The Prestige is Christopher Nolan’s film adaptation of a novel about two rival magicians who reveal their secrets to no one. Hugh Jackman plays Angier, aka The Great Danton, a wealthy, jealous showman not above stealing his rival’s secrets. Christian Bale plays Alfred Borden, aka The Professor, a working class, illusionist, dedicated to his craft, instinctually talented innovator. Michael Caine is a master ingenieur who initially mentors them.
I am one of the few people that does not like Nolan’s work because he is not as clever as he thinks that he is, and I always guess the twist in his films early. His films are bloated, loud and pretentious. He is a better funded, humorless M. Night Shyamalan, who makes horrible movies, but occasionally can be fun and strike lightning. So when I say that I enjoyed The Prestige, understand that I bring folded arms to the proceedings, but considering that I only started hating Nolan’s work with Inception with the exception of his Batman films, my favor is not a surprise considering this film is one of his earlier works.
I still figured out the twist fairly early even though The Prestige’s revelations feel like cheats because of the way that it strains genres. It is a period piece drama with a hefty dollop of science fiction however a dash of David Bowie will help bolster your suspension of disbelief from snapping and having the whole affair come crashing down. We know too much about science to entirely buy what happens, but fine let’s throw out everything we know about science because Bowie plays Tesla and Andy Serkis is his assistant.
The Prestige is a silly movie, and I enjoyed it because it was so absurdly, stupidly over the top, but the cast treats it so seriously and gives great performances that I could not help but go, “Sure. OK.” You have to buy that magicians are the bad ass, rock stars/gangsters of their time untouchable with the law. This aspect of the story was the hardest point for me to cosign. Where are the police? People are dying and getting maimed left, right and center, but not once does a bobby turn the corner.
For once, I think that Christian Bale got to use his real accent or at least a working class accent, which was great. News flash: with a mustache and goatee, Bale looks like Ethan Hawke. Separated at birth? I guessed his character’s twist fairly early though I will definitely say that in spite of knowing it, I did not see it so kudos to the makeup/costume person and Bale for not giving it away. If you think about the logistics of the secret too long, the story is actually deeply disturbing and rapey. Don’t kill yourself! Murder him! It is demented and totally fracked. Do what you want to do, but get express consent. Ew! So I am guessing all his relatives are dead?
The Prestige gave us Jackman frequently in various stages of undress and looking hot in suave, swanky period clothes thus referencing Kate & Leopold fineness. Plus one of Jackman’s early conceits revealed what a good actor he can be, and we forget because of the body. He actually manages to seem like a different person and almost change the structure of his face in one early scene when he awkwardly copies one of Borden’s tricks. Also he really did take us on an emotional journey for his character and sold it although the whole deal is so tropey and contrived that you may not care that he is completely dedicated to it and does not think that it is absurd. During his trip to the US, he was giving me young Jonathan Harker vibes going to Dracula’s castle, and I loved it though I have to deduct points from this storyline for inaccurate, movie stereotype of cats, who would never act as they do in the film. As the human representative of all cats, black cats in particular are tired of this treatment which leads to real life danger.
The Prestige would not be a Nolan film if he did not play with the narrative structure, which starts in the present then goes to the past by depicting what Borden reads in Angier’s journal, which in turn depicts what Angier reads in Borden’s journal then back to the present on occasion. If you can keep the narrative lines straight, it is better than if the story was told in a linear fashion similar to Memento. Also the journals are the closest that we get to seeing Angier and Borden talking to each other because whenever they are in a room together, someone gets hurt except for the early flashbacks from Caine’s character, which I may be remembering incorrectly, and it was actually a journal entry. The dropped narration and how we got here trope at the opening did not haunt me, and while I am not signing a waiver, I did not find it innately annoying.
There is a Matryoshka Doll theme of rivalry, brotherhood and identity/disguise between not only Borden and Angier, but Tesla and Edison, whom we never see. It worked for me because the way that each character deceived mirrored their respective talents. The Prestige also is obsessed with finger maiming, which at least is not eyes. A lot of birds do not make it out of the film alive. The death of innocence/self/brothers because of dedication to art, one upmanship and obsession is also an ongoing theme. These men do not live full lives because they are obsessed with each other and money, fame and career seem to be accidental side effects. Women are frequently collateral damage of this rivalry or exchangeable currency.
Apparently The Prestige was trying not to depict either man as good or bad, but they were pretty horrible people. When Borden really decided to take his taunting the next, public level, I enjoyed it though privately he is a monster and master manipulator though he did not seem to be conscious of how his life was so inherently destructive and demented, but at the core, there is some messed up version of love at its core whereas Angier clearly made conscious choices to destroy lives and chose violence. Angier, you are hot, wealthy, more famous and successful, but you still need to win. Don’t start a fight with a madman who is smarter than you. At one point in the movie during a conversation with his assistant, whom Scarlett Johansson plays, he reveals that he does not actually care about the origin of their conflict. It is really about just wanting to be the better man and hating that he could never truly be as good as Borden. Die mad. I was a little bugged that we never found out if Borden was responsible or not for the origin of their conflict, but am relieved that there were not a ton of love triangles.
The Prestige is an entertaining film, which if it holds any deeper meaning, it is a cautionary tale about choosing life over dedicated professional excellence and rivalry. I am disappointed that there were absolutely zero homoerotic vibes.
