THE PRESTIGE

Starring: Hugh Jackman, Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Scarlett Johansson, Rebecca Hall, David Bowie, Piper Perabo, Andy Serkis

Script:Christopher Nolan, Jonathan Nolan
Director: Christopher Nolan
Producers: Christopher Nolan, Aaron Ryder, Emma Thomas

Running Time: 130 mins
Country: USA, UK
Year: 2006

Official Site:
theprestige.movies.go.com

An eerie mood permeates the opening image of top hats scattered on the ground, when the voice of stage magician Alfred Borden (Christian Bale), asks us, “Are you watching closely?”

Back in Victorian London, Borden’s professional rival Robert Angier (Hugh Jackman) performs his new illusion only to drown in a water-tank with Borden accused of murder. Awaiting his fate in prison, Borden reads Angier’s diary, which traces back the events leading up to the present, oddly beginning with Angier’s journey to the remote Colorado Springs on the search for Borden’s own illusion secrets. As a filmmaker whose earlier works, Following and Memento, broke stories out of chronological order, Christopher Nolan evidently didn’t plan on making a simple tale.

The Prestige, based on Christopher Priest’s novel, follows Angier and Borden from their friendship as apprentices to a magician whose illusions are designed by Cutter (Michael Caine) until a water-tank escape stunt goes terribly wrong and drowns Angier’s wife. From thereon, a bitter feud is born between Angier and Borden when years later they are archrivals on the magic circuit in London.

Angier, with the aid of Cutter, is the better showman whilst Borden has little stage presence but is the better magician, constantly striving to do new things. However, their one-upmanship is far from mere jibes as both men adopt disguises to sabotage each other’s acts. But when Borden performs his greatest illusion, The Transported Man, Angier is completely blown away and begins his dangerous obsession to uncover Borden’s secret to steal the act.

Following the main rivalry in London, Angier’s journey to Colorado Springs and Borden’s time in prison Nolan weaves these timeframes together intricately, keeping the film in an ongoing suspense that drops a few clues for the observant audience member before taking a sharp turn that re-cloaks the mystery. It’s not as tightly held together as say the backwards-and-forwards criss-cutting in Memento and sometimes the pacing suffers. Angier’s plotline in Colorado Springs is particularly stagnant, saved only by David Bowie’s quirky performance as grim inventor Nikola Tesla.

Nevertheless, the story stays in focus by having Cutter early on explain to Borden’s daughter how a magic trick consists of three acts – the pledge, the turn, the prestige – a clear reminder to screenwriters of the classic Hollywood movie structure, which the Nolan brothers follow firmly in their screenplay. The beauty of The Prestige is how the magician’s craft of dazzling an audience parallels exactly that of the screenwriter’s craft. Whereas the audience is there to be amazed, the artist’s purpose is to demystify the process by cracking the secret; the cruel reality behind the disappearing bird trick may appal animal rights activists in the audience but as Cutter tells Angier, “you’re going to have to get your hands dirty”.

The parallels stretch to their extremes in how learning the secrets of the craft is as much an obsession as it is hard work. While Angier risks everything to possess the ultimate magic trick that takes him beyond the point of no return, Borden’s secret of his prestige can only be kept by a deception that harms those closest to him, including his wife Sarah (Rebecca Hall). This does largely diminish the role of the other characters whilst the two leads battle it out, taking turns to play both protagonist and antagonist, such is the result of their identity crises, a familiar theme of Nolan’s.

As the film reaches its final shocking prestige, the screenwriter amongst the audience may notice two key questions posed: firstly, how much are you willing to sacrifice to for your art? Secondly, if you’re not swayed by the illusions and blind alleys the film conjures up, can you say that you were, to paraphrase Borden, watching closely?

By Alan Wen