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Movie Review - The Prestige (2006)
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(What this rating means)
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| Director: |
Christopher Nolan |
| Starring: |
Hugh Jackman, Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Scarlett Johansson and David Bowie |
| Rated: |
PG-13 (for violence and disturbing images) |
| Length: |
128 minutes |
| Genre: |
Drama/Fantasy/Sci-Fi/Thriller |
| Tagline: |
A Friendship, That Became a Rivalry...A Rivalry, That Became a Battle. |
| Studio: |
Touchstone Pictures |
| Website: |
The Prestige |
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PLOT
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Turn-of-the-century London. It's a time when magicians are idols and celebrities of the highest order, kind of like
19th century versions of Johnny Betts. Two young magicians in particular have their eyes on fame. Robert Angier
(Jackman) is flashy and sophisticated, more entertainer than true magician. Alfred Borden (Bale) and his
cockneyed accent, on the other hand, sport a rougher edge. He's a true genius when it comes to magic, but he
lacks Angier's showmanship.
They start out as admiring friends and partners, but one day their biggest trick goes terribly awry with
consequences that will make them bitter rivals for life. Each one will do whatever it takes to succeed and
outdo the other. As the competition grows, so does their desperation, and their tricks delve deeper
and deeper into darker territory. Who will come out on top, and are there any boundaries that won't be crossed
to do it? Christopher Nolan's magical sleight-of-hand ensues.
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JOHNNY'S TAKE
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"Are you watching closely?"
No doubt putting a smile on the now de-mustachioed face of Alex Trebek, Alfred Borden poses his narrative in the
form of a question, but audiences should view it as a recommendation. Follow along, and you will easily avoid
getting lost in the film's intricately crafted storyline.
Michael Caine informs us that "Every great magic trick consists of three acts." Embracing the similarities with the
three-act structure of a screenplay, director Christopher Nolan masterfully draws a correlation between the two
and presents audiences with a magic trick of his own.
Will you figure it out before the revelation? Probably to some degree, but The Prestige isn't designed
solely to baffle and surprise. It's a story of obsession and revenge. A story of the paths that are before us
and the potential results of letting your obsession guide you towards the darker path.
A story, some might say, that Bob Dylan should have seen before agreeing to do iPod commercials.
"The first act is called The Pledge: the magician shows you something ordinary, but of course ... it probably
isn't."
Act One - The Setup. We're introduced to two rival magicians willing to do anything to succeed at their craft.
What starts off as mutual respect and innocent rivalry becomes more and more twisted. Are we witnessing harmless
magic or are we about to see something more sinister?
"The second act is called The Turn. The magician makes his ordinary something do something extraordinary. Now,
if you're looking for the secret ... you won't find it."
Act Two - Confrontation. The pace is deliberate. The mood, dark and mysterious. If it were also tall and
handsome then it just might be mistaken for Johnny Betts. As the rivalry between the magicians intensifies,
audiences will become more involved in piecing together clues. Nolan reveals just enough to keep us guessing,
and choosing allegiances, but the movie's biggest secret isn't ready to be discovered.
As Borden says, "The secret impresses no one. The trick you use it for is everything."
"That's why there's a third act called, The Prestige. This is the part with the twists and turns, where lives hang
in the balance, and you see something shocking you've never seen before."
Act Three - Resolution. If you've followed Borden's earlier advice and watched closely then you might realize
that not every twist and turn is completely unpredictable. However, we are presented with two alternative paths
that are initially unexpected.
The difference between the "twists" involving Jackman and Bale shows the contrasts in their characters'
motivations. One is ultimately dedicated to his craft; the other is merely devoted to outdoing his rival.
One is willing to make sacrifices for his craft; the other is only willing to sacrifice others.
Character confrontation handled delicately enough that the resolution is effective without ever feeling like a
mere gimmick? It's a refreshing rarity given the extreme lack of originality and craftsmanship in Hollywood
today. Embrace it. Savor it. We might not see its likes again for another few months.
To say any more would be a severe act of irresponsibility on my part. Watch this with as little knowledge of
the story as possible.
"Are you watching closely?" I highly recommend that you do.
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ODDS & ENDS
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- The film’s genesis began just after Christopher Nolan directed Memento. Around that same time,
executive producer Valerie Dean read and fell madly in love with Christopher Priest’s acclaimed novel by the
same name -- and immediately knew that amidst its complex blend of history and science fiction, its tale of an
out-of-control magical rivalry would make for an original film. Dean gave the book to Nolan, who was equally
intrigued.
- Says Nolan, "There’s quite a strong relationship between what magicians do and what filmmakers do. The
filmmaker is very similar to a magician in the way we release information – what we tell the audience and when –
and how we draw the audience in through certain points of view. We use our own techniques, blind alleys and red
herrings, to fool the audience and, hopefully, to create a satisfying pay-off."
- Man, it's just like movie reviewing! I just need to figure out how.
- Christopher co-wrote the screenplay with his brother Jonathan. "The book is a very complicated, very
ambitious, sweeping epic with tons of ideas -- and it took me about 18 months to figure out how to cut it down
into something that resembles a film," Jonathan comments. "I had to find the structure, which was tricky,
because the story is so complexly interwoven. What we came up with is a three-part flashback structure based on
this idea of the three-part structure of a magic trick."
- "Magicians were essentially the rock stars of their day," observes Hugh Jackman.
- For Christopher Nolan, a dark, grungy look was essential to the film’s mysterious moods. “I think there’s
often too great a tendency in films to try to clean up the past, to make it look neater and tidier than it was,
so I felt it was appropriate to really mess up that kind of world, to shake it up and have it really coming apart
at the seams."
- Johnny Betts takes the same approach with many of his reviews. Rather than polish every single one and
make sure every paragraph perfectly transitions to the next, Johnny feels his laziness sometimes helps add
to the mystery.
- Production Designer Nathan Crowley, who worked with Nolan previously on Batman
Begins and Insomnia, created some 68 diverse sets for The Prestige.
- The multi-level theatre designs, which feature attics, staircases and basements -- where steam-powered
hydraulics help to pull off some of the large-scale mechanical magic tricks -- were influenced by the
mathematical art of M. C. Escher.
- A janitor in a screenplay that Johnny Betts is currently working on was influenced by M.C. Hammer.
- One of Nolan's favorite sets was Borden’s workshop where the obsessive magician tests his illusions. To get a
better sense of what a magician’s shop looks like, Crowley investigated the workshop of Houdini, among
others.
- Christian Bale was immediately impressed with the script, "After Batman
Begins, I had really hoped to find some very high quality scripts, some really good movies, but I
was not finding myself surrounded by them. Then, I read The Prestige. I thought it was a very
original, unique piece about a rivalry that knows no limits – and because magicians are involved, you never know
what’s real and what isn’t, which makes for a fantastic thriller. It’s so layered, you have to peel it apart. I
already knew that Chris is one of the smartest directors around, and that working with him is like having a very
solid foundation on which to build a beautiful house -- and I really fancied doing a movie with him that would be
so different from Batman.
- Bale was determined to land a part, "So I called Chris and said, 'Whatever you’re thinking, and you can tell
me where to go, but I’m just going to lay it on the line. This is the one of the best bloody scripts I’ve ever
read and I want to do it.' I think my passion for it bowled him over."
- “The thing I love about Borden,” comments Bale, “is that he’s all about the purity of the magic, about the nature
of an ingenious idea. He doesn’t care about the showmanship, he doesn’t care about selling the trick, he simply
cares about creating the most perfect illusion. He’s totally obsessed with that one thing. Like so many truly
brilliant artists, Borden has no concept of how to market himself.”
- Johnny Betts thinks Bale, in the last sentence above, was unconsciously making a comparison between Borden and
Betts.
- Nikola Tesla was a modern-day Da Vinci who dreamed up ideas about robots, computers, microwave ovens, radar and
fax machines long before anyone else could imagine such "magical" technologies. He received more than 700 patents
in his lifetime and helped to forge our modern high-tech society.
- Tesla conducted all kinds of wild experiments, including forging man-made lightning bolts, and was said to be
examining such far-out notions as time travel, death rays and interstellar communication.
- Mystery would follow Tesla even into death. After his passing, most of his scientific papers disappeared
without a trace, never to be found, leading many to wonder what fantastic or dangerous ideas were among
them.
- Christian Bale is in the upcoming 3:10 to Yuma with Russell Crowe who is in the upcoming American
Gangster with Josh Brolin who was in Hollow Man with Kevin Bacon.
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MAMA'S APPROVAL
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Other than the dark elements within the story, this film is fairly safe for the whole family. I wouldn't recommend
taking your five-year-old to see it, but I know my 10-year-old brother could handle it. There's no profanity other
than a smart-a** or two. We do see a few instances of blood and dead animals, but it's nothing too graphic or
gory. Mama could handle this one in its theatrical form.
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TRAILER COMPARISON
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Loved the trailer, loved the movie.
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THE GIST
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The Prestige might not be able to completely outsmart you, but it presents the confrontation between its
dark, well-developed characters in such a deliberately mysterious way that it will most certainly entertain you.
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