MovieChat Forums > The Illusionist (2006) Discussion > If the prince is known for murdering wom...

If the prince is known for murdering women?

posted 14 years ago by Robo183
9 replies | jump to latest

Why has Sophie even considered being with him in the first place?

[–] el_caballero23235 14 years ago

The Prince is the Crown Prince, next in line, and the marriage was most likely meant to be an arranged marriage between the Crown Prince and Sophie's family. Being a duchess, her family would want her to marry someone as noble as possible. Her family obviously did not think much about Sophie's feelings, since they forced her to not have a friendship or relationship with Eisenheim when they were children.

[–] Robo183 14 years ago

I could accept this as the answer except for the fact that she decides to leave the prince without consulting her parents in anyway. If she could willingly leave him then, why not leave him a month or a year ago bearing in mind he murders women. To be honest i don't care, but im just saying.

cheers

[–] el_caballero23235 14 years ago

I did not think of that...I have no idea why she would have waited since she left, as you mentioned, without consulting her parents. It would not have worked with the plot if she left the prince before the story.

Cheers.

[–] blue_dress_ca 14 years ago

Perhaps it's just a bit of psychology - while she was with the prince she didn't have anywhere else to go, no way out maybe? Then Eisenheim showed up and gave her an opportunity to leave for a new life. This way, she was able to break free of the parents and the prince. I mean, how exactly would she have done it? "Dear parents, I seek your permission to leave the Crown Prince and run away with a formerly poor cabinet maker's son magician." Not likely! :o)

[–] theunbeholden 14 years ago

Because he wouldn't let her leave him... he would track her down and kill him and her... she doesn't really have a choice thats the thing. By faking her death it was the only way to get out of it.

[–] rogermccarthy 14 years ago

Because the writers are almost completely ignorant of history.

There actually was an Austrian prince Rudolf who killed himself around this time period but he did so because his father the Emperor refused to let him marry the Czech baroness he was in love with as she wasn't royal enough.

But he actually didn't have to kill himself - other Austrian royals married women who were not approved foreign princesses (and they actually had a special ceremony and status morganatic marriage to cover that situation where the wife was not considered royal and her children were not in the line of succession) - the reason Rudolf did so is because he was mentally unbalanced anyway.

And the idea that princes in a civilised state like Austria at this time could openly beat and murder their girlfriends and get away with it is a ridiculous one - even if they couldn't be arrested and prosecuted the scandal would have destroyed their social position and driven them into exile.

And as for women being forced into marriage against their will this wasn't really possible at this social level - marriages between royal families (and Sophie in this film is not royal) were invariably arranged but it was not unknown for either partner to refuse a match - particularly given that many royal houses at this time were afflicted with various hereditary diseases caused by their inbreeding.

And if a marriage did go through and proved to be unsuccessful it was a social convention for at least the highest social class that the couple could quietly split up and live separate lives - this is precisely what happened with the Austrian Emperor Franz Josef and his wife Elisabeth.

[–] fabrisse 14 years ago

A Crown Prince, as a true successor, was not allowed a morganatic marriage as a *first* marriage. The children couldn't inherit. It's why the British throne has never permitted any morganatic marriages. Once widowed, they could marry morganatically, and those who weren't in direct succession could, and, as you note, did, receive permission from the Emperor to contract a marriage of that type. But it always had to be done with permission.

I think The Illusionist works as a "what if" story. Rudolf did try to do an end run around his father by getting the Hungarians on his side, potentially splitting the empire.

There were princes and other aristocrats who had horrible reputations. As long as nothing could be proved publicly, they weren't exiled. So I could see the idea of a mistress "accidentally" falling out of a window from either perspective. It could have been a genuine accident that his enemies turned into a nasty story about his S/M proclivities or perhaps Rudolf finally snapped and tossed her out the window to cover a beating.

[–] oRRe_cheaton 14 years ago

The writers weren't ignorant of the history at all. They just chosed to not follow it. This movie wasn't really supposed to be historically accurate. It's a bit like Inglourious Basterds in that sense.

[–] 14 years ago

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