The Prestige: "Dishonest Truths" - Analysis and Explanation (FIXED)

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  • Опубликовано: 10 янв 2018
  • RE-UPLOADED: After the last video was mistakenly altered due to an unnecessary copyright claim, I had to fix it (I'm weird like that), so that it flows properly and works on all media.
    Deception forms the heart of a film exploring illusion, storytelling, and the lies we tell - and the lies we need - to understand the world and art.
    'Digging Deeper' is a series taking a serious look (for us) at films, themes, characters, and various aspects of filmmaking, writing, directing, and more.
    An extensive look at magic, movies, and the twisting tale of two illusionists that manages to be jumbled, out-of-time, and mysterious, but utterly engaging and finely crafted.
    3:26 - 'The Pledge'
    7:50 - Chung Ling Soo
    15:52 - 'The Turn'
    20:39 - Rant Insight
    26:12 - Two Twins
    34:34 - Nikola Tesla
    42:19 - Rant Fact
    46:06 - 'The Real Magic'
    If you have any comments, or ideas, please let us know in the comments!
    Did you find the deliberate mistake in the video?
    Tweets: / rantandbollox
    Facebook: / rantandbollox
    iTunes: itunes.apple.com/ca/podcast/rant-and-bollox/id1200503565?mt=2
    MUSIC:
    The Prestige OST - David Julyan
    Are you watching closely?
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Комментарии • 291

  • @maggieray222
    @maggieray222 3 года назад +82

    One of the greatest movie experiences I've ever had in a theater. The audience was rapt from the start, silent throughout. When Angier said "I don't care about my wife" everybody GASPED. Silence, silence silence until the hand with the missing fingers slowly lowers into the frame at the end (under the stage). Screams and omg's were coming out of people, a post-brunch Manhattan crowd. Film ends, credits roll-nobody moves. Lady in front of me looks to her friend and says, obviously shell shocked, "What just happened"?" Masterpiece.

  • @Ptinski
    @Ptinski 4 года назад +29

    Both Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale said in interviews that Ricky Jay never gave them any secrets about magic, but rather showed them little bits here and there but never explained how these tricks were done. True masters keep their secrets!

  • @MisterKorihor
    @MisterKorihor 2 года назад +43

    Remember that Borden is two men--and they both have different personalities. There is the good Borden (Albert) and the bad Borden (Frederick). It was Albert who had the wife and the daughter. Frederick is the one who liked Olivia. It was Albert that survived at the end, and that Cutter helped. And it was Albert who wanted to leave Angier alone--but Frederick didn't listen. It was also Albert who went to the funeral and gave his condolences to Angier, but he honestly didn't know the knot that Frederick used. If you watch the movie carefully, you can tell, for most scenes, which Borden it is.

    • @elinorris1739
      @elinorris1739 Год назад +5

      did you watch this video or not cuz he talks about this pretty extensively

    • @Obscurum
      @Obscurum Год назад

      @@elinorris1739 at which minute mark does he talk about that?

  • @nanaabenadarkowaah1800
    @nanaabenadarkowaah1800 6 лет назад +90

    Your analysis : Masterpiece.

  • @mwfilmstudies986
    @mwfilmstudies986 5 лет назад +51

    I love this more and more every time I watch this. By far the most well edited film of Nolan's career

    • @davidlean1060
      @davidlean1060 4 года назад +9

      The best film he has made so far, hands down.

    • @Hritik9000
      @Hritik9000 3 года назад +1

      @@davidlean1060 not really, his best film is The Dark Knight.

    • @davidlean1060
      @davidlean1060 3 года назад +6

      @@Hritik9000 Not being a fan of his films after The Prestige, I can't concur. Horses for courses. Everything else he has made since, I can give or take, bar Inception which, pretensions aside, is good fun.

    • @mikespearwood3914
      @mikespearwood3914 Год назад +1

      @@Hritik9000 Nah, The Dark Knight wasn't even the best of the Batman movies Nolan made.

  • @pdreding
    @pdreding 6 лет назад +25

    I almost skipped this because of its length. I'm very glad I didn't.

  • @beatrixxkiddo4584
    @beatrixxkiddo4584 3 года назад +28

    39:44 The notebook was not handed over to get his brother back. The KEYWORD was. The notebook was handed over thru Olivia.

  • @steevedaw566
    @steevedaw566 4 года назад +55

    Bale would never have been in something simple...

    • @PeterParker-vq2cz
      @PeterParker-vq2cz 4 года назад +12

      and yet, the whole point of the movie is that it is "simple", as sarah points out once she knows the trick.....

    • @vpreggie
      @vpreggie 3 года назад +9

      @@PeterParker-vq2cz The brilliance of this movie is that it is simple - and you are told the truth dozens of times throughout the movie, not necessarily verbally but through imagery and misdirection. You want to be fooled, and the movie teasingly mocks your tendency to be deceived.

    • @ethanchosdad-xh9ih
      @ethanchosdad-xh9ih 4 месяца назад

      @@vpreggieThis movie in it of itself is a magic trick!

  • @sedevacante0027
    @sedevacante0027 4 года назад +21

    I now understand the statement of "criminally underrated"

  • @jordanmcguinness8109
    @jordanmcguinness8109 6 лет назад +93

    My third time watching this. Incredible. The Prestige is one of my favorite films of all time.
    Amazing work guys. These Analysis and Explanation videos are sublime. Seriously you need to keep doing them!
    I know you analysed The Dark Knight but I'd love to see you analyse Batman Begins.

    • @RantandBollox
      @RantandBollox  6 лет назад +5

      Thanks very much...hopefully you will come back when I start putting new ones up in the coming months!

    • @djosearth3618
      @djosearth3618 2 года назад

      Yaya _....and also do the incredibly refined (in modernity) showpiece widely know as :_
      *"The Simpsons mind bending

  • @christianchesnut8704
    @christianchesnut8704 6 лет назад +18

    I saw The Prestige when it first came out and only halfway understood it, possibly because I was 16 at the time and had less attention span for movies. Then, 9 years later, I saw it again after my first year as a graduate film student and became obsessed with it. This film is truly Nolan's masterpiece since his others, though brilliant and unique, have a slight feel of commercialism to them (besides Following). I am always interested in new interpretations of it, and this one breaks it down so well that it feels as if watching the movie without watching it. My favorite part was the Den and Ned breakdown, which I learned a lot from. Keep up the good work; this analysis was both informative and exciting to watch.

  • @madisonparker6549
    @madisonparker6549 5 лет назад +56

    Anyone else SHOOK by the fact that this video has a clip of footage from THOMAS FREAKING EDISON in 1900????

    • @RantandBollox
      @RantandBollox  5 лет назад +13

      Cool right?

    • @davidlean1060
      @davidlean1060 3 года назад +8

      It actually makes perfect sense when you consider the fact the guy was a blatant self publicit, you know what I mean? There is material of him still around because he allowed so much publicity to be generated around him.

    • @BrandonHasAChannel
      @BrandonHasAChannel 3 года назад +8

      What I find really to be strange is how their is barely any footage of Nicola tesla when he died in the 40s. It's almost as if someone has deleted and wiped all of it to keep his inventions for themselves.

    • @davidlean1060
      @davidlean1060 3 года назад +4

      @@BrandonHasAChannel That's later day thinking, don't be swayed by recent internet opinion about him. Yes, his idea of free energy was tempered because money would of been lost, but this idea that there has been a massive conspiracy around him is only a recent one.If wireless technology had not become a thing, then we would still be asking Nicko who?! He just preferred to work than to have his picture taken, that's all.

  • @Victor-rb6pq
    @Victor-rb6pq Год назад +4

    For me personally, the most interesting thing about this movie is that Alfred (the one whom loves Sarah), is just another victim of his brother's and Angier's feud. Freddy (the one whom oves Olivia) is the one who tied the knot that killed Angier's wife, the one who ruined Angier's return as a magician by sabotaging his bird trick, he is the one whom destroyed his brother's marriage by having an affair with Olivia and being a terrible husband, and ultimatly, he was the one who went to Angier's final show to learn how his illusion worked. Alfred suffer the most for his brother's mistakes and arrogance, and Angier didn't even know he was hurting Alfred, cause he was aiming at Freddy all the times he schemed against both of them.

  • @ryanhayward2161
    @ryanhayward2161 5 лет назад +13

    Phenomenal analysis. Your closing is what made me fall in love with this movie. I want to be surprised again, that natural reaction to being fooled is a huge adrenaline rush.

  • @devmankar4580
    @devmankar4580 2 года назад +3

    I never noticed the parallel between the multitude of caged birds vs. the next shot showing the multitude of caged hugh jackman ..So excellent 👌🏻🔥

  • @Maylii23
    @Maylii23 5 лет назад +11

    F A N T A S T I C! The best analysis of this movie I have seen. 💕 Love the movie, didn’t know it was Nolan’s. After watching Interstellar 4 times and calling it “my favorite movie” I can honestly say this one is by far “my new favorite”.

    • @RantandBollox
      @RantandBollox  5 лет назад +1

      Thanks very much, glad you enjoyed it, and I certainly think it stands above Interstellar

  • @jsandbox2068
    @jsandbox2068 5 лет назад +12

    Only 492 likes?!? This analysis is brilliant! Thank you for the amazing explanation and in-depth break-down.

  • @bishopsteiner7134
    @bishopsteiner7134 4 года назад +6

    Damn. The Prestige is one of my all time favorite films. But I never put together the points you made about it being a commentary on film making. Fantastic analysis. Bravo!

  • @kb8074
    @kb8074 5 лет назад +19

    Really an outstanding review. This guy is actually smart. An increasing rarity in these days....

  • @Orrimarrko66
    @Orrimarrko66 5 лет назад +13

    One of the best analysis videos I’ve ever seen. Great work!

  • @TwinSimian
    @TwinSimian 21 день назад

    I keep looking for inconsistencies and plot holes... and left empty handed. The film is immaculate and impervious to scrutiny. It's replay value doesn't diminish, and performances are of the highest caliber. A masterpiece.

  • @tinkageorgewilliam871
    @tinkageorgewilliam871 4 года назад +4

    I could watch this movie over and over again and still never get tired of how amazing it is :)

  • @sudokneem4832
    @sudokneem4832 2 года назад +7

    This is the analysis I was looking for, yet more than I could've ever expected. After re-watching the prestige, you've gifted us with another masterful piece layered with insight and clarity. I had to skip the part on Den&Ned to save another mystery for my 3rd watching of the film. But will definitely be back to re-watch all 2hrs of your review because there are lines that need a second round of appreciation. If this was made 3 years ago, I can't even imagine the quality of the work you are producing now mate, fantastic work thank you

  • @BlueEyedTaty
    @BlueEyedTaty 2 года назад +1

    One of my favorite movies for many reasons. Your explaination is brilliant and full of the richness this film deserves. Thank you.

  • @jenc7055
    @jenc7055 6 лет назад +6

    I saw this 1st time around somehow and ended up watching it again and enjoying even more! Miss these deep dives. Keep them coming!

  • @BehindTheFrames
    @BehindTheFrames 6 лет назад +2

    My kind of content! I've missed you guys ❤

  • @heryouhatebuttowhoyoumaste1991
    @heryouhatebuttowhoyoumaste1991 3 года назад +1

    This was so good!
    I went too your channel to see if you had done other analysis of movies I like, but sadly I dislike all the other movies you choose to cover.
    My lose, this break down was truly a gem to find

  • @elinanasution6714
    @elinanasution6714 3 года назад

    love the depth you took to make this video. really appreciate the work you did

  • @ejoshcoron
    @ejoshcoron 6 лет назад +8

    This analysis is a masterpiece. Great work!

  • @Kerwin-Kendell
    @Kerwin-Kendell 3 года назад

    Excellent vid-analysis, I really appreciate the length & depth of it. Cheers!

  • @katherinalastname7077
    @katherinalastname7077 4 года назад +1

    Amazing, comprehensive while keeping to the core of the movie's messages. Thank you so much.

  • @teeare
    @teeare 3 года назад +1

    Your analysis is art. Beautiful. Well done!

  • @AverageGamer2024
    @AverageGamer2024 3 года назад

    This is a brilliant analysis! I watched this film for the first time yesterday and I’m annoyed at myself for missing out on this masterpiece!

  • @TheAJW50
    @TheAJW50 Год назад +2

    Absolutely fantastic. Watched the Prestige last night for the first time… don’t know why.. and you just nailed it 99.9%. Intelligent and incisive and brilliant. Spot on on Nolan and his intentions and the ‘sparkle’ versus ‘real’ film making. Only one caveat from me. I think the machine could not have worked and this is the final Prestige. We are told everything is a trick and yet expected to believe electricity can create a clone? It’s a double. Just like Borden’s trick. Every night the double does not die but Angiers pretends he does by moving a great casket, every night, knowing Borden is watching. He kills the double at the end, not even his clone but another man, and we see that at the end with the ‘clone’ in the water. Between the court case and the end the body would have decomposed. Surely? It’s the final trick on the audience. He made us all believe Tesla’s machine worked. It couldn’t have. It’s all a trick. Fab video and have just subscribed.

  • @f12mnb
    @f12mnb 6 лет назад +3

    This was terrific! I almost knew that it was a great film but you helped articulate why.

  • @ivanessa_schnitzel
    @ivanessa_schnitzel 2 года назад

    Outstanding video! Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts and insights on this incredible movie - I've watched it so many times and still there things to learn and discover around every corner.

  • @vsfunmaza
    @vsfunmaza 4 года назад

    Wow! Really appreciate your display of understanding art. You are a very talented man.

  • @LordHaveMurcielago
    @LordHaveMurcielago 5 лет назад +32

    8:55 He murders the first duplicate yes, but once he performs the actually trick in public....he kills himself. The duplicate is the one that gets teleported a few feet away. The first Angier to drown in the tank was the real Angier. Therefore after the first demonstration of the trick it is the duplicate that lives on....which makes sense because Angier becomes more and more less human with his actions. Someone back me up on this. I frickin LOVE this movie! lol

    • @shwetakarpe4431
      @shwetakarpe4431 4 года назад +1

      H yes!!

    • @golternator333
      @golternator333 4 года назад +12

      i disagree completely.
      Look at what Bale said: "we were both Fallon and we were both Borden"
      The very point of the story is that there IS no real one and no copy. They are BOTH real. 100 %. There is no "fake" clone. Which means that when Angiers does the trick, he copies himself. Imagine closing your eyes and having 50% chance of being the one in the tank while the other "you" reveals himself.
      You COULD say that he kills himself every night, and you'll be right. But the very essence is that he does not know whether he is the man in the tank or not.
      My proof? when Borden sees Angiers in the tank, Angiers try to get out. Now does this look like man who knew he was gonna be in the tank? definently not. But at that point he found out "oh, im the man in the tank today" and panicked to get out.

    • @JeremiahRC5464
      @JeremiahRC5464 4 года назад +3

      Y'all definitely confused me more and I'm ok with that. Confusion keeps me searching

    • @helloitsme1550
      @helloitsme1550 4 года назад +2

      Same here... I thought the same thing, Angier was a duplicate at the end because when he asked Cutter to help him create his last show, he said "it's my last show", I took it as he was Performing his last show/act. I took it as he was commiting suicide. It seems like the duplicates are an exact copy of him, so they have all his memories and emotions. Even when Tesla asked him if he was ready to make the ultimate sacrifice to his work/obsession... Tesla confessed he had done it too.. like sell his soul to his work or even die for it (Thomas Edison). That's the meaning I took behind it. The twins although physically identical to the eye, couldn't be more different. So if we look at it this way, Angier had done the ultimate sacrifice. And yes he did seem different by the end, like if only his memory was there but not the soul.. could be the character arc but to me, the original Angier didn't exist anymore, it was a copy of him.

    • @akanji8285
      @akanji8285 4 года назад

      When he’s talking to Tesla it’s stated that no one knows which one is real and which is the copy... no one knows if he’s actually being transported or he remains standing and a clone appears across the room

  • @takedshineov3366
    @takedshineov3366 5 лет назад +2

    I just glad someone at last acknowledged that the diaries should not be trusted. Borden writes his to fool Angiers, but I have an idea that Angiers diary is reasonably truthful up until the moment he reads about Borden's deception. From thereon, I don't believe a word of it. Interestingly, the story of the Tesla device being able to make clones of things only comes about after Angiers figures out Borden's lie....but no one seems to question that. Everyone seems to accept Robert's version of events. In fact, if you suggest that Angier's story is bull, people go nuts!! Thanks for the insights. Happy to read a thoughtful interpretation of this film for once.

  • @oobrocks
    @oobrocks 3 года назад

    Bravo! I'm jealous. This channel is philosophical, deep and thrilling

  • @JeremiahRC5464
    @JeremiahRC5464 4 года назад +2

    And just like the movie I need to watch this video over and over again. Special features is right here

  • @corettaha7855
    @corettaha7855 4 года назад +4

    They also reflect the relationship between Tesla and Edison as it’s seen in the popular imagination.

  • @theparalexview785
    @theparalexview785 3 года назад +3

    Excellent analysis. But -- and someone else has probably already pointed this out -- the "Ned"/"Den" thing was redundant. The Borden twins already had names, Albert and Frederick, forming the illusion of the single character "Alfred." What is less clear in every analysis of The Prestige is: which twin was married to Sarah? And which was most intimately involved with Olivia after she defected from Angier to Borden? Some analyses assert each twin had unique and consistent characteristics, with the twin portraying "Fallon" to be the "nicer" twin. But so far I haven't seen an analysis with film clips illustrating these concisely and clearly.

    • @stuartburns8657
      @stuartburns8657 3 года назад +1

      Watched it last night for the 1st time. Difference between the twins seems to the one had a slightly smug / confrontational demeanor, and the other more prone to softer speaking and smiling. The later in love with Sarah.
      Edit - agree not the most consistent throughout, but warrants another viewing soon!

    • @AshleyThomas144
      @AshleyThomas144 Год назад +1

      I think it does not make sense to say "the twin portraying Fallon". Both of them live both lives from childhood that they may really not know who is who

  • @DATo_DATonian
    @DATo_DATonian Год назад

    This has been a truly excellent vetting of the finer points of the film. My compliments!

  • @anshumananshu667
    @anshumananshu667 3 года назад +4

    Alfred= Albert+Fred , because we see olivia calls borden, freddy at one point.

  • @donnypresley5521
    @donnypresley5521 Год назад

    And I mean this with the most honest words I've ever spoken online; this type of video, with the narrator's voice, I live for... best series of videos that exist on RUclips.

  • @samuelzins5089
    @samuelzins5089 2 года назад +1

    The prestige has one of the highest grades I've given a movie. It took a while for me to love the movie, but even after the first viewing I knew it was one of the best made movies I'd seen

  • @thixiemattel
    @thixiemattel 3 месяца назад

    that one look exchanged between “ned” and Julia before she died was so intriguing to me I want an entire Julia centered movie to explain it.

  • @AarOnCoasters
    @AarOnCoasters 2 года назад +1

    If I was a teacher, I'd give this book report a "Christmas Story" an A++...

  • @scottclark3139
    @scottclark3139 Год назад

    Watched it in one go. Excellent work

  • @Hannibalkakihara
    @Hannibalkakihara 2 года назад +1

    This can also be a clever way of Nolan making us watch this movie twice and say “boom. I got your money and attention twice” and flexing his intelligence

  • @evilsdouble
    @evilsdouble 3 года назад

    Great in-depth exploration of the movie, my only critique is the part where you explain the plot and the timeline gets convoluted on screen. Great video!

  • @edwoodsix6
    @edwoodsix6 4 года назад +5

    Seriously Incredible Analysis, you've done a mans job...

  • @dominikskorjanc
    @dominikskorjanc 5 лет назад +14

    I though it said 18 mil ... but then saw 18k and was like 'WTF'

    • @RantandBollox
      @RantandBollox  5 лет назад +3

      Haha thanks. 18 mil per video would be nice but 18k listening to the ramblings is pretty great
      Maybe after i get some more up this summer

  • @blaisetelfer8499
    @blaisetelfer8499 2 года назад

    I rewatched this a few weeks ago; it holds up very well and has not lost its effect in 15 years

  • @mickyjankis9542
    @mickyjankis9542 3 года назад

    Amazing narrative, didn't waste any minute, new subscriber here

  • @WorthTalking2
    @WorthTalking2 8 месяцев назад +1

    Possibly the most overlooked underlying possibility of this story: Alfred Borden and Bernard Fallon are not brothers/twins. One of them is a clone.
    The audience is being given this truth in the very first images of the movie.......the hats(copies) and the birds.
    We observe Borden, after a performance of the bird trick, discarding into a garbage can, what used to be a living bird, *seeming to exhibit indifference to life, while in contrast, Angier explicitly says 'I don't want to kill doves.' Angier is disgusted by Borden's seeming inhumanity over his wife's death in failing to recall which knot he'd tied, when in truth, Borden is genuinely saddened by Piper's drowning as Fallon was working on stage that night, hence Borden truly does not know which knot was tied.
    There are so many switches that take place and mirrored reflections in so many layers of this movie, it is just amazing. An obvious example is Angier's repeated death, by drowning, mirroring his wife's drowning, and Fallon's hanging, mirroring Sarah's.
    When Angier meets with Mr. Alley(Tesla's assistant), what Angier wants(a transporter machine), he identifies as what Tesla had built for another magician.
    That 'other magician' was Borden.
    When Borden long ago used a machine Tesla had built for him created a clone, his respect for human life and dedication to his ability to create magic for people led him to decide to sacrifice enjoying his life wholly, as a single person, to live in duality(live with his clone, not killing him). Angier, chose the other path.... exterminating a human on each night of his trick, not willing to share the spotlight(applause) with a clone of himself. That is what makes the early dialog around the birds diversionary, misrepresenting the mens' true natures, and why Borden, with such ease, recognized the China man's life-long deception, living perpetually in an act of appearing to be decerped/weak, sacrificing the ability to just live life normally outside of his act.
    Unless I'd missed it, Cutter and Angier are the two that theorized that Borden an Fallon are twins/brothers. ....That is not said by Fallon/Borden. Watch this movie again, with this theory in mind, and your experience will be different than it has ever been, beginning with the very first seconds of the film.

    • @MHamid-tt1pk
      @MHamid-tt1pk 2 месяца назад

      Wooaaahh that's insane! Man every time that I think it can't get crazier than that, it does 🤯

  • @vincec7474
    @vincec7474 6 лет назад

    I've missed you guys.

  • @therantster
    @therantster 6 лет назад +1

    That was fantastic!

  • @rK-pm7wq
    @rK-pm7wq 6 лет назад +1

    Simply brilliant.

  • @gmxayle6640
    @gmxayle6640 6 лет назад +1

    This was superb.

  • @johanduffy
    @johanduffy 3 года назад

    Subbing for this video alone.
    Hell of a deep dive

  • @boayden9971
    @boayden9971 7 месяцев назад

    Thanks, i saw it in 1 take. And also ⏪️ and⏩️ while watching 😅.
    Top👍🏿👍🏿🙋🏿‍♀️

  • @upshot211299
    @upshot211299 6 лет назад +20

    I knew Nolan was going to be something great when Memento was released.
    Of his impressive catalogue of films The Prestige is still my favorite film maybe cause my own connection and love with films, illusionist's and Tesla, played by the late great Bowie, another personal favorite of mine.
    Nolan always tells his story in a very non conventional way narrativlly and chronologically but The Prestige is probably his most conventional film.
    I do think Nolan is today's best filmmaker and most can see and appreciate all his work and talent.
    My only criticism is at times he can make what needs to be at times something very straightforward and simple into a complex jump in time and narrative too complicated for the audience.
    Also, sometimes simple dialogue between two characters feels like plot advancement instead of any emotionial dialogue between characters. Dunkirk shows these small gripes more so and I know Nolan wanted the film to be about the actual real historical event he's recreating not any one character like most films of a historic event do, especially war films.
    I good example of what Nolan sometimes lacks in is what Tarantino does perfectly in the opening scene in Inglorious Bastards, two men talking for 20 minutes while slowly building tension and emotion.
    That said, Tarantino is a bit overhyped as a filmmaker at times and I just had rewatched Dunkirk with my father in law who served in the Navy during war time and was disappointed with the film after my very high praise for it.
    Anyways, great analysis on this phenomenal film.

  • @davelanger
    @davelanger 4 года назад +2

    Anyone who doesn't think the machine was real, was not paying attention and didn't get the point of the movie.

    • @lopezdube9043
      @lopezdube9043 3 года назад

      What is the point of the movie 🙏?

    • @lopezdube9043
      @lopezdube9043 3 года назад

      What is the point of the movie 🙏?

  • @ahsankhan-zg6gr
    @ahsankhan-zg6gr 4 года назад +2

    Epic- I just adore these video essays

  • @RandomCarrot2806
    @RandomCarrot2806 3 года назад +2

    Of Nolan's filmography the Batman trilogy might be more quotable, Inception more mind bending, Interstellar more visually stunning and Dunkirk a better historical piece but goddamn I just can't help picking The Prestige as my absolute favorite of them all. The level of craft of this film is frightening, it feels like a never ending well to go back to rewatch.

  • @tartarus216
    @tartarus216 5 лет назад +2

    Excellent video

  • @ushnishbhattacharyya6672
    @ushnishbhattacharyya6672 Год назад

    I mean, honestly, this film is the greatest magic trick I've ever seen..
    And this video essay shows that a film is a medium that can has great depths to it shown effectively and cleverly from the lens of the director in the way he or she wants the audience to see. Sometimes the audience must leave their ego aside and completely have faith on the director , see what's in store for them, then recollect their ego and analyze the movie once it ends.
    The director is the soul key to a great film/trick/illusion which affects how the audience experiences it.

  • @steevedaw566
    @steevedaw566 4 года назад +2

    It's basically a twist on the Jeckyl/Hyde;Hyde/Jekyl. With greed and a desire to outdo each other,with magic as a backdrop. All entwined with Tesla/Eddison,battling away in a side plot. The book takes the 'Frankenstein route'. But is much darker than the film. A gothic whodunit. With knobs on.

  • @reicheru
    @reicheru 5 лет назад +6

    I could listen to this forever. Absolutely lovely. I need help with the explanation yknow? Thanks

    • @RantandBollox
      @RantandBollox  5 лет назад +1

      Sure, if you've any questions I'll do my best

  • @steevedaw566
    @steevedaw566 4 года назад +5

    BORDEN : NED/ROB.

  • @reganisupshaw3
    @reganisupshaw3 5 лет назад

    nicely done!

  • @mttaylor129
    @mttaylor129 Год назад

    I’m still working on the message beneath the art. This video, along with two others, are helping me feel closer. Along the way, all three video reveal to me major events that I totally missed when I watched the film. I’m hoping to see it again with family and friends - not alone as this time - so I can look deeper and, if they want to, discuss it to test what I’m seeing and might still be missing. A master
    Icee (including the acting within it).

  • @vpreggie
    @vpreggie 3 года назад +7

    I have to disagree with your theory that Angier tries to kill himself after the death of his wife at 9:55 of your video. Angier wasn’t killing himself, he was seeing how long he could hold his breath, feeling firsthand how his wife might have felt as she drowned.
    I love your narrative, I’m always open to different interpretations of movies I love, no matter how they may differ from my own, but (and I feel this has to be said) Angiers did NOT try to kill himself. He wanted to experience what his wife felt in the last few seconds if her life.
    So tortured was his soul that he felt the need to experience her agony and her confusion in the last minutes. He was leaning into a sink full of water. There was no way he could drown this way. Gravity would have pulled him from the sink if he even reached unconsciousness.
    From the very first time I watched this movie I never felt he was trying to kill himself. Between the time his wife died and his being told that drowning “was agony” we see a man whose entire belief system has slowly been eroded. He went from a loving man enjoying life and learning a new trade to a selfish, obsessed and unsympathetic monster - culminating, ironically, in him killing himself in the most agonizing way almost 100 times, and then having to realize what he has done in the last few seconds of his life.
    Angier was not trying to kill himself.
    The most poignant quote regarding his wife’s death was Cutter at first trying to console Angier. He told him drowning was like “going home”, only to later tell Angier he was lying - drowning was agony. Angier having chosen this easy route to destroying his clones, thinking it painless and quick.
    Cutter’s comment condemned Angier, an obsessed and selfish sociopath, to literally killing himself over and over and over, in the most painful and agonizing way.

    • @namedrop721
      @namedrop721 3 года назад +2

      ‘Revenge is like swallowing poison and expecting the other man to die’

  • @nawles1
    @nawles1 Год назад

    Amazing video, of one of Nolans finest and under-rated films

  • @Ericapires12
    @Ericapires12 4 года назад +1

    thank you man!

  • @DonaldSjervenE
    @DonaldSjervenE 5 лет назад +2

    And somehow the death of the wife didn't embarrass a family? What motivates the twin in this story? My theory is that it was the twin whose wife died. Angier and/or Caldlow are really a projection of the twin's desire for revenge. The movie is a dark story of pure rage. This has been done in Life of Pi where the tiger is a projection of the protagonist's hunger and need to eat masking the truth of cannibalism. Even the reveals at the end are similar in that we would rather not know the real story. The trick in this movie is that the story is kept hidden while the reveal is honest.

  • @KanonHara
    @KanonHara 2 года назад +3

    I'm curious why you gave Bordens the names Ned and Den, when the film itself gives them names: Alfred and Freddy.

  • @Thessalin
    @Thessalin 6 лет назад +4

    No, thank you! And you have a great day and night!

  • @luchador1764
    @luchador1764 14 дней назад

    Nolan's finest work imo.

  • @nkem_darlingg
    @nkem_darlingg 2 года назад

    I want to like this video multiple times 🤗

  • @blackfindave4722
    @blackfindave4722 3 года назад

    your analysis is perfect, you are right in every point but also dont forget the loss factor ,however when angier lost his wife ,things subverted for him 360 degrees this shuttered his heart thats why he become like that revenging for his dead wife and that was his first pledge i suppose , after he started to see borden success he was jealous and started to immitate that great trick of the transported man therefore this also lead him even to kill and do whatever it takes to do it like borden and thus angier got darker and darker

  • @fashvr9961
    @fashvr9961 Год назад +1

    Bordon duplicated himself one time and we can see that the duplicate is less human. Angier duplicated himself so many times that the final Angier is a total mess

  • @shahadatali74
    @shahadatali74 6 лет назад

    what a speech!

  • @steevedaw566
    @steevedaw566 4 года назад +1

    So in the end. .It's up to you,what you wanna believe.

  • @JoJoJoker
    @JoJoJoker 3 года назад +1

    Great video with one common mistake: you keep referring to *CALDLOW* as Angiers. Angiers is Lord Caldlow. That’s the entire final trick of both characters: Cutter uncovers Caldlow; Caldlow uncovers both Bordens.

  • @willspann9894
    @willspann9894 Год назад +1

    What if at the end Borden duplicates himself so that he can continue to have a "brother" I wonder how that would have been received.

    • @MHamid-tt1pk
      @MHamid-tt1pk 2 месяца назад

      I saw someone comment about the possibility of Bordon cloning himself to have a twin and share the same life in secret while preforming tricks. Sounds insane but it makes sense because Teslas assistent said something about Tesla making a similar machine in the past for another magician!

  • @mov-e6612
    @mov-e6612 3 года назад

    This was.. Magical

  • @edwardhanlon8078
    @edwardhanlon8078 5 лет назад

    I have never left a youtube comment in my life, as I've never seen the point. But wow, what an outstanding piece of work. I tip my hat to you, sir.

  • @missdragon5892
    @missdragon5892 6 лет назад +2

    YAYY finally

  • @occurredbison
    @occurredbison 4 года назад +2

    Breaking Bad: Magician Edition

  • @yukizboy3046
    @yukizboy3046 4 года назад +3

    I love The Prestige, but not for a single moment did I ever consider Angier the bad guy... he just broke when his wife died. IMO the only bad guy in this film is one of the Bordens. Everything bad that happens is because one of the Bordens always behaves like an asshole.

    • @Ptinski
      @Ptinski 4 года назад +3

      #Yukizboy You're assuming Angier was already a "good guy" but it's very possible, as we're shown with hints here and there, that he was *always* Lords Cudlow (not a very nice guy) and the "Angier" character was his invention so he could continue doing magic, his one love. ANgier hints at this when talkoing about not embarrassing his family. Why does he love magic? For the applause, the accolades, the prestige if you will lol. When he returns to himself at the end, visiting who he thinks is Borden, (did Fallin take his twin's place on the scaffold?) he takes great glee in torturing him (using the daughter). Abracadabra!

    • @davidlean1060
      @davidlean1060 4 года назад

      ...or is it Cutter for being so fickle with his loyalties?!?

  • @tuts351
    @tuts351 4 года назад +3

    Why does something so good get so less attention. This must have taken a ton of time. Sidenote: love for Angier no matter what he did

    • @stanleyshady9465
      @stanleyshady9465 Год назад +1

      usually the more good something is, the less traction it gets... but once it gets the attention of the huge masses, it becomes garbage b/c the director/artists achieved what they wanted.. attention.. the early works of almost all artists are infinitely better b/c they have to.. they have to make a name for themselves. Personally the quality of Nolan films and the MCU is a good example of once you gain notoriety and fame, there's no need to make ur work good b/c people are already going to watch what you put out.. another reason why the ending to Game of Thrones was absolute horseshit

    • @mikespearwood3914
      @mikespearwood3914 Год назад +1

      @@stanleyshady9465 Ain't that the truth! I thought everything Nolan has done after The Prestige was mediocre. TDK is the most overrated movie ever I feel and was hyped even more due sympathy over Heath Ledger's death. TDKR was disappointing. Inception & Interstellar were overrated, and I've never bothered with Tenet. Looking forward to the new one though.

    • @stanleyshady9465
      @stanleyshady9465 Год назад +1

      @@mikespearwood3914 Yessss.. and Inception? over hyped and wasn't that great maybe b/c of all the high expectations? But Memento is an early Nolan film that's really good.. his earlier work was the best for it was always rewatchable b/c of the twists at the end and how he writes and directs it

    • @mikespearwood3914
      @mikespearwood3914 Год назад

      @@stanleyshady9465 Yep, Memento along with The Prestige are classics. I think Batman Begins was the best out of that trilogy, and then they got progressively worse.

  • @shawbag11
    @shawbag11 4 года назад +1

    I think im gonna have to reburn the dvd of this film to add this vid to play after the credits. watched the film with my m8 just and after we watched this and hoenstly it is as much a part of the film as the film itself

  • @finallyanime
    @finallyanime 2 года назад

    Tbh I understand how the similarity between filmmaking & metaphor but all masterpieces are their heart are human & emotional at their base. Take away the metaphors of filmmaking & apply it to the persona & soul of a person will inform what it’s really about

  • @SteefPip
    @SteefPip Год назад

    I see the twins as Albert and Frederick, combined to be Alfred. The one who was into ScarJo was Frederick because he had her calling him Freddie.

  • @armandorosa1550
    @armandorosa1550 4 года назад +3

    I love your analysis and saw it all in one take. But i am still obsessed with 2 questions. I have seen almost 5 analysis of this movie and have learned more and more about it, but still havent answered my 2 questions.
    1.Why kill your clones? Not knowing which one will be in the tank or the prestige?
    2. How did the Bordens know about Tesla's machine? Why where they at the science exhibit? Did they use the machine once?

    • @aprilmoon2808
      @aprilmoon2808 4 года назад +3

      Are you watching closely?

    • @Flipitmixit
      @Flipitmixit 4 года назад +4

      1. If he was going to use the machine every time, performing 5 days a week. There would be as many clones as we saw hats in the beginning and his secret would be revealed pretty quickly. So he had to get rid of the copies if he wanted to continue doing the same act. Of course he couldve just used the machine Once and then destroyed it like Tesla wanted him too. That way he'd have a clone and couldve basically done what the Alfred twins were doing. But we see that Jackmans character does Not like to share the spotlight, he does not want to be the man in the box. He wants to be up there and see the look on everyones faces. Even his clone would want the same. Course they couldve just done what the twins did and switch roles every show but his own ego wouldnt even allow that. Plus he wanted to be Better than Alfred not the same.

    • @davidlean1060
      @davidlean1060 4 года назад

      I have not seen the entire video yet, so maybe this is covered, but there are no clones. That is all part of Angiers ploy to trick Borden and us, the audience. Angiers pays 3 visits to Tesla before he reads the admission in Borden's diary that it has been faked and his trip to Colorado a wild goose chase. Only after this discovery does the story of clones come into it. It is all part of Angiers illusion. This begs the question, just how did he do his Transported man trick?

    • @armandorosa1550
      @armandorosa1550 4 года назад

      @@Flipitmixit So your answer is Angier had a big ego. But that would mean that his ego is greater than his fear of suicidal death (sacrifice). Which still doesn't make sense for his caracter, to me anyways?

    • @davelanger
      @davelanger 4 года назад +1

      ".Why kill your clones? Not knowing which one will be in the tank or the prestige?"
      Not sure why people miss this. He was always killing himself every time. He was making a copy of himself that was the prestige. The clone just thought he was the original because the clone was an exact copy.
      Borden tried to buy Telsas machine first but couldn't afford it.

  • @stephytv1953
    @stephytv1953 3 года назад +1

    From 26:50 on 🤯🤯🤯 mindblown

  • @christiancountryboyilovejesus
    @christiancountryboyilovejesus 6 лет назад +2

    I think the three act structure is holding story's back from their unlimited protential but I enjoyed your eassy. God bless 😇

    • @Hydroflourik
      @Hydroflourik 5 лет назад

      I unequivocally agree and always have; never limited film or structure film on purpose into a set amount of Acts like three.. Shakespeare never did that multiple works of Shakespeare have varying act structues; i e., upwsrds of 4 Acts or 5 Acts.

    • @christinenyland1773
      @christinenyland1773 5 лет назад

      ​@@Hydroflourik Shakespeare uses a five act structure (I believe exclusively), which is a different way of structuring something than the three acts, though it is equally fixed. Many movies that use three acts can be further divided into eight sequences. They are all just ways of arranging and managing the pieces of complex stories.
      I often hear people say that act structures limit creativity--or even uphold oppressive systems--but I've never been able to wrap my head around how. I'd actually be really curious to read something that talks in greater depth about what the downsides of such structures are. If either of you has suggested reading on the subject link me; I'd love to take a look at it.

    • @takedshineov3366
      @takedshineov3366 5 лет назад

      David Fincher has used 4 acts in the past. The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo being one I can think of.

    • @takedshineov3366
      @takedshineov3366 5 лет назад

      @@christinenyland1773 if he did, it is an interesting cross reference with the Iambic pentameter, which is a 5 beat measure. 5 beats in a line mirroring a 5 act structure, interesting little fact that. Thanks.