judging by the comments i’ve seen on videos, pretty much nobody did. and with the reviews so high it’s hard to believe anyone picked up on it. feels obvious after tho.
@@rvnlvr0599it’s probably because Christian Bale was nowhere as big back then, so the obvious lack of a big actor playing the supporting role of Fallon wasn’t as immediately obvious as it is now. That or maybe I was a clueless teen the first time I watched it back then, haha
Great choice and review. I am always struck that Angier never enjoyed the prestige in the end - it was his duplicate who got the applause. The obsessive lengths he went to were self-defeating. Very sad, tragic and horrific.
Especially because the whole reason he went to Tesla in the first place was that he wanted the applause that the actor he’d hired to double him was getting.
it's never really certain that he dies in the trick, in our point of view, yes it's the one is the machine that dies and the transported one lives, but to him, the clones has the exect same memories and life as the original, so the clone will never know it wasn't the original, so as he says in the movie "he never knows if he will be the one getting the applause or the one drowning". You might say he confirms that the original stays in place and the copy transports, but in the scene where he shoots the copy we have no certainty that the one who got shot was in fact the copy or the original. For all we know the original might be the one constantly getting the applause
I'll never not gush about this film. It's obvious that this movie deserves the accolades it's given, but, somehow, it is among the least recognized of the Nolan works. That said, thank you for giving it the spotlight it is owed! Great video!
The Prestige is the only movie which I have finished and then immediately started at the beginning and watched completely through again. The end reveal was such a WFT? moment for me that I HAD to watch it again right away to understand what I had just watched while the events were fresh in my mind. Personally, this is my favorite Nolan film.
My favourite detail is that each magician's fate mirrors that of their wives: Julia drowns, as do 100 Angier clones, and Sarah hangs herself, like how Borden is hung.
Never made the Borden connection! I immediately picked up on Algiers, because it came acoss as a self punishment for not being able to save her. Almost like he wanted to experience it over and over because he went mad. The Borden detail slipped right by me though.
Another foreshadowing point in this movie, one of my favorite lines early on is a conversation between Cutter and the judge in Borden's case: Cutter: "This device was not made by a magician but by a _Wizard_ " Judge: "I'm sure behind it all there's just some disappointing trick" Cutter: "Most disappointing, because there is no trick. This device actually does what we only pretend to do!" ...This is hinting that there's going to be a science fiction element later in the movie. Fun Trivia: the Judge is Daniel Davis, who was (Holodeck) James Moriarty in two episodes of TNG!
Christopher Priest’s novel has a slightly different ending, and I recommend people read it before watching the film. FYI, Chris - who passed away last month - left a fantastic legacy of provocative novels, and I would especially recommend The Glamour and The Affirmation to those new to his work.
I read The prestige before the film was even made I think, and I would never have thought anybody could make a decent job of bringing it to film, but Nolan did. I'm sorry to learn that Christopher Priest recently died, especially as I recently read what will then probably remain his last entry, Airside, which I'm sorry to say left me utterly disappointed. However, I'd also recommend other books from his: The separation, The inverted world, The space machine and The dream archipelago. Although the short stories in that last one are of different quality, there are some which are amazing.
I’ve watched every Nolan film made prior to Tenet. Sorry Dark Knight fans but the Prestige is his best film, bar none! I loved this film and have watched it multiple times over the years, each time coming away with new tidbits of information about it. It’s a shame it hasn’t gotten the critical or commercial praise it deserves. Thank you for bringing this film up in a review. Perhaps it will find a new audience!
Watched Pressythingy lots of fine acting, but didn't think that much of the story. Nolan just can't have an everyday bad outcome in a relationship. Like Tenet, Interstellar or Inception the sci-fi element puts the characters out of normal earthly situations. While still trying to tell a human story about connection and/or loss. Tenet the bonds of friendship, Inception the bonds of love for a wife. Interstellar the bond of a parent to child. They are all broken and they all end, but they always end with a twist.
One aspect about Angier killing his duplicate comes up near the end of the movie. Angier doesn't really understand how the machine functions. He believes he is risking his life whenever he steps into the machine. He never understood that the duplicate would also share the memories until the point the duplicate is created, because he still has all the memories, he thinks he is still the original. Him killing the duplicates by drowning might be an expression of him viewing them as less than human, so he doesn't feel the need to give them a less painfull death. Additionally it might also be an expression on how much he hates to share the spotlight.
One other aspect of Angier's solution which I think is very ironic is that his version is not actually a magic trick any more. It is the real thing, and so much more than a magic trick as it could be of use in real life.
This move is WILD. Love it. Just rewatched it last month. It's in my top 10 for sure. When he says he always wondered if he will be the man under the stage or the Prestige, it gave me chills. That was originally in reference to when he was using the drunk stand in duplicate for the Prestige and he had to sit underneath while the stand in took all the credit. With the machine, it must have been ten fold. One of them would be dying/drowning while the copy took all the credit. Awesome movie, thanks for bringing it back to light!
I highly recommend reading the book. It is fantastic because it adds an extra layer of horror when the reader learns what was really happening to Angier throughout the story.
Keep in mind Angiers already tried the duplicate route, hiring an actor. He even says that because he was always under the stage in that version, he couldn't really enjoy the crowds response. So that alludes already to why he killed his duplicates.
The Prestige is a wonderful film, end of the day the manipulation of space and time. when all it was. was an identical twin act. Angier drove himself insane, because he couldn't or wouldn't see the truth
The magic is in the foreshadowing. Particularly the bits that aren’t shoved in your face. That’s how you get such a strong reaction at the end, it’s basically a form of subliminal messaging. That’s the magic. Nolan does this with all his films.
One of the most tragically poignant parts of this movie is how at first the viewers are led to believe Borden is a cheating, amoral husband, and a liar who claims one day he loves Sarah, and the next day claims he loves Olivia. Upon rewatching it, there is a deep truth to everything we thought had been Borden's lies. "Part of me loved Sarah, but part of me never did, part of me always loved you, Olivia." This was one of the true sacrifices of two men sharing 1 life, and the exact moment "Borden" made the tiniest misstep from that very straight and narrow line, the moment he wanted just one tiny piece of an actual life for himself, was at least a part of his/their downfall.
Two Bordens, quiet and loud. Loud B tied the other knot, Angiers wife cant slip it. Quiet B likely went to the funeral and kept the journal, so in fact could never truthfully say which knot was tied. Angiers kept asking the wrong twin.
The "where's his brother?" line i always saw as a parallel to anjier more than bordan. Bc he had to literally kill his other self every time, despite him being the one not willing to kill birds at the start.
Angier wasn't willing to share his life with a duplicate the way Borden shared one life with his twin. For him, killing one Angier version every show was easier than going through sharing his life with one twin. Angier craved the sole spotlight.
Angier doesn't kill the duplicate, he kills himself falling through the trap door, and the duplicate from each trick assumes his life. The fact that each time, each version of Angier does the trick knowing he's going to drown show's his resolve for revenge.
They came out at the same time. The funny thing is, I went to one thinking it was the other. The ad for the one I thought I was see came on during the preview and I was laughing at my own mistake. They were both great. But this one is my favorite.
There is something I've never seen anyone talk about. After seeing the teleported man from Angier, Borden says to Fallon: that's it we are finished. But why? They are twins they can always perform a new and better teleported man. All they have to do is flourish it a little.
its to tell the audience the Bordens are not aware that Angier also has a twin, whereas Angier was on to Bordens secret right after the knot incident and the china man performance
Thank you for this walk-through of the pledge, the turn, and the prestige of both of the magic tricks in The Prestige. It's an amazing mystery solving adventure and a revenge tale throughout the movie, becoming a horror story once the audience reaches the ending. It is very well acted by Jackman and Bale. I'm also a fan of the music of the late Bowie and was pleasantly surprised by his portrayal of Tesla.
Yes! We share the same interpretation about this movie. Borden chose the hard way and Angier couldn't. The answer is not only ethics (not killing the duplicate) but to carry out the daily process of continually deceiving the audience, like that Chinese illusionist. Humility, hard work and perseverance, that is the Prestige, the definitive trick.
How the machine seemed to work was that the original was left in the center of it and duplicate was created outside of it. Which means that the first version which had a trapdoor to waterbox drowned the original Angier and he knew that would happen (he designed the system) so he literally sacrificed himself for the prestige. Multiple times because next clone always sacrificed itself for the new version. One could say that is choosing quite a hard way. Borden brothers naturally had their own vices. It's hard to not think that the other brother killed Angier's wife in their personal desire to 'improve' a trick which from audiences perspective would not have improved anything because who cares what type of knot it was outside people doing the trick? That is also reckless endangerment of others and killing an aide (and your friends wife) when you are not the Houdini of that trick who is endangering themselves. So none of the protagonist were especially clean or ethical in their actions. Maybe the other brother was depending which scenes was Alfred and which was Frederick.
What a great interpretation of this movie. I have seen this movie quite a bit and enjoy it every time and even noticed and liked a lot of the parts of the movie you focused on, but when you brought the story arcs of the twin brothers up in comparison to Hugh Jackman's character's duplicates it was like my mind exploded. For some reason the image of 3 intertangled circules popped into my head when you finished the comparisons. I also never even considerd any correlations between the dupllicates and the twins. Great video
A twist many miss that Lord Caldlow isn't Robert Angier's alias. Robert Angier is Lord Caldlow's alias. Angier's wife stated to Robert that he was playing someone else, where he replied that he would not embarrass his family with his theatrical endeavours. He is also independently wealthy, and stated to Tesla for making his machine that "Price is not an object." At the end of the film, Robert Angier revealed his true identity with his true accent. An English lord from the prestigious Caldlow family. BORDEN: "You must be Lord Cal..." ANGIER: "'Caldlow.' Yes, I am. I always have been.
Great breakdown, I had done a paper on this movie in college about the Economic Commentary. The poor twins who achieve their success by love of the craft self sacrifice and discipline…coming up from nothing; Hugh Jackman comes from money he goes back too in the end. He is into the Show the recognition. In the end Hugh Jackman does mass production of himself dying slowly his view on having blood on his hand. I only got a ‘B’ on the paper
I love the shot right after Borden kills Angier. As the warehouse burns, we see row upon row of drowned Angier duplicates. I think the messages of the film are really about the costs of rivalry and seeking revenge. The old saying, "he who seeks revenge dies a thousand deaths" is literally visualized here, and it's brilliant.
I would suggest the book as much as the movie. The author, Christopher Priest, recently passed away, and all his work is fresh and creative and engaging.
At the end Angier says he never knew which Man was going to live or die, as in the machine was random as far as who it teleported. This is what he said took courage and that he knew what sacrifice was. So, while a long shot, the end Angier could still be the original but even he would never know.
Fantastic video. I'm a huge fan of this film and have seen it many times, but you have provided many additional, wonderful insights that I hadn't really considered. Thanks for that. Time for a rewatch!
I love the film, and would recommend a reading of the book too, though with the perspective of them being two different tellings. Even having seen it several times, reading the book made my next watch all the more appreciative of Bale's portrayals of each twin's own (very different) temperament (and each's attempt to conceal the difference for sake of the Prestige). And Jackman's portrayal throughout is key to the power of the Angier's final line.
Great analysis. Always think also that he is dead in the middle of the film. If he transport himself on the machine he is dead by gunshot on the first use. If he stays in the same place he is drowned 😢. So very sad
Saw the Prestige first time last night. Great movie of type that leaves you thinking about it and needs more than one viewing when you try to pick out clues you missed first time.
If anyone played Remnant: From the Ashes, there's a level called Leto's Laboratory where the player finds a malfunctioning teleportation device, and must use it many times, only to later find a pile of burnt bodies in the basement. The first time you see it, a body falls out of a chute right in front of you, and adds to the pile. It's all environmental storytelling and not directly explained to you, but it eventually becomes clear that those bodies are the player, each time we teleport a new copy is made and the original is burnt. It always reminded me of this movie
SPOILER: Honestly, the biggest question I was left with after the final scene was wondering why Angier kept all the dead duplicates in the water tanks. Seems like it would have been easier to simply dispose of the bodies rather than have to acquire a brand new tank each time and risk discovery. Maybe it was just a directorial decision to provide a more jarring visual impact of what he was doing.
Given the time period, I wonder if it would have been equally difficult to keep disposing of the bodies; he would always have had to do it entirely by himself, no easy task, and employ a reliable method with a very low risk of discovery, since if just one duplicate was found it would mean disaster (so the disposal method would have to be either total, or a near zero chance of discovery, but the latter would likely mean going somewhere outdoors, eg. attaching weights and dumping in a deep lake). You're probably right though re the greater viual impact. Afterall, eventually he would run out of space with so many cubicles, and unless he was the only person involved in making the cubicles, surely someone would eventually ask why he kept ordering ever more of them.
This scene always left me with questions, but I kind of like its ambiguity. The film has many elements, but this one seems like true horror and reminds me of the tone of the first Alien.
One of my favorite movies....shows the hardships of life, along with the rewards, and to never underestimate the amount someone will go to enact revenge if driven to do so, and how a life that is often a tragic one is usually our own doing.
One of my favourite movies, it stands out to me as one of 3 movies ever where as soon as it was over the first time I saw - I immediately rewatched it without a moments delay to pick up on what I missed while it was all fresh in my mind
I just randomly remembered this movie last week and decided to watch it with my wife. It was way better than I remembered and she loved it also! What odd timing that this video should pop up now!
Yeah. I didn't pay attention well enough myself. A lot of the movie was lost on me unfortunately. I will need to watch it again but if it requires intense thought then I need to read the book not watch the movie.
I don't think this interpretation is accurate though. He literally tells Borden at the end of the film that he never knew if he'd be the one in the tank or the one on the stage. Because of the seamless memory between the original that activates the machine and the clone that appears on the stage, he never truly understands how the machine works. From his perspective, he steps into the machine and it's a 50/50 chance if he ends up in the tank or on the stage.
I remember when I first watched this sitting forward in my seat and realising that I was actually holding my breath at that reveal. An amazing movie in all aspects
I felt like the movie is a contemplation on "how far will you go...?" - I thought it was extremely well cast and overall well made. The fact that that both obsessed magicians are played by actors who are well-known for being very dedicated to capturing the characters they are playing makes the movie an even more interesting watch to me.
I always loved the genus of Tesla. He was so underrated and brilliant. Having him as a character in this was great. Showing the smear campaign from Edison was a nice historical touch in a fictional story. I absolutely love this movie. You have to admit, Christopher Nolan always makes amazing movies. He's kinda the Tesla of cinema. 😁
7:20 - Is it any wonder Angier doesn't trust the duplicate? Earlier in the film he has a body double that ends up betraying him, while they are doing the teleported man trick, that leads to great humiliation at the hands of Borden.
The book is rather different in many ways. Spoilers for the book ahoy: About half the book is set in Victorian England, the other half is present day, focusing on the descendents of Borden and Angier. The "Borden's Diary" section becomes clear after a bit that it is two people writing it, and using it to communicate back and forth, despite staying in the first person. The name "Alfred" Borden is eventually revealed to be a compounding of the names "Albert" and "Frederick" Borden. The Tesla device doesn't copy exactly. It teleports the user, first by moving his "soul" or spirit" then his physical body. It leaves behind a husk, an immobile, "mummified" or calcified, inert body or "corpse". So whenever Angier uses it he has to hide the residual body to avoid suspicion or awkward questions. Olivia meanwhile has figured out Borden's secret, he pays her off to keep quiet, which she does. (Major plot spoilers:) On one night during Angier's show, Borden sneaks backstage and finds the engine for the device. Fearing it will start a fire in the theater he stops it, in the middle of Angier's act. This causes the device to not complete the transfer and splits Angier in two, one a mostly insubstantial ghostlike being, the original becomes more lethargic, less lively and mentally less focused. Borden flees after running into the "ghost" and is never caught backstage, and thus is never arrested. (Even bigger spoilers, ROT-13 protected:) obql!Natvre trgf zber culfvpnyyl fvpxyl naq pbecfryvxr naq riraghnyyl qvrf. Bar bs gur Obeqraf vf zheqrerq yngre ol tubfg!Natvre, jub nyfb uhagf qbja gur bgure Obeqra, ohg qvffvcngrf pbzcyrgryl orsber ur pna npuvrir uvf eriratr.
This is my favourite film ever. Thanks for the analysis. There were thing mentioned that I hadn't even considered! My observation has always been that the 3 parts of the trick mirror the 3 act structure of the film, most films even
Holy shit. This is one of my favorite movies ever. I’ve watched it at least 25 times and always said it was one of my desert island films because of its non-linear structure it bounces around in time so much that I can’t remember what will happen next. But until now I always thought Angier was killing his duplicate every night. I never realized that in reality he was committing suicide every night, which is so much darker and makes the agony he goes through a thousand times worse. Thank you for this insight. Wow.
While never stated in the movie, in the book, the brothers are named Albert and Frederick, which they merged into Alfred. One of the things that is absolutely sure is that Angier is a fake no matter how you interpret the duplication. In the original test, the "original" (i.e. the one still in the machine) shoots and kills the "duplicate". In all other performances, the "original" is drowned and the one that appears several yards away lives.
7:15 my favorite detail is that Borden claims the name Alfred, but one brother has Scarlett call him Freddy. I believe they even combined their names: Albert + Freddy = Alfred.
I always figured one of the Bordens was a duplicate but he was actually the more humane character in the end learning to share his life with the duplicate rather than die each time. I also thought Cutter (Michael Caine) had worked it all out at the end and that's why he let one of the Borden twins die by testifying at the trail while also keeping their daughter safe for the others return. Sort of like he wiped the board clean as these duplicates were too unnatural to exist and needed to be stopped.
After learning a little about magic history you see that Chung Ling Soo (the fail of magician) is an actual historical figure. His real name was William Ellsworth Robinson. He was an American who took on the persona of a Chinese magician. The man, in reality, was constantly putting on the show of being something he wasn't.
Yes, the movie where Batman and Black Widow team up to beat Wolverine. Truly the best Comic book movie ever made.
How Original.
@@rzn2258how original
I was lucky enough not to realize Fallon was Borden til the end.
Same here
judging by the comments i’ve seen on videos, pretty much nobody did. and with the reviews so high it’s hard to believe anyone picked up on it. feels obvious after tho.
@@BrewedCoffeeBean it's a magic trick
@@rvnlvr0599you're too smart
@@rvnlvr0599it’s probably because Christian Bale was nowhere as big back then, so the obvious lack of a big actor playing the supporting role of Fallon wasn’t as immediately obvious as it is now. That or maybe I was a clueless teen the first time I watched it back then, haha
I was thinking about this movie just earlier today. Very original and disturbing. David Bowie as Tesla could have been a movie in itself.
Great choice and review. I am always struck that Angier never enjoyed the prestige in the end - it was his duplicate who got the applause. The obsessive lengths he went to were self-defeating. Very sad, tragic and horrific.
Especially because the whole reason he went to Tesla in the first place was that he wanted the applause that the actor he’d hired to double him was getting.
In the end he convinced himself that he could be the new duplicate, a delusion that didn't come from Tesla or anywhere else. He went mad essentially.
it's never really certain that he dies in the trick, in our point of view, yes it's the one is the machine that dies and the transported one lives, but to him, the clones has the exect same memories and life as the original, so the clone will never know it wasn't the original, so as he says in the movie "he never knows if he will be the one getting the applause or the one drowning". You might say he confirms that the original stays in place and the copy transports, but in the scene where he shoots the copy we have no certainty that the one who got shot was in fact the copy or the original. For all we know the original might be the one constantly getting the applause
The Prestige (2006) > The Illusionist (2006)
Facts
tis true but both are great
Deep Impact (1998) > Armageddon (1998)
Mission To Mars (2000) > Red Planet (2000)
Btw both were twisted and awesome in unique manner.
Never got why there were two magic movies from the 1800's in 2006. Edward Norton, love him in Fight Club but he is kinda overrated now.
Unbreakable (2000) and The Prestige (2006) have two of the greatest and most underrated twist endings of the 21st century.
This is exactly how beaming in Star Trek works... Food for thoughts
I've always thought that Insomnia was the Nolan movie that's often overlooked. I find it excellent.
Yes!
I'll never not gush about this film. It's obvious that this movie deserves the accolades it's given, but, somehow, it is among the least recognized of the Nolan works. That said, thank you for giving it the spotlight it is owed! Great video!
Forever my favourite Nolan film! 💙
The dark knight
The Prestige is the only movie which I have finished and then immediately started at the beginning and watched completely through again. The end reveal was such a WFT? moment for me that I HAD to watch it again right away to understand what I had just watched while the events were fresh in my mind. Personally, this is my favorite Nolan film.
My bro-in-law is a magician and he demanded we watch The Prestige with him. It was amazing, but needed a second watch to fully understand.
My favourite detail is that each magician's fate mirrors that of their wives: Julia drowns, as do 100 Angier clones, and Sarah hangs herself, like how Borden is hung.
Never made the Borden connection! I immediately picked up on Algiers, because it came acoss as a self punishment for not being able to save her. Almost like he wanted to experience it over and over because he went mad. The Borden detail slipped right by me though.
Every film of Nolan’s is, at the very least, an experience and always worth watching multiple times. My favourite director by far for many years.
Mauler isn't wrong, the Prestige is probably the best movie of the modern era
been very few great films in the 21st century - this one is certainly one of them, though
The best existential horror (borderline cosmic horror) movie of the new millennium (maybe)
Yea i watched this coz of Longman i fully agree wiv u both.
Agreed.
he sure is gay tho
i absolutely LOVE ThePrestige.
Another foreshadowing point in this movie, one of my favorite lines early on is a conversation between Cutter and the judge in Borden's case:
Cutter: "This device was not made by a magician but by a _Wizard_ "
Judge: "I'm sure behind it all there's just some disappointing trick"
Cutter: "Most disappointing, because there is no trick. This device actually does what we only pretend to do!"
...This is hinting that there's going to be a science fiction element later in the movie. Fun Trivia: the Judge is Daniel Davis, who was (Holodeck) James Moriarty in two episodes of TNG!
Cutter is paid by Angier to add that sense of mystique he is in on Angiers final plans
Christopher Priest’s novel has a slightly different ending, and I recommend people read it before watching the film. FYI, Chris - who passed away last month - left a fantastic legacy of provocative novels, and I would especially recommend The Glamour and The Affirmation to those new to his work.
I read The prestige before the film was even made I think, and I would never have thought anybody could make a decent job of bringing it to film, but Nolan did. I'm sorry to learn that Christopher Priest recently died, especially as I recently read what will then probably remain his last entry, Airside, which I'm sorry to say left me utterly disappointed. However, I'd also recommend other books from his: The separation, The inverted world, The space machine and The dream archipelago. Although the short stories in that last one are of different quality, there are some which are amazing.
Nolan's best and most satisfying film
Portraits are hung. Men are hanged.
Speak for yourself;)
Classic Picard season 2 writer blunder 😄
Thank you
"They said you was hung!" "And they was right." Never fails to make me laugh.
so.. my portrait was hung... and accurage
I’ve watched every Nolan film made prior to Tenet. Sorry Dark Knight fans but the Prestige is his best film, bar none! I loved this film and have watched it multiple times over the years, each time coming away with new tidbits of information about it. It’s a shame it hasn’t gotten the critical or commercial praise it deserves. Thank you for bringing this film up in a review. Perhaps it will find a new audience!
Watched Pressythingy lots of fine acting, but didn't think that much of the story. Nolan just can't have an everyday bad outcome in a relationship. Like Tenet, Interstellar or Inception the sci-fi element puts the characters out of normal earthly situations. While still trying to tell a human story about connection and/or loss. Tenet the bonds of friendship, Inception the bonds of love for a wife. Interstellar the bond of a parent to child. They are all broken and they all end, but they always end with a twist.
One aspect about Angier killing his duplicate comes up near the end of the movie. Angier doesn't really understand how the machine functions. He believes he is risking his life whenever he steps into the machine. He never understood that the duplicate would also share the memories until the point the duplicate is created, because he still has all the memories, he thinks he is still the original.
Him killing the duplicates by drowning might be an expression of him viewing them as less than human, so he doesn't feel the need to give them a less painfull death. Additionally it might also be an expression on how much he hates to share the spotlight.
One other aspect of Angier's solution which I think is very ironic is that his version is not actually a magic trick any more. It is the real thing, and so much more than a magic trick as it could be of use in real life.
In the end he convinced himself that he could be the new duplicate, a delusion that didn't come from Tesla or anywhere else. He went mad essentially.
lol there are zero duplicates, pay attention
@@geert574try to explain it. Especially when he first demonstrates the trick to Cutter.
One of my favorite Nolan films and one of his most underrated films.
Yes Nolan's finest film in my opinion - perfectly formed movie.
For me Momento is his best work. I know it’s a smaller, lower budget film but it’s just so clever
I don't... remember... that one.
The Prestige and the Illusionist are two of my favorite stage magician movies. Both have very different tones but both are great in their own ways.
This move is WILD. Love it. Just rewatched it last month. It's in my top 10 for sure. When he says he always wondered if he will be the man under the stage or the Prestige, it gave me chills. That was originally in reference to when he was using the drunk stand in duplicate for the Prestige and he had to sit underneath while the stand in took all the credit. With the machine, it must have been ten fold. One of them would be dying/drowning while the copy took all the credit. Awesome movie, thanks for bringing it back to light!
I highly recommend reading the book. It is fantastic because it adds an extra layer of horror when the reader learns what was really happening to Angier throughout the story.
Keep in mind Angiers already tried the duplicate route, hiring an actor. He even says that because he was always under the stage in that version, he couldn't really enjoy the crowds response. So that alludes already to why he killed his duplicates.
The Prestige is a wonderful film, end of the day the manipulation of space and time. when all it was. was an identical twin act.
Angier drove himself insane, because he couldn't or wouldn't see the truth
The magic is in the foreshadowing. Particularly the bits that aren’t shoved in your face. That’s how you get such a strong reaction at the end, it’s basically a form of subliminal messaging.
That’s the magic. Nolan does this with all his films.
This is a very good movie, Well done Dave.
The Prestige is in my top 5 movies of all time. It is SOOO good.
One of the most tragically poignant parts of this movie is how at first the viewers are led to believe Borden is a cheating, amoral husband, and a liar who claims one day he loves Sarah, and the next day claims he loves Olivia. Upon rewatching it, there is a deep truth to everything we thought had been Borden's lies. "Part of me loved Sarah, but part of me never did, part of me always loved you, Olivia." This was one of the true sacrifices of two men sharing 1 life, and the exact moment "Borden" made the tiniest misstep from that very straight and narrow line, the moment he wanted just one tiny piece of an actual life for himself, was at least a part of his/their downfall.
Indeed a masterpiece.
Two Bordens, quiet and loud. Loud B tied the other knot, Angiers wife cant slip it. Quiet B likely went to the funeral and kept the journal, so in fact could never truthfully say which knot was tied. Angiers kept asking the wrong twin.
Still in my collection. Still watch it every other year.
The "where's his brother?" line i always saw as a parallel to anjier more than bordan. Bc he had to literally kill his other self every time, despite him being the one not willing to kill birds at the start.
Angier wasn't willing to share his life with a duplicate the way Borden shared one life with his twin.
For him, killing one Angier version every show was easier than going through sharing his life with one twin.
Angier craved the sole spotlight.
It is simply one of my favorite movies. Every time it’s on I watch. Every time…because I can’t help it.
Angier doesn't kill the duplicate, he kills himself falling through the trap door, and the duplicate from each trick assumes his life. The fact that each time, each version of Angier does the trick knowing he's going to drown show's his resolve for revenge.
They came out at the same time. The funny thing is, I went to one thinking it was the other. The ad for the one I thought I was see came on during the preview and I was laughing at my own mistake. They were both great. But this one is my favorite.
There is something I've never seen anyone talk about. After seeing the teleported man from Angier, Borden says to Fallon: that's it we are finished.
But why? They are twins they can always perform a new and better teleported man. All they have to do is flourish it a little.
its to tell the audience the Bordens are not aware that Angier also has a twin, whereas Angier was on to Bordens secret right after the knot incident and the china man performance
This has always been one of my favorite movies. As you watch it and realize all the horrible twists that in the end each man inflicted on themselves.
Thank you for this walk-through of the pledge, the turn, and the prestige of both of the magic tricks in The Prestige. It's an amazing mystery solving adventure and a revenge tale throughout the movie, becoming a horror story once the audience reaches the ending.
It is very well acted by Jackman and Bale. I'm also a fan of the music of the late Bowie and was pleasantly surprised by his portrayal of Tesla.
Yes! We share the same interpretation about this movie. Borden chose the hard way and Angier couldn't. The answer is not only ethics (not killing the duplicate) but to carry out the daily process of continually deceiving the audience, like that Chinese illusionist. Humility, hard work and perseverance, that is the Prestige, the definitive trick.
How the machine seemed to work was that the original was left in the center of it and duplicate was created outside of it.
Which means that the first version which had a trapdoor to waterbox drowned the original Angier and he knew that would happen (he designed the system) so he literally sacrificed himself for the prestige. Multiple times because next clone always sacrificed itself for the new version. One could say that is choosing quite a hard way.
Borden brothers naturally had their own vices. It's hard to not think that the other brother killed Angier's wife in their personal desire to 'improve' a trick which from audiences perspective would not have improved anything because who cares what type of knot it was outside people doing the trick? That is also reckless endangerment of others and killing an aide (and your friends wife) when you are not the Houdini of that trick who is endangering themselves.
So none of the protagonist were especially clean or ethical in their actions. Maybe the other brother was depending which scenes was Alfred and which was Frederick.
I concur regarding your assessment of "The Prestige." It's a superb film. Casting Bowie as Tesla... Brilliant!
One of my favourite of his films
What a great interpretation of this movie. I have seen this movie quite a bit and enjoy it every time and even noticed and liked a lot of the parts of the movie you focused on, but when you brought the story arcs of the twin brothers up in comparison to Hugh Jackman's character's duplicates it was like my mind exploded. For some reason the image of 3 intertangled circules popped into my head when you finished the comparisons. I also never even considerd any correlations between the dupllicates and the twins. Great video
I almost drowned twice… it was not ‘peaceful’. I was terrified
A twist many miss that Lord Caldlow isn't Robert Angier's alias. Robert Angier is Lord Caldlow's alias. Angier's wife stated to Robert that he was playing someone else, where he replied that he would not embarrass his family with his theatrical endeavours. He is also independently wealthy, and stated to Tesla for making his machine that "Price is not an object."
At the end of the film, Robert Angier revealed his true identity with his true accent. An English lord from the prestigious Caldlow family.
BORDEN: "You must be Lord Cal..."
ANGIER: "'Caldlow.' Yes, I am. I always have been.
Great breakdown, I had done a paper on this movie in college about the Economic Commentary. The poor twins who achieve their success by love of the craft self sacrifice and discipline…coming up from nothing; Hugh Jackman comes from money he goes back too in the end. He is into the Show the recognition. In the end Hugh Jackman does mass production of himself dying slowly his view on having blood on his hand. I only got a ‘B’ on the paper
Good to hear you’re doing well dave 👍miss your commentary on events
I watched it Many year ago. It was awesome. Great story, great acting, great direction, great ending . Must watch.
One of my alltime favourite films. I could watch this masterpiece over and over - and to top it all the actors are perfect and brilliant in it.
I never actually saw this film. Your passion for movies and movies has always been clear but this is a showcase for that love.
I love the shot right after Borden kills Angier. As the warehouse burns, we see row upon row of drowned Angier duplicates. I think the messages of the film are really about the costs of rivalry and seeking revenge. The old saying, "he who seeks revenge dies a thousand deaths" is literally visualized here, and it's brilliant.
I would suggest the book as much as the movie. The author, Christopher Priest, recently passed away, and all his work is fresh and creative and engaging.
At the end Angier says he never knew which Man was going to live or die, as in the machine was random as far as who it teleported.
This is what he said took courage and that he knew what sacrifice was.
So, while a long shot, the end Angier could still be the original but even he would never know.
Fantastic video. I'm a huge fan of this film and have seen it many times, but you have provided many additional, wonderful insights that I hadn't really considered. Thanks for that. Time for a rewatch!
One of my absolute favorite movies; thanks for the outstanding review Dave. Cheers.
I love the film, and would recommend a reading of the book too, though with the perspective of them being two different tellings. Even having seen it several times, reading the book made my next watch all the more appreciative of Bale's portrayals of each twin's own (very different) temperament (and each's attempt to conceal the difference for sake of the Prestige). And Jackman's portrayal throughout is key to the power of the Angier's final line.
I love this film, and the ending took me totally by surprise.
Great analysis. Always think also that he is dead in the middle of the film. If he transport himself on the machine he is dead by gunshot on the first use. If he stays in the same place he is drowned 😢. So very sad
Brilliant film, with huge re-watchability. A definite masterpiece.
Saw the Prestige first time last night. Great movie of type that leaves you thinking about it and needs more than one viewing when you try to pick out clues you missed first time.
I've always loved The Prestige. After viewing it the first time I had to watch it again the very next day.
Oh damn, I've seen this movie multiple times and there's a few observations there which went right over my head.
If anyone played Remnant: From the Ashes, there's a level called Leto's Laboratory where the player finds a malfunctioning teleportation device, and must use it many times, only to later find a pile of burnt bodies in the basement. The first time you see it, a body falls out of a chute right in front of you, and adds to the pile. It's all environmental storytelling and not directly explained to you, but it eventually becomes clear that those bodies are the player, each time we teleport a new copy is made and the original is burnt. It always reminded me of this movie
The Prestige is a BRILLIANT movie!! Thank you for sharing your thoughts on it.
Love that film
SPOILER: Honestly, the biggest question I was left with after the final scene was wondering why Angier kept all the dead duplicates in the water tanks. Seems like it would have been easier to simply dispose of the bodies rather than have to acquire a brand new tank each time and risk discovery. Maybe it was just a directorial decision to provide a more jarring visual impact of what he was doing.
Given the time period, I wonder if it would have been equally difficult to keep disposing of the bodies; he would always have had to do it entirely by himself, no easy task, and employ a reliable method with a very low risk of discovery, since if just one duplicate was found it would mean disaster (so the disposal method would have to be either total, or a near zero chance of discovery, but the latter would likely mean going somewhere outdoors, eg. attaching weights and dumping in a deep lake).
You're probably right though re the greater viual impact. Afterall, eventually he would run out of space with so many cubicles, and unless he was the only person involved in making the cubicles, surely someone would eventually ask why he kept ordering ever more of them.
This scene always left me with questions, but I kind of like its ambiguity. The film has many elements, but this one seems like true horror and reminds me of the tone of the first Alien.
One of my favorite movies....shows the hardships of life, along with the rewards, and to never underestimate the amount someone will go to enact revenge if driven to do so, and how a life that is often a tragic one is usually our own doing.
One of my favourite movies, it stands out to me as one of 3 movies ever where as soon as it was over the first time I saw - I immediately rewatched it without a moments delay to pick up on what I missed while it was all fresh in my mind
I just randomly remembered this movie last week and decided to watch it with my wife. It was way better than I remembered and she loved it also! What odd timing that this video should pop up now!
Holy shit, I didn’t think that the original Angier died. Each one voluntarily killed himself for the sake of the act? Daaaaaark.
Yeah. I didn't pay attention well enough myself. A lot of the movie was lost on me unfortunately. I will need to watch it again but if it requires intense thought then I need to read the book not watch the movie.
I don't think this interpretation is accurate though. He literally tells Borden at the end of the film that he never knew if he'd be the one in the tank or the one on the stage. Because of the seamless memory between the original that activates the machine and the clone that appears on the stage, he never truly understands how the machine works. From his perspective, he steps into the machine and it's a 50/50 chance if he ends up in the tank or on the stage.
Great, great movie. Top 10.
I remember when I first watched this sitting forward in my seat and realising that I was actually holding my breath at that reveal. An amazing movie in all aspects
Obsession is the seed of insanity.
One of the best movies I've watched. The acting is supreme.
Nolan movies have a nice complexity to them
I felt like the movie is a contemplation on "how far will you go...?" - I thought it was extremely well cast and overall well made. The fact that that both obsessed magicians are played by actors who are well-known for being very dedicated to capturing the characters they are playing makes the movie an even more interesting watch to me.
Phenomenonal film!
One of my eternal top ten favorite movies. Criminally underrated and Nolan's best.
Awesome video 👍💪👏👏👏👏
I always loved the genus of Tesla. He was so underrated and brilliant. Having him as a character in this was great. Showing the smear campaign from Edison was a nice historical touch in a fictional story. I absolutely love this movie. You have to admit, Christopher Nolan always makes amazing movies. He's kinda the Tesla of cinema. 😁
This is truly one of my favourite films
7:20 - Is it any wonder Angier doesn't trust the duplicate? Earlier in the film he has a body double that ends up betraying him, while they are doing the teleported man trick, that leads to great humiliation at the hands of Borden.
The book is rather different in many ways. Spoilers for the book ahoy:
About half the book is set in Victorian England, the other half is present day, focusing on the descendents of Borden and Angier. The "Borden's Diary" section becomes clear after a bit that it is two people writing it, and using it to communicate back and forth, despite staying in the first person. The name "Alfred" Borden is eventually revealed to be a compounding of the names "Albert" and "Frederick" Borden.
The Tesla device doesn't copy exactly. It teleports the user, first by moving his "soul" or spirit" then his physical body. It leaves behind a husk, an immobile, "mummified" or calcified, inert body or "corpse". So whenever Angier uses it he has to hide the residual body to avoid suspicion or awkward questions. Olivia meanwhile has figured out Borden's secret, he pays her off to keep quiet, which she does.
(Major plot spoilers:) On one night during Angier's show, Borden sneaks backstage and finds the engine for the device. Fearing it will start a fire in the theater he stops it, in the middle of Angier's act. This causes the device to not complete the transfer and splits Angier in two, one a mostly insubstantial ghostlike being, the original becomes more lethargic, less lively and mentally less focused. Borden flees after running into the "ghost" and is never caught backstage, and thus is never arrested.
(Even bigger spoilers, ROT-13 protected:) obql!Natvre trgf zber culfvpnyyl fvpxyl naq pbecfryvxr naq riraghnyyl qvrf. Bar bs gur Obeqraf vf zheqrerq yngre ol tubfg!Natvre, jub nyfb uhagf qbja gur bgure Obeqra, ohg qvffvcngrf pbzcyrgryl orsber ur pna npuvrir uvf eriratr.
I’ve read the book as well, which is the version I prefer.
This is my favourite film ever. Thanks for the analysis. There were thing mentioned that I hadn't even considered! My observation has always been that the 3 parts of the trick mirror the 3 act structure of the film, most films even
Holy shit. This is one of my favorite movies ever. I’ve watched it at least 25 times and always said it was one of my desert island films because of its non-linear structure it bounces around in time so much that I can’t remember what will happen next. But until now I always thought Angier was killing his duplicate every night. I never realized that in reality he was committing suicide every night, which is so much darker and makes the agony he goes through a thousand times worse. Thank you for this insight. Wow.
One of the greatest movie stories ever told
one of the few movie I saw in cinemas that i still vividly remember nowadays
While never stated in the movie, in the book, the brothers are named Albert and Frederick, which they merged into Alfred. One of the things that is absolutely sure is that Angier is a fake no matter how you interpret the duplication. In the original test, the "original" (i.e. the one still in the machine) shoots and kills the "duplicate". In all other performances, the "original" is drowned and the one that appears several yards away lives.
*hanged.
I'm surprised you didn't mention Memento at the beginning. My favorite Nolan film.
7:15 my favorite detail is that Borden claims the name Alfred, but one brother has Scarlett call him Freddy. I believe they even combined their names: Albert + Freddy = Alfred.
I always figured one of the Bordens was a duplicate but he was actually the more humane character in the end learning to share his life with the duplicate rather than die each time. I also thought Cutter (Michael Caine) had worked it all out at the end and that's why he let one of the Borden twins die by testifying at the trail while also keeping their daughter safe for the others return. Sort of like he wiped the board clean as these duplicates were too unnatural to exist and needed to be stopped.
After learning a little about magic history you see that Chung Ling Soo (the fail of magician) is an actual historical figure. His real name was William Ellsworth Robinson. He was an American who took on the persona of a Chinese magician. The man, in reality, was constantly putting on the show of being something he wasn't.
This is one of my all time favourite films
My favorite thing about this film is that the story structure itself follows the stages of a magic trick.