The Prestige

“Every great magic trick consists of three parts or acts. The first part is called ‘The Pledge’. The magician shows you something ordinary: a deck of cards, a bird or a man. He shows you this object. Perhaps he asks you to inspect it to see if it is indeed real, unaltered, normal. But of course... it probably isn't. The second act is called ‘The Turn’. The magician takes the ordinary something and makes it do something extraordinary…but you wouldn't clap yet. Because making something disappear isn't enough; you have to bring it back. That's why every magic trick has a third act, the hardest part, the part we call ‘The Prestige’." These opening lines not only describe a magic trick but the story of the film itself. When I saw this movie, I wanted “to see it again the second [it was] over” just like Peter Travers said. “The Prestige” looks great and makes great use of the story elements from the original book. There is a great use of sound editing and film editing also. The acting is superb as well as Christopher Nolan’s directing. This movie showed me that “Batman Begins” was not just a one time lucky hit. I realized that Nolan was a talented artist. This is one review that you shouldn’t read until after you see the movie. Just like “The Sixth Sense” if you know the secret, you won’t enjoy your first time as much. As a humorous note, this movie allows us to see Batman and Wolverine duke it out.

The movie is one big magic trick and Christopher Nolan would do a similar thing with “Inception” in that its story is symbolic of a dream within a dream. When I heard Borden say “Are you watching closely?” at the start of the film, I knew I was going to have to pay attention. There was bound to be a twist or a surprise ending. This is an amazing non-linear film and it shows the dangers of obsession and secrecy. Tesla can see that Angier is obsessed for example and wants him to give it up at numerous moments because he already knows the consequences. Neither Angier nor Borden are depicted as good or evil. They are just entertainers who have a passion that consumes them. As mentioned the story of this movie mirrors the three parts or acts of a magic trick. The Pledge of the film story is a number of things. It is the hats in the first shot and also the storyline that shows how Angier and Borden’s rivalry began. During the opening narration when Cutter says “a man”, we see Borden seated in the audience wearing a beard. To me, this makes Borden another kind of “Pledge” as evidenced by the surprise ending. I like the scene with Chung Ling Soo in that there are no editing tricks and he really makes a fishbowl appear for the film audience. There is a lot of foreshadowing and symbolism in the film. The vanishing birdcage magic trick foreshadows Angier’s “The Real Transported Man”. Angier has a 50/50 chance of either being killed or being the Prestige. Some story moments from the storyline involving Borden’s trial serve the first or Pledge storyline. They are edited into the start of the film in order to best serve the story. When Cutter shows the judge Angier’s machine from Colorado, we can’t tell whether Cutter is telling the truth about the machine being real or lying to protect the secret. Thanks to Michael Caine’s acting, we believe him that the machine is real. By this point, the audience is going crazy. Because of Borden and Julia’s silent communication just before she dies, we know that Borden tied the knot that they both he and Julia wanted to try. In truth, Borden didn’t know how to do it because of his secret. The film depicts the tactics of real magicians or showmen. When Borden is using the rings and the audience is booing, it is all to set up not only the catching the bullet trick but the Transported Man allusion that is soon to come. How did Fallon miss recognizing Angier as he volunteered to shoot the gun? I think Fallon should have been more than able to see that. On the other hand, Angier’s disguise is very good. One more thing; I don't think Angier meant to shoot Borden. I think it was Fallon's hit that caused the gun to go off. This movie has eye candy such as the field of light bulbs and also funny moments such as when Borden does the magic trick with the prison guard. I love the irony of Angier under the stage enjoying the applause after he performs “The New Transported Man”. When Angier kidnaps Fallon and demands from Borden the key word, Borden gives it up because that is what he wants to have happen. Olivia is on Borden’s side after Angier asked her to be a spy on Borden and that is how she got the diary, which is fake. This leads to the Turn of the movie and like the Pledge; it is represented by a number of things.

The second storyline of the film, where Angier is in Colorado with Borden’s diary, represents the Turn. Borden is controlling everything however through his fake diary and this fact is made known to all by the last page of the diary. Another “Turn” is the scene when we realize that all those hats that we saw at the start of the movie are clones or copies. It is something we thought was “ordinary” but was actually “extraordinary”. The Prestige of the film’s story is represented by the final storyline that begins with Borden’s conviction of the murder of Angier and involves Borden reading Angier’s diary. When Angier goes into the machine on stage, the way he does it is like he is going to his death. As we approach the climax and surprise reveal, Christopher Nolan intensifies the feeling of the film through music and editing. The hanging of Borden is intercut with Angier and Cutter storing the machine away. Cutter tells Angier before leaving him with his dead clones that the sailor he spoke of at the funeral that almost drowned actually said it was agony and not like going home. Cutter didn’t want to cause Angier any more pain over his wife’s death and so that is why Cutter lied at the funeral. Cutter has no sympathies for Angier anymore. I love the way Christian Bale says “Abracadabra”. That is the climax of the whole movie that leads into the ultimate Prestige of the story. Borden shows up and shoots Angier, revealing that he and his twin brother were Borden all along. The Nolan brothers took the Borden twins, Alfred and Freddy, from the original book and made them the surprise reveal at the end of the movie and I love that. You then go back in your mind and things start to make sense. When Borden came to Julia’s funeral, I believe that it was Alfred at that moment and Freddy was the one who was on stage. Therefore, Alfred really doesn’t know what knot was tied. I think Freddy knew exactly what knot he tied because of the silent communication we saw between him & Julia and he was not being honest with his brother. I like how even in the journal, Borden still tells the truth about which knot he tied. He knows that Angier will read it and he wants to make sure that he gets the message right without revealing the truth about "The Transporter Man". Fallon is introduced so silently that many of us in the audience don’t realize his significance until the reveal at the end of the movie. When Borden says that they should have told Fallon about Sarah having a baby, to me that says that Alfred who is dressed as Fallon at that moment is the father and that Alfred is the one who really loves Sarah. We get proof of this when Sarah says she doesn’t believe Freddy when he says “I love you”. We also hear an important truth about Freddy in that he loves magic more. He is the one that is buried by Angier and subsequently is Borden at the dinner. Freddy is the one that is in love with Olivia. The second or third time you see the film, you can tell which twin is playing Borden by how they act to both Sarah and Olivia. It is fitting that Freddy is the one that is arrested. His love for magic has brought him down. Hopefully, he is the twin that did all the awful things we see Borden do in the whole film. Once “Borden” sees “The Real Transporter Man” for the first time, we have two scenes that seem conflicting but they prove that Freddy is the one in jail. The twin yelling at Fallon is obsessed Freddy and in the next scene, it is Alfred who gives up the rivalry and tells Freddy to do the same. Alfred seems to have had enough after losing Sarah and he doesn’t want to lose his daughter. Freddy doesn’t listen and gets his just deserts. The last few lines in the film as spoken by Cutter are symbolic of this film’s future. It is a hard thing to create a film with a twist at the end that will continue to entertain people for years to come. Once people know the secret of the film, their second viewing may not be as enjoyable. This is fortunately not the case with this movie. You enjoy hearing a line that has a double meaning and you like knowing something that the characters do not.

The Nolans took 5 years to write the script and I love how Christopher Nolan takes time to write his movies unlike some people who write the story and then focus more on other cinematic elements. The story is the focus of the film but other elements support it very well. Nolan’s direction is very entertaining. Hugh Jackman was fun to watch and not only as Angier. He does a good job of playing Gerry Root. The ability to do split screen during a handheld shot is amazing. “The Prestige” not only is a magic trick but it is full of other magic tricks. I applaud Christian Bale because he can play two twins with subtle differences that are acting as one person. It was great to see Andy Serkis and it was an interesting choice to have the late David Bowie play Tesla. “The Prestige” received Oscar nominations for Art Direction and Cinematography for obvious reasons and I also loved the sound editing and film editing. Your subsequent viewings of “The Prestige” are different from the first time you saw the show because “now you're looking for the secret.” However, the truth is “you don't really want to work it out. You want to be fooled.”

4.5 Stars