The Prestige: Cinematic Magic

Image taken from "The Prestige" page on imdb

As a lifelong fan of Batman and having seen the lackluster movies directed by Tim Burton, as well as the awful ones from Joel Schumacher, it took every ounce of restraint I had not to stand up and cheer after seeing Christopher Nolan’s fantastic revitalization of the character in his film “Batman Begins”.  The following October saw the release of Christopher Nolan’s follow-up film, “The Prestige”.  With “Batman Begins” being so excellent, I was curious to see the next film by the same writer/director.

I was attending college in a university town called Rexburg in the state of Idaho that had two movie theaters.  Neither one of them were showing “The Prestige”, so I had to go to nearby Idaho Falls to watch the movie.  The film opens with a panning shot across a field where several top hats are scattered around, and we eventually see a few cats walking around near the hats.  This part has no sound, and I remember feeling disappointed because I thought the sound wasn’t working in the theater.  Shortly after the cats are revealed, the scene quickly cuts to black and the silence is broken by the voice of actor Christian Bale asking “Are you watching closely?”

I remember my eyes involuntarily opening a little wider and instinctively leaning forward in my seat to internally answer the posed question with a “yes” that in my mind had a tone of sincere wonder and interest.  I probably blinked about 5 times during the movie and was immersed in it to an extent that I rarely, if ever, had been or would be again.  At that time in my life I would get a large soda when I would go to the movies, and this occasion was no exception.  I remember having to go to the bathroom something awful, but would not leave my seat because I had to see how the movie ended and was certain that I would miss something important if I left my seat for even a minute to take a leak.  The film does not disappoint.

The next part of the film features a spoken introduction by the character John Cutter, who works as an ingénieur (or engineer) to one of the main characters, describing the parts of a magic trick:

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.  Now you're looking for the secret... but you won't find it.  Because of course you're not really looking.  You don't really want to know.  You want to be fooled.

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”.

We then see Cutter appearing as a witness in a murder trial where one magician is on trial for the murder of a rival.  Cutter is asked about a specific trick but says that he can’t reveal any details about it in a public trial.  He consents to a private audience with the judge in the trial where he unravels the series of events that have led to said trial.

The film centers around two magicians working in 1890s London named Robert Angiers and Alfred Borden.  At the beginning of the film the two are working as stagehands for another magician as they learn and hone their craft.  Angiers’ wife Julia works as an assistant for the magician and takes part in a trick where she is immersed in a tank of water.  Angiers and Borden are tasked with being the “random” audience members who come to tie the woman’s hands and feet for the trick.

Backstage, Borden opines that they should use a specific knot for Julia’s hands as it would be more effective and better for the trick.  Cutter and Angiers disagree saying the knot is too risky, but later on stage Julia herself consents to Borden tying the knot he specified earlier.  Julia is unable to slip the knot and drowns in the tank.  At her funeral Angiers confronts Borden asking “which knot did you tie?” to which Borden responds “I don’t know”.  This begins a fierce rivalry between the two magicians where Angiers escalates their rivalry to an obsession.

The rivalry reaches its peak after Borden debuts a trick that he calls “The Transported Man” where he appears to teleport across the stage.  Angiers takes this trick and performs it with more showmanship, achieving great success until one night when Borden sabotages the trick, humiliating Angiers in the process.  Angiers then dramatically ups the showmanship with a new version of The Transported Man, eventually resulting in the events that lead to the trial introduced at the beginning of the film.

I won’t spoil the movie for anyone reading this who hasn’t seen it, but it suffices me to say it has one of the most incredible endings to any film that I have ever seen and is my favorite film by my favorite filmmaker.  A big reason why the ending is so great is that Christopher Nolan uses a storytelling technique that he often employs, which I call “circular storytelling”.  This consists of introducing story elements early in the film that then return throughout the film and/or at its conclusion.  “The Prestige” does this brilliantly with Cutter uttering the final words of the film, in a rehashing of the introduction he gave at the beginning, “you want to be fooled”.

 Why I Love It

This is about as perfect a film as one can possibly make.  One attribute of that is the compelling story that grabs your attention and doesn’t let up.  From the beginning, the movie draws you in with an informative introduction given in a calm tone explaining something fundamental about the world of magicians that will be the film’s focus.  The story then shifts dramatically when the setting changes to the courtroom where Borden’s trial is taking place and the viewer is drawn into the story as it is revealed how it went from two friends learning their chosen trade to one of them being on trial for the other’s murder.

One reason why Christopher Nolan is my favorite filmmaker is that, with the exception of Katie Holmes in “Batman Begins”, his films are perfectly cast with excellent actors and actresses occupying every role.  “The Prestige” is not only not an exception to this, but maybe the best example of it as every performer excels in their part to the point where it is all but impossible to imagine another actor inhabiting any of the roles.  In addition to the actors already mentioned, Scarlett Johansson, Andy Serkis, and the late great singer David Bowie also turn in excellent performances that leave no weak link in the cast.

Another attribute of Christopher Nolan’s work that is on full display in this film is his excellence at the skill of pacing.  The pacing can make or break any movie, especially one that is a mystery or has elements of that genre, with how much it reveals and when.  “The Prestige” masterfully only reveals what is needed to drive the story at each point and, without blatantly giving away anything important, paves the way for one of the greatest swerves in movie history.

Rather than being as desperate or poorly contrived as a Shyamalan twist, it is subtle and leads to another characteristic of many of Christopher Nolan’s films.  That is, leaving the viewer thinking “I have to watch this movie again” in an attempt to catch things they missed that reveal the ending.

Possibly the most impressive aspect of the film is the way the story is structured.  The structure of “The Prestige” is excellent on several different levels with the way that it moves from the trial, to a chronology of events leading to the trial, and then progressing past the trial to the story’s resolution.

The true genius of this is at the end when the viewer is left to not only realize that the truth has been revealed throughout the film in subtle ways that they have simply overlooked or completely dismissed, but to also realize that they have experienced a magic trick in and of itself.   This cinematic magic trick shares the same structure described at the beginning of the film with its own Pledge, Turn, and Prestige coupled with the also described (in the film) elements of misdirection and a kind of sleight-of-hand.

I have watched this movie multiple times and come away with a greater appreciation for the film, and respect for the filmmaker behind it, every time.  I worry that this masterpiece gets lost in the shuffle of Christopher Nolan’s other impressive, and more well known, films.  This is a shame as “The Prestige”, even more than two decades after its release, continues to hold up as a masterful example of the potential of film, particularly as a medium for excellent storytelling.  If you haven’t seen this movie, check it out, and if you have then I encourage you to come back and do your best to resist the urge to “..want to be fooled”.