Thank heaven for little girls

 

L'Illusioniste

Crit

I must have misremembered what I read about this: I was thinking the girl Alice was made younger than Jacques Tati wrote her, in order to negate any possible interpretation of a romantic connection between her and the elderly title character. What I must have read is that the character was made older so that the undeniable romantic connection would be less creepy.

It's still a tad creepy in the early stages of his buying things to make her life better, when she seems willing to--seems to expect to--render carnal payment for his favors. Soon, though, the relationship resolves into a perfectly chaste April-November love, and we all know--some of us better than others--that those are always doomed.

So, a sad, beautiful, mostly wordless tale, far less manic than the film that brought Sylvain Chomet to our attention, but in the same muted palette suggestive of a world not quite ours.

Trailers

• The Tree of Life--Looks every bit as portentous as the title suggests, directed by Terrence Malick.
• Beginners--Looks very Woody Allen, right down to Leon Redbone singing "Stardust" in the trailer.