The Prestige
Throw together an all-star cast with a genius of a director like Christopher Nolan and you’re bound to end up with success, right? While there are plenty of examples to prove that the statement is not always true, it is definitely true in the case of The Prestige. The film tells the story of the rivalry between two 19th century magicians and their professional obsessions. Christopher Nolan brings back faces familiar in his works like Christian Bale and Michael Caine while adding stars Hugh Jackman and Scarlett Johansson to the lineup and the result is quite impressive.
Christopher Nolan is definitely a master at developing a story that is very complex but deeply interconnected. You always get that ‘aha’ feeling at the end of his films when everything you’ve been wondering about and suspecting comes together. One thing to keep in mind is that this film is not a cheery tale. It is in fact quite dark and moderately disturbing. With that being said, the characters develop in such a way that you initially wouldn’t suspect what ends up happening but by the end of the film you realize it couldn’t end any other way.
The ironic aspect to both of their acts was that the prestige, the final part of the trick, was not a trick at all. Borden finally brought out his long thought of plan involving his brother so that the Transported Man was in reality another man who indeed looked exactly the same (even to the extent of voluntarily cutting off fingers to keep the individuals indistinguishable). Angier’s act simply created another copy of himself which was quickly disposed of.
Even though there are some definite similarities between Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale’s characters, they serve as strong contrasts. Both men are completely driven by their obsession to have the best trick, outdo their rival, and to be the best magician. Both men start off small and mostly innocent but continue to push themselves to the detriment and injury of others, including those they love. The difference is that the Borden twins’ obsession led to negligence and arrogance. Hugh Jackman’s wife died unintentionally because of Borden’s arrogance. Borden’s wife killed herself because of Borden’s negligence. When he struck back at Angier, he did so in a way to publicly embarass him rather than simply trying to kill him. The Borden twins’ obsession came at a high cost, and even though they are definitely at fault, nothing was intentional per se.
On the other hand Angier grew deeply and intentionally malicious. His wife’s death spurred him to not just want to be better than Borden, but he also grew a desire to have Borden suffer and die. He grew deeply jealous of the family Borden had, the family that Angier should have had. He attempted to kill Borden. When he first attempted to use Tesla’s machine, he did so knowing full well what the result might be and he prepared himself by having a loaded gun ready to dispose of the result. He continued to perform his new ‘trick’ while creating an elaborate plan to kill and dispose of the results of it. He framed Borden for his death, which really was a murder committed by himself, which led to one of the Borden twins getting hung. He was manipulative to the extent that he ended up in the care of Borden’s daughter and made sure Borden knew that before being hung.
The hanging of one of the Borden twins was a little murky. Was this twin, who loved Olivia (Scarlett Johansson), any more responsible for what had happened than the other twin? Both of them were equally involved in their elaborate ruse. Both of them decided that their act took precedence over their loved ones, so when their loved ones suffered and even died, they both were responsible. The only saving grace the living Borden twin had was his living daughter. Even though he had definitely made terrible mistakes, the best thing for the little girl would be to carry on a new life with her father and so the living Borden could plausibly live on with the noble purpose of caring for his child. There was nothing murky about Angier’s death. He had long ago crossed lines from where there was no returning. When you murder someone every night in order to garner applause you are beyond redemption. His willful maleficence destined him to his deserved fate.
