LuminoMagazine.com - "The Prestige": Now you see it.

"The Prestige": Now you see it.

Written by MICHAEL JAMES ALLEN

Tuesday, 24 October 2006

“The Prestige” opens with an image of several black top hats sitting in the middle of a forest. A voiceover asks us “Are you watching closely?” And man, oh man, you better be watching closely because, much like a good magic trick, if you don’t you will be left scratching your head. If, however, you do pay close attention you will be rewarded with one of the finest movies this year.

“The Prestige”

Entertainment

Art

Directed by Christopher Nolan
Written by Jonathan Nolan and Christopher Nolan, Based on the novel by Christopher Priest
Starring Hugh Jackman, Christian Bale, and Michael Caine
Rated PG-13 for violence and disturbing images
Released October 20, 2006

I’m a real sucker for stuff like “The Prestige.” First off, it’s a film that centers around magicians, and, as a boy, I spent many hours flicking cards and coins between my stubby, little fingers, trying to be the next Houdini. More importantly, however, it’s a film that is fundamentally based in story. Too many movies these days are bloated with unnecessary filling—be they car chases, gun fights, or scenes in which a main character wanders around in the rain while a pop song plays on the soundtrack. Don’t get me wrong, movies that feature these things can often be excellent (check out the recently-released “The Departed” for an example). Still, it makes me appreciate a film in which every image and every line of dialogue serves the purpose of furthering the story. You wont find a single thing in “The Prestige” that doesn’t act as an important clue for the film’s many mysteries. Even the aforementioned opening image, which seems so random at the start, will make perfect sense by the film’s end. Locating these clues and discovering their eventual meanings is what makes the film so fun. But, of course, to do so you have to watch closely.

The less you know about the plot before entering the theatre the better, but I’ll try and give you a bare bones description: The film centers around two rival magicians in turn-of-the-century England. Once the closest of friends, these two men were driven apart by a tragedy that left them seeking revenge on the other. Alfred Borden (Christian Bale) is the more talented and devoted of the two, but lacks the showmanship that Rupert Angier (Hugh Jackman) seems to possess. Both men perform variations on a trick called “The Transported Man,” and neither are sure how the other man does it. As the film progresses they continually attempt to outdo each other with this trick, with the methods becoming increasingly complicated and increasingly dangerous as well.

The two magicians are both fairly awful men, obsessed with one another and hell-bent on revenge. It is, therefore, a credit to Bale and Jackman that they manage to make both men empathetic. In a lesser movie, the feud between them would have been cartoon-ish, and the magicians would have come across as mustache-twirling villains. Thanks to the actors, however, they come off as real human beings. All the actors, for that matter, are superb. Michael Caine, playing the mentor to both magicians, lends the film a classy credibility. Likewise, David Bowie and Andy Serkis, playing Nikola Tesla (!) and his assistant respectively, manage to leave a lasting impression even though they only appear in a few scenes. It should also be noted that David Bowie is also given an introduction in the film that is both amazing and oddly fitting for the former Ziggy Stardust.

Still, the real star of “The Prestige” is the script. Writer/director Christopher Nolan (working from the equally incredible novel by Christopher Priest) crafts a story that jumps around and time and features characters who, by definition, are never what they seem to be. The effect is jarring to be sure, but it’s a real credit to Nolan that it is never confusing.

“The Prestige” is a type of movie that we rarely get nowadays, one whose sole objective is to tell an engaging story. Check it out and, I assure you, you will be clapping and wondering how they managed to pull off the trick.

Comments

Ziggy
Written by Guest on 2006-10-25 17:57:10

Can't wait to see this! Bowie sounds awesome in it.

Me too...
Written by Guest on 2006-10-30 06:34:52

Read lots of compliments to Bowie's efforts in this. The book is superb, as is The Affirmation, another of Christopher Priest's.

I LOVED THIS MOVIE
Written by Guest on 2006-11-05 14:56:09

THIS MOVIE WAS SOOO BOMB! :grin