55th BFI London Film Festival: ‘The Magicians’

Joram Lürsen, the director of this Dutch family film, has wryly complained that funding such a mainstream film was difficult. In the Netherlands, if you make a children’s film it needs to also be about an “issue”. Not a feel-good comedy with a heart-warming father-son relationship at its centre, as this the case here.

Ten-year-old Ben (Thor Braun) is obsessed by magic. His dad, Koos (Theo Maassen), is a klutzy forest ranger down on his luck. Spotting an opportunity, Koos begins magic lessons with Ben and forms an amateur duo, along with young assistant Sylvie (Java Siegertsz). But when Sylvie mysteriously disappears during the climax of an act, the family is catapulted into the limelight, and Koos’s relationship with wife Laura (Chantal Janzen) is on the brink of collapse. Can Ben save the day with one last extra special trick?

Make no mistake, this is a commercial film (it was hugely popular in the Netherlands at Christmas last year). Yes the dialogue may be in Dutch, but The Magicians wouldn’t be out of place coming from Hollywood. To its credit, it’s enjoyable for parents as well as children, with sweet central turns from Theo Maassen as Koos and Thor Braun in his debut as Ben. The central mystery of where Sylvie has disappeared to will keep you guessing throughout.

Why we feel foreign films need to be worthy exercises in social realism is debateable. Be glad the “issues” here are handled with a light touch. Sometimes a little escapism is a good thing.

[etRating value=“ 4”]