Bohemia, the flavour remains authentic.
The winners will be announced on February 25th 2008.
|