The Prestige

Directed by Christopher Nolan
Based on the novel by Christopher Priest
Adapted Screenplay by Christopher and Jonathan Nolan

"Are you watching closley?"

They are the first words in the film, The Prestiege and the key to understanding the movie. The Prestiege is a film based off of Christopher Priest's novel of the same name. The basic plot of the story revolves around two magicians. Robert Angier (Hugh Jackman) and Alfred Borden (Christian Bale) are two friends trying to make it as magicians, but when Alfred may or may not have caused the death of Angier's wife, the two friends become enemies. Each one sabatoge the other's magic shows for their own gain. And just when you think you've figured out which one has won, the film pulls yet another twist that turns the whole movie around and leaves you with an ending that you're sure to re-watch. I won't go into great detail about the big twist and reveal in order not to spoil it for you.

The emphasis I would lik to concetrate on is how Christopher Nolan decides to show the narrative. The film goes in no chronolical order. The film starts out revealing the death of Angier and the trial of the man believed to be his killer, Borden. For one, what you think you know is part of the trick. You spend most of the film beleving that Angier is dead, until the climax of the film when you find that he is alive and it's just another twist. The story's only connecting point are two journals. Borden reads Angier's journal while in prison, while Angier is reading Borden's journal in his search for an anwser in Borden's journal. The film never really goes into chronolical order until the end. While this may seem confusing, it's represented well in the film and comes together nicley in the third act.

The Nolan brothers also do an important rethinking of the story. In the novel, Angier's clones are killed almost instently. The Nolan brothers change this which provieds a bit of mystique to the film and a question that is never truley anwsered and is up to the audience to decipher it for their own.

The film also deals with many different themes and genres. Angier is a man obsessed with getting revenge, while Borden is a man who is literally living a double life. While the film is mainly a drama, it can also be seen as science fiction. In fact, Angier does acquire a machine that creates a clone of himself. And then the film switches roles. It makes Borden wanting revenge on Angier. And then it becomes who will have the last laugh. And if you follow the instructions given to you in the very beginning of the film and watch very closley, you'll see both men's sacrafice or a magic trick.

-Christopher Bergeris