Directed by:
Christopher NolanCinematography:
Wally PfisterComposer:
David JulyanCast:
Christian Bale, Hugh Jackman, Michael Caine, Piper Perabo, Rebecca Hall, Scarlett Johansson, David Bowie, Andy Serkis, Daniel Davis, Christopher Neame (more)Plots(1)
Two young, passionate magicians, Robert Angier (Jackman), a charismatic showman, and Alfred Borden (Bale), a gifted illusionist, are friends and partners until one fateful night when their biggest trick goes terribly wrong. Now the bitterest of enemies, they will stop at nothing to learn each other's secrets. As their rivalry escalates into a total obsession full of deceit and sabotage, they risk everything to become the greatest magician of all time. But nothing is as it seems, so watch closely. (official distributor synopsis)
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Reviews (10)
"Because making something disappear isn't enough; you have to bring it back." Obsession with anything can lead anyone to ruin, but what if the inevitable and dark outcome of your efforts is neither death nor salvation? I don't like self-serving twists, I don't like reveals sucked out of the fingers, and I especially don't like the feeling when the creators try to cheaply outsmart me. But what if someone presents a few exhausting twists that don't tire you out and instead leave you wanting more? Now I understand why it took Christopher and Jonathan Nolan so long to develop this screenplay, because thinking through the story (even when it's based on a novel) to all its consequences must have taken a lot of effort. And observing the eternal feud between Borden and Angier is the pinnacle of viewer delight. I thank the creators that the perfect line "Are you watching closely?" is not an audiovisual question, but rather a thoughtful one. If it only depended on discovering a few images, the trick couldn't work a second time, but this way everything truly depends only on the storytellers. The viewer then remains helpless, like a prisoner locked in a water tank.
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Christopher Nolan is slowly but surely becoming one of my favourite directors. The Prestige is sharing with Memento the position of his best film (at least for me). I like his more intimate thrillers a bit more than Batman. The actors are superb, with a Christian Bale a lot more convincing than in Batman Begins and The Dark Night. The script is awesome, packed with minor turns and impressive situations and scenes, and by the end it delivers an unexpected twist that, although not as brilliant as Memento’s, makes everything fall into place and make perfect sense. I hope Nolan will take a break from Batman so we can get again something smaller.
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4 1/2 *. A return to subtle storytelling and definitely Nolan's best film since Memento. The only thing that bothered me was the literal conclusion. If Nolan had used a more elegant solution, perhaps in the form of hints, instead of a half-hearted explanation, it would have been a perfect experience. Nevertheless, with each new film of the N+N duo, it is true that "to have the ideas of the Nolan brothers is to be filmmaking legends in the future". Anyway, the trump card is the cast, with a very good Michael Caine, the almost inhumanly charismatic David "Tesla" Bowie and above all Christian Bale – an actor of many faces and you believe all of them. When he flashes his typical foxy smile, you'd go for a beer with him right away, but in front of his sinister expression you'd rather crawl under the table :). The atmosphere is scrumptious, and the sets are a separate chapter, they deserve some special film awards.
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Christopher Nolan is a brilliant artist who has already accomplished an incredible amount in film, and he is just barely over forty. When he directed the first "Batman" and announced the film "The Prestige," people probably thought he just wanted to take a little break from substance. But Nolan didn't want to rest at all. He took an interesting, relatively unknown book by Christopher Priest and made a film that will leave you breathless. He managed to do something that many directors have been trying to do since "The Sixth Sense" - he created such a powerful twist that it will give you chills when you realize what you have been watching the whole time. The well-chosen environment of magicians, mutual rivalry, the effort to be more and more perfect, at any cost. Hugh Jackman, Christian Bale, and Michael Caine prove how great actors they are, especially Jackman who showed that he is truly a talented actor. The other two only confirmed it. But what leads the film is the great atmosphere that culminates in a truly amazing finale. This film is meticulously thought out in every detail. There are not many like it. More: http://www.filmovy-denik.cz/2012/06/karate-kid-parchanti-hromy-blesky-uca.html
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A film that seemed like a one-time magic trick the first time I watched it. I even doubted I would ever return to it. Since then, I've been doing it every year, and this sparkling narrative play, which juggles storytelling perspective and excitingly thematizes the mystery of creation and the fragile bond between the illusionist and the audience, has ultimately shown greater vitality than any other Nolan film. The architecture of the storytelling serves the characters more than anywhere else. With each change in perspective, the viewer's relationship to them changes, and the evaluation of their obsession and emotional attunement to the main motives. The point with the "aquarium-secret" may be modest, but is, at its core, ingenious. The work of a real magician. Continuous grower.
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