If you’re looking to uncover the secrets behind a magician’s illusions and tricks, this might not be the film for you. With magicians already being placed under a glamorous lens within movie franchises like ‘Now You See Me’ and ‘Harry Potter,’ this documentary looks to make the experience of viewers less about the actual tricks and more about the characters behind the white rabbit and disappearing acts. ‘Magicians: Life in the Impossible’ takes an intimate approach into the life of magicians we aren’t used to seeing on the silver screen.
Filmed over the course of four years, ‘Magicians: Life in the Impossible’ presents the journeys of four professional magicians: Jon Armstrong, Brian Gillis, David Minkin, and Jan Rouven and his partner, Frank Alfter. Each come from a different walk of life, but can all relate to each other through the passion they have for their craft. The film opens with Brian Gillis in his alluring, castle-like home on a throne, but quickly switches gears to the reality of what is playing out in the lives of each individual. As the four men tell their story of how they started their careers and what they hope to achieve in the future, we are also let in on the struggles each face in pursuit of their dreams.
Behind the illusions, each professional faces personal obstacles they must overcome before putting on a show for an unsuspecting crowd. Brian Gillis, who was once a regularly featured guest on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, downsized from his national recognition and palace of a home to perform at dinner tables and live in a cramped studio apartment. In contrast, we are introduced to Jan Rouven, living in a luxurious Vegas mansion while having his own show on the Las Vegas strip at the Tropicana. Yet, in the face of what others might deem the ultimate success story, Rouven is still left wanting more, not knowing what to achieve next and enduring cutthroat competition from better-known illusionists like Criss Angel and David Copperfield. From small road gigs to performances on some of Las Vegas’s biggest stages, each magician shows us the devotion it takes to evoke feelings of wonder and mystery and make a living out of it.
From beginning to end, directors Marcie Hume and Christoph Baaden preserve the power of magic as a gift to the audience. We see it in the eyes of the audience, as the camera pans to their reaction of the performers latest illusion. We see it in the first scene with David Minkin effortlessly levitating his ring in a messy bathroom, and by the time we reach the end, we see it one last time as Minkin stuns us with another trick we can’t find the explanation to. The stories of each magician may not necessarily be unique or heartbreaking in any noteworthy way, yet we still manage to care for each as if we have gotten to know them personally. Their different personalities are charming enough for the viewer to stick around and they slowly weave us through the rewarding and often times exhausting world of a magician. With no over-the-top cinematography or mind-altering revelations distracting us from the film, ‘Magicians: Life in the Impossible’ simply shows us that the actual trick isn’t so much of what makes a performance special, but the mastery of storytelling coupled with it.
‘Magicians: Life in the Impossible’ is not rated. 87 minutes. Now released nation-
wide, as well as VOD and digital platforms.
