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I don't know whether it was the venue - Edinburgh's Festival Theatre, transformed into a 1,500-seater cinema - or the film - Sylvain Chomet's charming love letter to Edinburgh, The Illusionist - but the was the most glamourous to date.

Hundreds of people waited outside for a glimpse of Sir Sean Connery, Sir Patrick Stewart, American Ferrera, Jason Issacs and Britt Ekland.

And in the absence of stars from the film, they were entertained by showgirls, stiltwalkers and striped-suited acrobats - all lovingly recreated from Chomet's film.

Chomet himself was delighted. He first came to Edinburgh in 2003 for the premiere of Belleville Rendezvous and liked it so much he stayed.

He spent five years here, setting up a studio in the capital and beginning the drawings for The Illusionist, which he relocated from Paris and Prague to Paris, Edinburgh and Iona.

So to return to Scotland - with his family (including two children born in Scotland - his "Scottish souvenirs") for the opening premiere, was something of a thrill.

The film itself is a treat - although there's a brief hitch at the start before the curtains open to reveal the screen (a strange but undeliberate echo of the film's opening titles).

The attention to detail is amazing, from the distinctive wood panelled pawnbrokers on Queen Street (with its name cheekily changed to Blair and Brown) to the chip shop selling everything deep-fried (salad - not available; full scottish breakfast, in batter).

A colleague notes an anachronism in the black cabs - which he claims are too modern for 1959 - but it's a minor quibble in a film with so much attention to each loving detail.

It's darker and more melancholic than expected. The vaudeville days are in their last gasp, and there's little call for The Illusionist or his old-fashioned friends (the clown is suicidal, the ventriliquist, a drunk).

You'd expect nothing less of Jacques Tati, on whose script the film is based.

The nostalgia spills over afterwards into the opening night party.

Magicians and showgirls mingle with the party-goers. The city centre venue - and the fact that all 1,500 guests get to see the film together (previously, it required four separate screenings with film-makers having to shuffle between them) - gives the whole event a much more laid-back feel.

Jason Isaacs shares a bag of chips with some Harry Potter fans.

Britt Ekland is given a crash course in playing the bagpipes.

Sir Sean Connery can't resist joining the band for a singsong as he leaves the party. Eventually it's his dimunitive but determined wife Micheline who persuades him to go.

"It's better than Cannes," says Chomet as he leaves, which is surely sacriledge from the mouth of a Frenchman.

But if he's right, it could be the start of a very enjoyable fortnight.