The Prestige (2006) Review

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RLtaA9fFNXU

THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.

A common aspect that comes from magic is that when you’re looking too hard, you’re gonna miss it.


PLOT


Based on Christopher Priest’s titular novel, 2006’s The Prestige takes place in 1890s London and follows two magicians who were close acquaintances that become bitter rivals. Robert Angier and Alfred Borden were once the mentorship of John Cutter, but the former would despise Borden when his wife Julia (Piper Perabo) drowns in a water tank trick due to an incorrect knot he wouldn’t even remember. Borden would still have a successful career after this with his assistant Fallon, later resulting in marrying his wife Sarah and having a daughter with her, Jess. Angier would still with Cutter and a new assistant, Olivia Wenscombe, but his feud with Borden truly emerges when sabotaging each other’s acts. One of which is so severe that he shoots his fingers off and he responds by injuring a volunteer. Borden would start a new act involving to teleport from one door to another instantly, The Transported Man, and Angier gets so obsessed with figuring the act’s secret out that he gets a doppelganger of his own to do the act with him, named Gerald Root, while also sending Olivia to spy on him. She does get him one of his coded diaries, but she admits to have fallen for him as a result of the time spent with him. Eventually, Borden gives him the keyword being ‘TESLA’, resulting in Angier to head to Colorado and seek an invention from acclaimed inventor Nikola Tesla. When he meets Tesla himself, as well as his assistant Alley, he commissions a teleportation device for him to make but instead gets one meant to duplicate any objects, which is proven to work when seeing many hats duplicated including a black cat. Using this for his new act, The Real Transported Man, to earn acclaim. Around this time does Sarah hang herself, overwhelmed of Borden’s secrets. After her death Olivia break up with Borden upon him saying he loves her more than his wife. When he later sees The Real Transported Man in hopes to see how Angier does it differently, he finds his rival drowning in a water tank like Julia did and is accused of murder, sentenced to be hanged. Before execution, he meets a solicitor on behalf of a wealthy man named Lord Caldlow who offers to take care of Jess in exchange of his secrets. He does comply, but would be shocked to find out it is Angier who faked his death. As Cutter disposes of Tesla’s machine, he’d be horrified to find Angier willing to leave Borden for dead. The day of his hanging, someone in the shadows shoots Angier in the theater’s basement, revealing himself to be Alfred. He confesses that the one who died was his twin brother and not only did they share the persona of Fallon, but also share the love of Olivia & Sarah without either of them knowing who’s who especially when the other goes along with having the shot fingers amputated. In his dying breath does Caldlow admit to killing his doppelgängers each night to keep his secret from being discovered. As the theater is destroyed in a fire that in turn destroys the evidence of all clones’ corpses hidden in rows of water tanks, the film ends with Borden reuniting with his daughter.


THOUGHTS


It’s actually not a surprise for this to be Christopher Nolan’s most underrated film thus far given the fact this came out in between his Batman trilogy and was released the same year as another magician movie, The Illusionist directed by Neil Burger. Nevertheless, it does not change the fact this is overall stunning of a sci fi thriller. It almost makes sense for this to be released at an inconvenient time because some of the most impressive pieces of art are the ones when most aren’t noticing. This is true for me to say because with Lee Smith’s efficient editing and outstanding cinematography by Wally Pfister, everything that unfolds is remarkable to witness. I can go on and on with the costumes being dazzling for its period, but I feel floored with the visual effects in seeing the electricity emerge for The Real Transporter Man. You just feel all the aura that every magician is dying to grasp to this day. It definitely at first sounds bizarre that two magicians would take a rivalry, but since magicians is a livelihood that continues to this day for many, it doesn’t sound that far off that the feeling of competition is universal. Seeing how things get much worse between both leads before it can get any better for at least one of them does prove there are consequences when mistaking ambition to be obsession vice versa. When you over focus on something so intense as in doing the unnecessary just to become the best at what you do, then you’re no better than the one you choose to go against. This is the dilemma when following Caldlow/Angier because actor Hugh Jackman makes him his own worst enemy. It is one thing that he starts out with the idea to avenge, but he loses sympathy when he stops thinking about her and stoops to framing Borden for his death and taking his daughter. No charisma can condone the greed of becoming an elite showman. He may seem to come off as a perfectionist as well when it came to doing things different from what he’s seen before, yet that makes him worse since he chooses to kill to keep his secret intact. I don’t know if forgiving Borden would change a thing because he would still want to surpass his skill no matter where they’d be mentally. Enter Christian Bale who fools us best in making both Bordens a radical pair without us even knowing there were two of them the whole time. His decision to be secretive was at a cost and yet he still had stoicism that made far more decent than Angier. Even if he were to remember which knot he died, it’s not a guarantee if he’d forgiven immediately because one person’s act of grief is always unpredictable. Knowing this, he chose to try moving on. The smartest thing he did before revealing his secret was directing his rival to Tesla knowing he’d be wasting time since he never really reached out to him in the first place. It wasn’t a bad thing for us to see Tesla though because David Bowie was able to successfully portray him as the true embodiment of an enigmatic genius. Both younger magicians look up to him because he does it best in letting reclusiveness spark his visions and the rest would be history. And it was a bonus to see Andy Serkis to portray Alley as a pragmatic gatekeeper who relates to Angier for being cynical, which is why he paves the way for the two to meet anyway. Sadly, not even meeting the genius was not going to inspire Angier to let go of his plans, which sure cost him in more ways than one because once the fire worsens at the theater, someone could find his secret whether or not they intend to. Moving on, you can never get enough of Michael Caine especially when he’s the most frequent actor in Nolan’s filmography thus far, eight after Tenet. I enjoy him a lot as Cutter because he’s still the warmest of people in between the cynicism he has when it comes to doing the job right. He’s the only moral compass both protégés have, which is why his disgust is valid to see Angier stopp the way he does. While I’m sure he’d be surprised to know how Borden came back, there’s also a certainty he’s glad Jess can live in a non chaotic period of her life going forward. Lastly, some are gonna say Olivia is a victim in this scenario because she’s put between both men and Scarlett Johansson shows her to drive perception based on emotions, given how fast she falls for Borden and eventually leaves him to distance herself from toxicity. In reality, it’s always going to be Sarah because Rebecca Hall shows off this feeling of despair as all her happiness fades away, unable to bare all her husband’s days of dishonesty. She became a bird trapped in a cage unable to escape what feels like torment to her, thus taking a tragic end that feels worse than Julia as this was her decision. Had both Bordens shown more affection, she would’ve not had to die and neither would be framed/hanged. Nevertheless, there’s no doubt the remaining will do better with the second chance he got. This movie will remain an impressive feat on its own, yet there are still some things that don’t make sense upon rewatching. For instance, I’m surprised nobody in the audience ever mistakes themselves to be part of the act when Angier & Borden get picked by Julia. It would’ve been funny to see a mixup. Heck, if Borden had a brother the whole time, they should’ve been practicing more on the knots to avoid their fatal accident that leads to their died with Angier. They’re lucky to still have a career after that. It’s even weird Angier never asks about the knot until Borden attends the funeral. Had he asked sooner and get an actual answer from either one, who knows if he’ll hold a grudge the way he would. He also could’ve figured out the knot by looking at it after Julia died. On top of that, he should’ve been better prepared with security if he didn’t want Borden to get even ruining his act the way he did to him. Moving on, how long did it take to find Root in time for Transported Man to work? I have to ask because it felt like it took only hours instead of days which sounds like way too much luck for him at that point. I then think it’s on Cutter to not scan the room if he didn’t want Root to be spotted thus almost ruining the act. Then again, Borden having Olivia around as an assistant is a bigger gamble because she could’ve found out his secret sooner. Just because he’s fooled everyone else doesn’t mean the trick can last forever. It’s just too much luck she didn’t see the coincidence Fallon had the same injury as him. Even one of the investors is dumb to say the transporting act needs to be dressed up a little to better audience’s doubts. It makes no sense since Angier happens to do the same thing once the showings begin. Hell, I’m surprised Borden doesn’t suspect Angier is still using a double like Root given the fact he’s doing the same thing. If you can ignore this, then you can still be impressed in how it’s all put together. In conclusion, The Prestige is one of Nolan’s more provocative films for pushing boundaries in how you’ll just be guessing endlessly where its all gonna go and enjoy it more each viewing like the rest of his filmography. You want a movie where you’re left speechless? See this now.