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THE
PRESTIGE
With
Hugh
Jackman,
Christian
Bale,
Scarlett
Johansson,
Michael
Caine,
David
Bowie,
Rebecca
Hall,
Andy
Serkis
Directed
by Christopher
Nolan
Christopher
Nolan
is no
stranger
to innovative
and
hard
to define
genres,
from
Memento
to his
great
take
on Batman
Begins.
The
Prestige
of the
title
refers
to the
third
and
final
segment
to a
magic
trick.
First
you
get
The
Pledge
(which
is the
set-up),
then
The
Turn
(when
the
magic
happens
and
the
audience
is baffled),
and
finally
The
Prestige
(where
the
audience
is wowed
by the
crowning
glory
of,
for
instance,
the
reappearance
of the
vanished
object).
Based
on the
novel
by Christopher
Priest,
the
story
focuses
on two
apprentice
magicians
(Robert
Angier
and
Alfred
Borden),
and
their
bitter
rivalry
after
they
go their
separate
ways
in the
wake
of Angier
blaming
Borden
for
his
wife’s
death
during
a botched
magic
trick.
They
both
try
to come
up with
the
most
innovative
magic
show.
Borden
creates
an inexplicable
body
transporting
trick
with
great
success.
Angier
is willing
to do
anything
to figure
it out,
usurp,
replicate
and
improve
upon
it.
With
left
and
right
sabotage,
this
leads
to one
losing
a finger
and
the
other
breaking
a leg.
Then
Angier
sends
his
assistant-lover
to steal
his
rival’s
notes
and
eventually
infiltrate
his
organization
as his
personal
spy.
Electricity
genius
Tesla
becomes
the
basis
of the
transportation
act’s
evolution
and
is played
by none
other
than
David
Bowie.
The
ingenious
storyline
is told
in time-flashes
with
one
on trial
for
the
murder
of the
other,
a great
deal
via
both
men’s
reading
of the
other’s
journal.
To a
lesser
extent
than
Darren
Aronofsky’s
The
Fountain
(also
starring
Jackman),
The
Prestige
falls
in the
same
category
of highly
thought
provoking
cinema.
With
such
a fascinating
and
original
story,
stunning
visual
approach
and
great
acting
in the
hands
of a
master
director,
this
film
makes
for
a wonderful
diversion
from
your
rudimental
studio
pulp,
and
in the
process
the
filmmakers
become
the
magicians
placing
the
audience
in the
position
of witnessing
a Pledge,
Turn
and
ultimate
Prestige
as the
surprising
finale
is revealed.
Extras:
An insightful
featurette
with
director,
writer
and
actor
interviews.
Productions
stills.
5
/ B
- PB
1 2
3 4
5
6
A -
B
- C
click
below
for
The
Prestige
soundtrack
