MovieChat Forums > L'illusionniste (2011) Discussion > *spoiler* - Query over end sequence

spoiler - Query over end sequence

posted 14 years ago by andrew-830
8 replies | jump to latest

Just wondered what other people's views were about the significance of the pencil on the train. The child loses her short pencil and Tatischeff picks it up, considers replacing it with a longer pencil, but then lets the girl choose within his enclosed hand. She draws the short pencil. Was this a reference to drawing straws - to illustrate that the beginning of his new journey doesn't mean he has "drawn the short straw" after all and is therefore a hopeful ending? Or does it indicate that the child has drawn the short straw (as we all have, in effect in life) and is therefore a more woeful ending? Or neither.

Watched the film yesterday afternoon and thought it was visually stunning, although the story line did take too much time for me to become fully absorbed. Certainly better than the over-sentimentalism of Toy Story 3, by the way.

[–] echo_echo 14 years ago

in my opinion, Tatischeff has the opportunity in this scene to amaze the child by switching the pencils, to give the illusion that he magically transformed the tiny pencil into a brand new one. yet, he decides not to.

I may be wrong, but this is just what I thought at the time.

[–] 14 years ago

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[–] andrew-830 14 years ago

Of course, that makes perfect sense! Which makes the ending even sadder than I thought.

Thanks.

[–] 14 years ago

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[–] GreenDestinyJiP 14 years ago

i'd have to agree... i think he became so disenchanted by the end, (or disillusioned, if you will) that he couldn't be bothered to perform another mundane trick for the little girl.
slightly depressing... but a good movie!

[–] Kid A 2k5 14 years ago

I thought that he was originally writing with the shorter pencil; the girl with the longer one.

He was working out his accounts in his pocket book. I thought it to be the case that he chose to switch his short and stubby pencil for the girl's longer one because he doubted that he'd be able to afford a replacement pencil when it eventually ran out. Financially, things were so bad that even pencils had to be carefully rationed.

I prefer the whole "short straw/long straw" interpretation. It's a lot less bleak and desperate.

[–] echo_echo 14 years ago

The girl had the short pencil, hence why it kept falling out of her hand as she was scribbling.

[–] edpugh-840-27996 14 years ago

Personally, I saw it as him choosing not to perform the switch trick with the pencils.

However, I do not think the ending is entirely bleak. I think the film has cleverly left you with one happy ending (the girl grown into womanhood and paired off with a loving, eligible man), and one sad ending (the Magician becoming so disillusioned with his illusions).