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It is near the end of the nineteenth century; Robert Angier and Alfred Borden are two young magicians. They are friends and yet are rivals both in search of the illusive act that would bring them fame and fortune. But when a fatal accident occurs taking the life of Angier’s wife…their friendly rivalry turns into a fierce battle to put the other out of the scene once and for all.
I read a review of this movie somewhere that said it was best to watch this movie knowing as little as possible, due to the twist and turns that the movie has…knowing too much would inevitably spoil the movie…thus I kept to that…and avoided all the message boards on it on IMDB…I’m glad I did. And so if you want to watch this…I recommend you not to read on….
** Contain Spoilers**
Here’s the thing, magicians are such intriguing character…they’re mysterious…and sometimes downright creepy…and you’re always wondering whether its all an illusion…if it is…which part of the act was it that had fooled you making you believe it was real…or maybe it was all real…And here we are transported to their world and a given an understanding of what it takes to make an act work…the importance of a pretty assistant for distraction…for one, a staff planted amongst the audience who would be picked as a volunteer for a trick…the art of disguise and above all the importance of an engineer of the tricks…who not only designs the acts but all the props and gadgets to make the illusion a success…and such a role was played by Michael Caine…the loyal Cutter, the designer of Angier tricks who brings sanity to Angier insane quest and obsession in uncovering Borden successful act…the Transported Man. And Angier played none other than Hugh Jackman …probably in one of his darkest role… a man so intent on revenge it consumes him. While Christian Bale plays Borden, the saner of two…trying to get past the unfortunate accident, setting up a family, building a career , creating the ultimate act….the center of Angier’s obsession, and having Angier at his back…on almost every turn trying to sabotage his act.
I liked the setting…the Victorian era…the colours used…the costumes…even liked the magician posters…and the magician’s props…how can anyone not mention them…the technicality of most of them…somehow I was just never aware that so much science goes into their design… the effects were great too…the scenes with Tesla and his experiments…coming into this movie…I didn’t even know there were science fiction elements in it…and the narrative was interesting. It starts at the present…at the past…we’re given different perspectives…a lot of flashbacks…this might sound confusing…but it wasn’t really…it all worked out…the story flowed well.
Complex film…really like it, keeps you thinking long after the credits roll. The ending…Never saw it coming. At some point I thought…could it be real magic?…then when we met Tesla…I thought they were clones…and then it seemed they were twins afterall?? Twins?? Now did I get it right? Or did I miss something…or are they really clones. Hah…I guess I might have to watch it again. Actually I found this post on IMDB…The Definitive Guide to “The Prestige”…Interesting interpretation of the movie…I quite agree on a lot of it…plus it does shed some light on the stuff I wasn’t clear about. Certainly a link you might want to check out.
Overall, thoroughly enjoyed the film… a great story…love all the twist and turns…its soo clever…really makes you think. Watch it.
Addicted to Films 
