Christopher Nolan’sThe Prestigeis a wonderful twisty tale that is even darker when considering what actually happens to Hugh Jackman’s character. Nolan has famously created movies that have deep, thought-provoking narrative arcs, and complex story elements that leave audiences mulling over the events for a long time after the credits roll. But one of his best films, from around the time he also madeThe Dark Knighttrilogy, features an incredibly twisted reveal that leaves the main character in an uncertain state of affairs.
Along with Hugh Jackman, who plays the role of Robert Angier,Christian Bale plays Alfred Borden, initially a friend of Angier’s before the pair part ways and seek to establish their careers as magicians separately. And while the vitriol between the pair leads to an intense rivalry, with violence, manipulation, and deception, the damage that these two endlessly determined men did to themselves far outweighs anything they did to each other. This contention andcompetition ultimately destroys both, and leads to a tragic ending.
The Real Angier Most Likely Died The First Time He Did The New Transported Man Trick
Hugh Jackman’s Angier May Have Died Much Earlier In The Prestige
The Transported Man was the ultimate trick that both Angier and Borden worked to perfectand enhance over their careers. While Borden was able to pull off a technically brilliant version of the trick early on, Angier was able to mimic this with a lookalike actor, and some sleight of hand, but he grew tired of being the person beneath the stage at the end of the show, while his unwitting aid lapped up praise and standing ovations from the audience above his head. This led Angier to go to desperate lengths to do a real Transported Man trick.
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In order to achieve this, Angier worked with genius scientist and inventor, Nikola Tesla, to build a machine capable of making the trick possible. However, the machine actually created a perfect copy of Angier in another location. This led Angier to devise a way to dispose of the other body, who remained at the first machine, though this likely meant that theoriginal Angier died the first time he performed the trick, leaving the new copy in his place.
The Prestige Intentionally Makes Us Lose Track Of The Original Robert Angier
Christopher Nolan’s Signature Misdirection Plays A Big Part In The Prestige
The entire point ofThe Prestigeis that it delivers the big endingto the trick. However, to get to a satisfying prestige, sleight of hand has to disguise the plain and mundane elements that go into making the trick work in the first place. The film mimics this pattern, taken from the progression of real life magic tricks, and applies the same sequence in the film, as it intentionally obscures the truth about what is going on in the Transported Man trick, andleaves the interpretation and conclusion ambiguous. But with relatively straightforward logic, the trick can be exposed.
The film reveals that Angier can successfully perform this trick, with him standing high above the audience, having appeared to be teleported to this obscured location. However, the remaining body that stepped in to the machine is dropped into a water tank, similar to the one Angier’s wife died in, where they drown and die. This leaves a dead body, and one living Angier, but themovie offers no way to confirm which was the original. When Tesla was testing the trick in his lab, dozens of hats littered the surrounding grounds, but this is because it was always duplicated. If it works anything like a printer, it has to be concluded that the original steps into the scanner, while the new copy appears elsewhere.
Hugh Jackman’s Character Never Knew If He Was Going To Be The One To Die
Robert Angier’s Ambition Was BIg Enough To Risk His Life Repeatedly
Angier somehow convinces himself that when stepping into the machine, he has achance to be the version that appears elsewhere in the theater, and survives to get the praise and adoration of the audience. But logic would suggest that the machine is not a teleportation device, but a cloning machine. If it was truly a teleportation device, why would it need to leave a copy of the person or object behind at the origin of their journey? Of course, as a sci-fi film based on technology that does not exist, it’s possible that it works differently, but it seems unlikely.
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The truth is likely that Angier has such an intense need to be recognized for his work, and to beat his rival, Borden, that he is willing to take the chance. In the movie, he declares that he has no idea which one he will be when stepping into the machine, either the person who appears to finish the trick, or the one drowning in the tank. If the odds are an even split, then logic again concludes thatAngier’s chances of being the one who dies at least once continue to increase. But Angier is beyond caring, and his ambition and pride have consumed him to the point that he willingly dies for his trick.
The Implications Of Tesla’s Machine Make The Prestige Very Disturbing
The Sci-Fi Element In The Prestige Makes The Story So Much Darker
Again, this is a fictional piece of technology, and the actual practicalities of it are difficult to ascertain, but as far as the movie is concerned, this is a nasty piece of kit. No matter what else is happening, the device duplicates a human being, creates a perfect copy with memories, emotions, feelings, and everything in common with the original person. Meanwhile,Angier’s addition to the device ensures that only one of the two beings survivesafter the performance, as the other body drowns, and then remains lifeless, floating in a tank of water. This is no simple trick, but an actual murder being committed beneath the stage each and every night that the trick is done.
This symmetry between the story, the trick Angier performs, and the actual progression of a trick is spectacular, and easily makesThe Prestigeone of Christopher Nolan’s best works to date.
While the audience is not made aware of the workings of the trick, they are made a part of this scene of awful violence, as they clap and cheer for the supposedly transported Angier. And as much as the film is beautifully shot, with a flow to the story, and a natural progression of events that sees the characters develop, chase their dreams, and achieve these goals, the actions happening off-stage, which allow the trick to work and impress an audience, are so much more sinister and awful. This symmetry between the story, the trick Angier performs, and the actual progression of a trick is spectacular, and easily makesThe Prestigeone ofChristopher Nolan’s best worksto date.
