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)VOD (2)
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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)
Luckily the Nolan brothers played about sufficiently with the screenplay, so the result isn’t just a set of illustrations for the original book, but a self-standing creation. Not all the changes from the book are for the best (for instance, setting the story in the present day and its almost horror feel would have looked good in the movie too), but as a whole it holds together well and works without having to have read the book. Nolan plays an intelligent game with the viewer, asking a lot of questions, but also offering some answers. In terms of directing, he handles the movie with his own inimitable style and uses a similar storytelling method that he tried out in his debut movie, Following. The only more serious shortcoming is the pretty annoying partial happy ending; they should have left the ending the same as in the book.
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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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"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 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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Christopher Nolan didn't win me over as a great director with his Batman films (which were really great), but he did win me over with his perfect and well thought out masterpieces Inception and The Prestige. The film has an incredibly well thought out plot and very well done time shifts that you don’t get lost. And the director loves ambiguous endings, he's a real genius at that. The Prestige is great in every way. It has a strong premise (which is a bit like The Illusionist, but at the same time completely different), it doesn't lack action, romance and mystery, and it blew me away as a viewer - what more could I ask for? In short, I don't know what or how to write to lift the film to the heights ... so I simply applaud.
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