Review of The Prestige (2006) by Jake H — 04 Sep 2013

Completely gripping and mysterious.

The Prestige is set in Victorian London, a place where magic was insisted by many to be true. The film starts by showing Alfred Borden (Bale) and Robert Angier (Jackman) acting as fake volunteers for a magic show, where Angier's wife, Julia (Piper Perabo) was the lovely assistant for the Water Torture box trick; as done by the great Houdini. However, in this one show, Borden happened to tie the knots too tightly around Julia's wrist and she couldn't escape from the box. This event sparked an everlasting feud between Angier and Borden, with Christopher Nolan's The Prestige telling the story of such a hatred of one another, and how it became that Borden was standing accused for the murder of Angier.

In this movie, Christopher Nolan is doing what he does best, making an audience think. I see this as a great thing, Nolan is clearly a director that needs a beginning, middle and an end, but he very rarely uses them in that order. From the word go, The Prestige is bringing the audience in, making them ask questions of what they are viewing on the screen. Nolan himself is creating his own illusion, with the film never actually being all that it seems, waiting for as long as he possibly can until revealing the answers behind all the questions.

Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale's roles in this film complement each other extremely well. Even though they share a small amount of screen time, the interactions you get with one following the other or slyly looking from the wings give out such an array of emotion that the audience doesn't miss the too and fro of quick dialogue. The supporting cast is also on top form with Michael Caine playing Alfred the butler, sorry, no, Cutter, the mechanic behind the magical machines. Caine's performance gives off the same dignity that we know so well from Nolan's Batman Trilogy.

The Prestige is truly gripping and mysterious, but what else do you expect from a Christopher Nolan film?

J.Henderson.

8/10.