The Prestige

Christian Bale, Hugh Jackman, Michael Caine, David Bowie, Scarlett Johansson and Rebecca Hall stars in this movie. Is there anything else I should say about it?

I’m not implying that a good cast means a good movie. But this sure is a movie worth watching. Especially if you are into magic and stuff, you are definitely going to dig this.  ‘The Prestige’ is a 2006 drama mystery film directed by Christopher Nolan, who co-wrote it and also produced it. Adapted from Christopher Priest’s 1995 novel, this movie captures the rivalry between two stage magicians Robert Angier (Hugh Jackman) also known as The Great Danton and Alfred Borden (Christian Bale) also known as The Professor.

The movie is based on London in the 19^th century and it is brought out in a series of flashbacks. At the beginning of the movie we see Alfred Borden is on trial for the murder of Robert Angier, and the plot might be a tiniest bit confusing because it’s kind of a flashback within a flashback. Angier steels Borden diary and while deciphering the tricks in it, writes about it in his diary. After the alleged murder of Angier, Borden gets Angier’s diary while he is in prison, and reads what Angier has written about him in his diary. So the first flashback is Borden reading Angier’s diary and then the flashback moves to Angier reading Borden’s diary. I know this sounds more than a bit confusing, but the 130 minute long movie succeeds in explaining way more than it needs to be explained, and does not leave the audience in a confused state.

I should admit that I found some parts of the movie predictable, but the movie as a whole succeeds in retaining the audience suspense and the mysterious aspect of it. Obviously there’s nothing much to say about the cast, with actors like Christian Bale, Hugh Jackman and Michael Caine performing in the movie. Scarlett Johansson’s British accent was something to look forward to and anyway she too does a perfectly convincing enough job.

On a thematic level, this movie is about self-sacrifice (almost too much), revenge and secrecy. And this is one of those movies which depict the grey side of life; it is very hard to point out and say that this is the hero and this is the villain. Even though it might differ from viewer to another viewer, generally we get the same kind of feeling towards both main characters plights. This movie is as same as a magic trick; it is complicated and that is exactly what makes this movie interesting and engaging.