Directed por Christopher Nolan
Based on the novel por Christopher Priest
Starring Hugh Jackman, Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Scarlett Johansson and David Bowie
Prepare to be deceived with the magical workings of Christian Bale (Alfred Borden) and Hugh Jackman (Robert Angier), two young magicians, locked in a battle which will involve all that they hold dear, and ultimately destroy them....
Alfred Borden and Robert Angier are young magicians living in period Britain with talent and a flare for performing. Both are secretive men with much to hide; and when they are thrust against the mural of fame they begin the climb together, working under a mais talented magician as they learn the secretive art. An unnecessary experiment conducted during a performance por Borden which ultimately kills Angier’s wife will turn both of their lives around, and have them raring for the other’s secrets and any opportunity to exploit them. No longer friends, but enemies, the two magicians fight to trump each other and achieve the título of the greatest. They weave an insane web of lies and deception, magic and trickery, which eventually leads to the exposure of their greatest secrets, and unmasks them for who they truly are...
The film has a pace to it which is satisfying and enjoyable, and it is fast to take off. The complexities of the story are involved from the word go; as the film begins at a stage just moments from the conclusion, when characters have already been defined, and the plot fully explored. It then progresses to the past, and, narrated partially por a friend of the two magicians (Caine), the story of how the men came to be where they have just been shown to have ended up is told. Already, you have been privy to scenes which are, though not entirely understood por you (as the lead-up to these scenes has not yet been viewed); they are still pleasantly electric and exciting. As you start to see mais of the past, and to know the characters and their stories, you begin to feel anxious for the future of these people, watching with the fervent hope that all will turn out as it should, but knowing from what you have already seen that this is not so. You are, in this way, captured por the story from the moment it begins - caught up in the suspense of a semi-revealed outcome and the lives and feelings of a multitude of characters.
Such interlocking of the story continues throughout the entire film, as flashes of the present are coupled with those of the past, and the truth can only be yearned for.
You certainly need to be watching closely throughout the film as the storyline is so intricate, and this, coupled with the backwards and forwards progression of the films’ storyline (which leaves tantalizing clues and hints about the greatest secrets of the magicians and those around them) would leave even the brightest minds high and dry in the procurar for an answer, until the final moments. “The Prestige” certainly takes a segundo watching for a full unravelment of the storyline, but is well worth such an action on all accounts, purely for the enlightenment sure to be receive the segundo time around and secondly so that you can once mais be bedazzled an amazed por the stunning tricks.
The pure and unadultered fogo and passion that is the driving force behind Angier and Borden’s seemingly insane endeavours and crimes against each other is the most mysterious part of the film, and it is only in the last few scenes that their motives and techniques in their attacks upon each other are fully revealed. The climax of the film is well worth the wait, though it is a suspenseful one, and as the credits begin to roll you are still in what is almost a state of shock from the penultimate scene; as they run through the interlocking parts in their mind, puzzling it all through and exploring the depths and extremities of it. The story is well told por the film that you cannot rest without knowing all the secrets that lie behind it.
Bale and Jackman’s display of Borden and Angier’s obsessions that show forth in their behaviour is an amazing feat in atuação – they seem to draw up deluded and single-minded men not from within the script, but from within themselves. Their portrayal of Borden and Angier is exactly suited to the film, as they capa themselves within their parts, and play them out perfectly. They seem to become, in every sense, the character they are playing, and fold up into it rather than having the character almost as a broadcast and promotion for themselves – when watching the film, it is not a matter of comparing the actors to one another’s acting, or to their atuação in other pieces, nor is it about managing to slot the actor’s role and success in their part as Angier or Borden into some kind of timeline which tells of the actors progression in the world of atuação and their skill development. When watching the film, a viewer becomes entirely entrapped in the obsessions of the two magicians – comparing their magic skills, and wondering who, at the end of the day, is the better magician in not merely the show sense of the word, but in the sense in which the magician is a better person (are they mais attentive to other’s feelings? Are they willing to take their obsession to crazy levels without regard for other’s and how it may even endanger their lives? How was it even possible for Borden in particular to live with his secret, knowing that is was hurting people dear to him? Why were they both willing to sacrifice everything they had for the sake of their tricks and magic?) This viewing of the characters is because of a unique talent which Bale, in particular, is in possession of. He is one of those impressive actors who is renowned world-over, and gets large roles in large productions (such as Batman) and yet, when seen in a film, is not hailed as a legendary actor - what happens is that people do not say that Christian Bale played Alfred Borden; they say that Alfred Borden was played por Christian Bale. This slight rearrangement of words, however, is all the praise that is needed for someone who can slip in and out of a role as fluently and efficiently as Bale. His work is such that you do not see him when he is present in a film; you see his character.
fãs of the book will find that the skeleton of the story they loved still remains within the film while there is a new set of sub-storylines for them to get their heads around, and though the essence of the characters remain the same, an entirely new layer of intrigue has been placed upon that which existed in the novel, something which will reform conceptions of characters after they are explored in what appears to be a much greater detail, and their lives are dragged out before you, the viewer.
It is notable that Borden’s wife, Sarah (played por Rebecca Hall), suffered unjustly, and whilst this was not explored in full in the book, her suffering was easy to understand in the film, from her perception of the tensions between herself and Borden at times, to the times when she was melancholically looking back over the happier times she had with Borden before part of him seemed to drift away from her.
The film was able to evoke a wide variety of emotions from the viewers; those of hate, anger, pity, and love. These were for the injustices in particular those inflicted upon those few characters that the film had given you an innate liking for. The characters like Sarah Borden, who never lied, cheated, or tricked their ways into anything were able to be admired easily – and admiration and liking are the emotions which it is hardest to conjure up in the viewers of a film, as it can be easy to give a character qualities which are detestable or just simply not likeable, whilst it is a lot harder to make a character kind and fair enough that they are not written off as annoying, but found admirable or likeable. It was also admirable of Hall to ensure that you, when watching the film, are able to perceive the fullness of her Sarah and appreciate her honesty - an honesty that sadly did not pervade the lives of others in Sarah’s life.
As the film progresses, the differences between the Angier and Borden of the present, and those of the past, which were at the beginning seemingly innumerable, dwindle away until they have disappeared, and it is apparent that the past and present are about to collide (making the journeys that the characters take the mais significant and obvious with comparison which becomes similarity, which eventually results in the lives of the magicians in the present and the past becoming one and exactly the same at a meeting point mid-way), and it is clear that soon the complexities of all the characters will be revealed (though this does not relieve you of the edge-of-seat syndrome which the film is capable of bestowing upon you). The things that sent Angier and Borden of the straight and narrow, and into a world of obsessions and insanity becomes clearer and clearer, and where at first you would be completely confused, and wondering what could have tipped them over the edge, it is also becoming clearer and clearer - even Borden’s cruelly fluctuating moods are becoming mais understandable, and his apparent disregard for his wife at times (as he continues to pursue the solemn keeping of his secret, knowing, as he does, that his loved ones are somewhat attuned to his machinations, and suffering because of them) in particular is beginning to make some sense. This transition between little knowledge to complete understanding is so smooth (with the help of the double-time scenario in which the present and the past play their parts in telling the story) that the script-writer must be praised for their brilliant work.
The actors and script-writer were both top-notch, and the true old British style and storyline itself is encapsulated well in the sets and the costuming, and whilst chapéu-coco, jogador, jogador de boliche hats and bleached white collars rule the scene of design, the script is as magical as the magicians themselves, and is able to give a incredible depth and feel to all the characters and themes of the story. The scriptwriter clearly has the amazing ability to transport someone, using merely a few words, from the comfort of their living room to the centre of a heated argument between a husband and wife or a grimy cell in a dank prison. Words can do a lot, and whilst a bad scriptwriter will drag a film down and send it to its’ grave, a good scriptwriter can give a film everything it is missing – and a good scriptwriter was exactly who Jackman and Bale found themselves working with. It was the combined efforts of two brilliant actors, and one amazing scriptwriter that made the film come alive. The scriptwriter created the words, and the actors delivered them to the audience with perfection.
It is the outbursts and reactions of the characters within a film that make them seem human, as if the situation they are finding themselves in is not concocted, but one that they are actually in the middle of. The script of “The Prestige” can cruz boundaries and give a uniquely real sense to the film. “The Prestige’s script is perfect. The actions and reactions of the characters are so perfectly intertwined and interlocked that you believe them to be real – because they are, in their own way, real. They are the reactions and actions of real people, and they will remain that way forever, caught on tape indefinitely.
Another level which is given to the film is that of the somewhat eerie and intermittent música which gives the film a majestic and magical feel, with just enough “creepy” to suit it, and though a soundtrack is not really plausible (with the música not such that would be listened to regularly), the música is well suited to the film, and gives it mais definition.
Angier and Borden’s interactions give a lot of depth to both of the characters, revealing their pettier and their stronger sides. The characters are so fully explored within the film that it seems they are known to you as you can never know anyone who is real in your life. You feel a certain emotional closeness to the characters, after they are thus exposed, and almost feel protective of them; knowing, as you do, their weaknesses. You go away from the film feeling like you have met someone new – someone who you have instantaneously understood and accepted, and who has likewise understood and accepted you. The characters even get large amounts of their seeming solidity from their indirect interaction with each other through their diaries, in particular when for example Borden comments aloud to himself on Angier’s having commented on a comment Borden himself made to Angier’s face, upon finding Angier’s comment when leitura his diary.
The interactions of the characters are only, though, one small part of the film, and what is much mais is the things that are never said but only hinted or guessed at...
The film captures your imagination and your attention with such force that you are constantly kicking yourself upon the revealing of secrets, not quite sure how you could have been bamboozled so easily. The whole film there is one thing niggling in the back of your mind. The opening shot of the piece – a veritable mountain of black chapéu-coco, jogador, jogador de boliche hats strewn amongst what appears to be a forest – is one of the main things that keep resurfacing at the back of your head, and you seem to grasp that the hats are important, just for one second, and then you lose your train of thought and are once mais avidly staring at the screen, trying to ignore the sense that you have just missed a vital (what would seem to be) clue. When at last the moment of realisation comes, you cannot understand your having missed the clue at the beginning – it was so obvious. The film repeats this same trick time and time again, leaving you grasping at straws to see the light of the matter, and has you desperate for more.
This period film concentrating on the deadly battle between two magicians and the death and destruction they caused around them seems to be teetering on the edge of the line between sanity and insanity. “The Prestige” almost takes a nose dive down into insanity at one point when Bowie (playing Nikola Tesla) makes a scientific machine for Jackman which would seem to be verging into levels of science fiction, and the leap which is taken to get to such a stage is thankfully so smooth that you do not quite register what has happened until after the film is complete and this therefore does not hold back any enjoyment you could gain from the film.
“The Prestige” is a marvel in film making; it has such intricately woven plot lines and concepts that they are comparable to a fine golden aranha web. As nothing lost is nothing gained, it is definitely worth sitting through the suspense and tension filled moments of the first hora if just to have revealed to you the final twists of the story. All in all, a great achievement, with magic, drama, love, hatred, pride, injustice, death, lies and deceit entwined within the plotlines of the movie; there is nothing missing.
