“Now you’re looking for the secret. But you won’t find it because of course, you’re not really looking. You don’t really want to work it out. You want to be fooled…” – Cutter
Of late it’s sometimes easy to forget that Christopher Nolan, the genius behind the Dark Knight trilogy adrift amidst a sea of awards and accolades as a result of his labours with the franchise depicting his vision of the caped crusader, previously made a quartet of insidiously intelligent films: Memento, Insomnia, The Prestige, and Inception. All of these films are amazing in their own way and worthy of separate analysis, showcasing Nolan’s developing directorial talent throughout the first decade of the new millennium. Today I’d like to discuss The Prestige, Nolan’s dark and bleak visually spectacular mind-twister of a movie, and my own personal favourite from this quartet of films, which was adapted from British writer Christopher Priest’s 1995 prize winning epistolary novel of the same name. Over the past few years I’ve discussed my interpretation of the events of the movie and its key overarching themes with so many people that I decided it was time to put my thoughts into an article.
The ingenuity of the movie arises from Nolan’s handling of the non-linear exposition of the film which, at its core, revolves around two talented magicians in the early 1900s who become engaged in a lifelong game of progressively daring one-upmanship. The movie’s narrator- Michael Caine’s Harry Cutter- is an ingénieur; he conceives then concocts the mechanisms which facilitate the magicians’ dazzling of their audiences. Cutter explains to the viewer the three key elements of any magic trick… every trick, he tells us, has three crucial stages:
The Pledge – the preliminary object or action;
The Turn- the action or the deed that misdirects and distracts the audience from the true purpose of the trick;
The Prestige- the final reveal which leaves them spellbound.
If you’re reading this article then you probably know the story which, in a nutshell to refresh you, charts via a series of flash-backs and flash-forwards the events surrounding the sentencing of Christian Bale’s Alfred Borden for the murder of Hugh Jackman’s Robert Angier. The murder seemingly occurred as the culmination of a series of escalating trade-offs between the two magicians which had their origins in the death of Angier’s wife Julia who, in tragic symmetry to the death of Angier, drowned performing a water cell act.
Next we will discuss the ending, and then seek to understand how it is representative of the key themes embodied within the movie’s narrative…
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34 Comments
Really interesting article! I’m like you – the Prestige is my favorite Nolan film and I would argue the most underrated by everyone else!
I am not sure the movie is under-rated. It’s critically acclaimed if I recall correctly.
Ok, so here is my question and the one thing I never understood. Each night the Angier who is on stage falls into the tank and drowns, while one simultaneously duplicates and appears in the back of the theatre for the prestige right? So, on the night of the “murder” what caused the act to fail? Why didnt everyone applaud wildly at the Angier who appeared in the back of the theatre? Are we supposed to conclude that Borden raising alarm at the Angier in the tank caused the entire “act” to fail? He was below stage. Why would anyone in the audience be any the wiser? It makes no sense.
It is stated by Angier in the film that he doesn’t know whether he or the clone will come out as the prestige – sometimes he does and sometimes it’s the clone, so he only ‘risks’ dying every night, sometimes he dies but sometimes the clone dies. And yes, the trick failed because Angier had planned for Borden to turn up and investigate so that he could frame him for murder and get his revenge that way – hence why he only booked a 100 show run: he knew Borden would eventually turn up to be framed. And if you watch, no Angier clone came out for the prestige during Angier’s ‘death’, so the audience knew something was wrong – Angier had planned it so he could ‘fail’ once Borden turned up and get him framed.
Ok, I hear that, but this is still a plot hole as best I can tell. If he “he doesnt know whether he or the clone” will come out as the prestige than that piece of the act is random and uncontrollable. Regardless of what was going on under stage, it seems 100% definitive there shouldve been a clone (or the Angier who was on stage) reappearing at the back of the arena for the prestige.
Angier says that he doesn’t know whether himself or the clone will appear alive, but this is in fact only his perspective. Both “Angiers” are the same exact person, so every time one of the Angiers survives the trick, he thinks he is the real one. I am not sure if Angier realizes that both of them are exactly the same, but I guess he doesn’t. I just think the way he worded how his trick works in the movie can be misleading to viewers.
Perhaps we are to assume that old the night in question, Angier didn’t appear at the back of the theatre because he was trying to set Borden up. Presumably knowing Borden’s obsession with understanding the trick itself, it may well have been logical to assume he’d wander below stage for a quick mooch around. Angier also invites members of the audience on stage to inspect the machine, so perhaps he suspected Borden would be amongst them (he’d done it once already in the scene where he breaks the cage with the bird in it).
I have no idea how Angier may have known Borden would pick that particular performance, maybe he had one eye open as the audience members arrive on stage. Then presumably if he concocts some kind of sinister framing, his ‘clone’ would also know of it.
When Borden checked on stage then Angier knew he was there and put his plan to frame him into motion.
What an evil dude! But hey he did think his wife had been murdered.
Its not that complicated.
Angier intentionally does not show up at the end of the prestige to fake his own death and sets up Borden in the mean time.
The Angier we see at the end of the movie is the duplicate that was created the night Borden was set up. To make it work all Angier had to do was reassume his real name of Cadlow (unsure of the spelling).
Maybe the bigger plot-hole should be something along the lines of “there is absolutely no scientific evidence to suggest that a man walking into an alternating current field causes matter contained within to be duplicated, which includes human beings”.
But it’s a necessary plot-hole and then film is truly brilliant.
But that’s not a plot hole- it’s part of the science fiction element of the story. A plot hole would imply that there’s an error in the script. It’s a deliberate plot piece that has its origins in science fiction. You could call it a cop-out but not a plot-hole. Get my meaning?
@ Chris, Cartouche, SGB,
Agreed, it’s not a plot-hole, it’s just an unexplained sci-fi element.
The book is great by the way and differs radically from the film in how the machine works. In the book the machine is a teleportation device and does not create living duplicates. The person in the machine is teleported to a new location and inert material that looks like the original is left behind, which Angier calls “the prestige materials”…
Some people might feel cheated by the sci-fi element of the film, but it does not make it a plot-hole. One critic said something along the lines of “after committing so much time and faith to the plot, I find out that the story is one of science fiction. Don’t get me wrong because do I love a good science fiction story, just tell me in advance…”
What are you talking about? All Angier’s clone had to do was to hide and not reappear once he was certain Borden was snooping around back stage. It can easily be explained that he watches himself drown every time; if Borden hadn’t come, he’d go back on stage. He drowned himself every night because he knew that Borden would eventually come and try to find out about the secret of his trick, he just didn’t know which night it would be. It didn’t matter anyway.
Lets start from very basic
Whenever Angier meets Borden(after the death of Angier’s wife) in the movie, he asks a question: “Which knot did u tie” ?, to which borden always reply: “I dont know”, a big WHY ? THINK !!
Now lets recall last 3-4 minutes discussion between hugh jackman and bale. If u really think Tesla’s machine works then these last 3-4 minutes of the movie makes no sense at all. The truth is Tesla’s machine DOESN’T WORK !! The keyword Tesla was given by borden to angier when angier kidnapped fallon and at that time borden knew he was fooling angier and there is no such machine. So he informs tesla about angier well in advance. Also now u’ll find it pretty obvious that machine is fake from the discussions between tesla, his assistant and angier. Do u really think it’s not possible to create replicas of angier’s hats.
When angier gets machine he realizes that he has been fooled…. and… then he plays the greatest trick. He pretends as if the machine is real.
Now lets prove it by contradictory method. we assume that machine works and we already know that information aboout tesla was given by borden to angier. So why borden is so surprised when angier performs his final trick when he himself has given the secret to angier. He is surprided because he Angier backfires it on borden !!
So what I believe is the person which dies in tank is angier’s body double and rest all(the last scene where so many angiers, insdie the tanks were shown) were fake models made of clay or whatever.
That is because Fallon and Borden have been taking turns! So the day that was tied, could have been Fallon, and Angier might have asked that question to Borden!
Very nicely written but there is one point that seems to contradict another slightly.
On of the quotes you give is:
“Which hat is mine?” – Angier to Tesla
But then you a pretty definitive that the duplicated Angier is the one that takes over and the original dies.
There is no way to know which is the copy/clone and which is the original. In fact I believe the next line following the quote (if memory serves me right) is Telsa saying they both are, referring to the hats. And that is part of the struggle Angier goes through. Never knowing if he will be the Prestige or not.
Its not the most major plot point in the movie but I think its one you glossed over.
Not a mistake. The article goes on after this quote to mirror Tesla’s reponse which as you say is effectively “BOTH hats are yours”. This ties in with the article’s argument. Also it does not matter which Angier it is. Both are 100% the same. Talking of a clone is ultimately redundant.
@ Bellona BellaDonna,
Yes you’re correct. That is exactly what I meant and the article’s argument was indeed intended to mirror Tesla’s response to Angier’s question but with more exposition and explanation.
Always wondered how far into Borden’s love-life he allowed his duplicity to go. Obviously “Fallon” loved and Sarah and Borden loved Olivia, but would they end up essentially swapping lovers because their ruse commanded it? Brothers sharing and taking turns isn’t exactly unheard of…..
Ha! I am female and I would not pass up the chance to make out with Scarlett Johannsen in that costume! And as we all know – boys will be boys!
You’re only human Donna, but I think you making out with Scarlett Johannsen is a hole new can of worms….
Great article. No disrespect to the other writers of the site but I always feel good when I see an article is written by Benji Taylor. Always stimulating stuff!
I agree that both Angiers are one and the same. It’s redundant to talk about there being a clone. Both are Angier! It’s irrelevant which one is in The Prestige because as the article states he will NEVER remember drowning!
The 2 sided coin is another great clue in the movie about the twins.
Great article about my favorite Nolan film. The major theme to me that runs throughout all of Nolan’s work is memory. His characters all become obsessed with some moment (real or imagined) and the rest of the film is about their struggle to deal with that obsession. The characters who survive are those who can let go of the memory. So here, we see Borden saved by his ability to let go of his preoccupation with Angier. His brother and Angier both cannot escape their memories and it dooms them.
This isn’t the meaning of the ending – this IS the ending as it seems on the surface. The trick. The trick is making you believe it’s magic, impossible, a clone. And like Michael Caine said – you weren’t looking for it – the truth of it – you want the (clone) magic.
In reality Teslas’s machine doesn’t work. They set it up to get funding to compete with Edison – there’s even an interpretation that the men hunting them are special police and not edison’s elusive men. They put the hats there and so on. Any evidence of it working is told in CLEARLY deceptive journals.
In actuality he used a double as we well know who vanished part way through the movie – not true – he did the ‘transported man’ double the same way as Borden but with more FLAIR – more ‘magic’. He saw the potential in Tesla’s machine to TRICK the audience in to believing it was more than a double – like ALL magic tricks.
Then when he was done with his madness and his overall vision killed the double to frame Borden and TOOK THE TRICK TO HIS GRAVE – hence the deceptive explanation at the end where we ‘see’ the clone.
Case in point for this apart from the entire dialogue of the movie: At the end we see many many tanks and only ONE – CLEAR – body.
The Nolan film (surprise surprise) is a meta film itself to trick you in to thinking the cloning was real ie. magic because any technology you don’t understand is magic. In reality it was a double and misdirection the whole time and resided in the physical realm like all tricks.
@ SAS – no way! I think you are tying yourself up in nots here dude.
@ SAS,
I’d have to disagree with you…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHKan75x7GI
2 mins 3 seconds: The machine clearly works and creates a duplicate of Angier. How do you explain that?
“Now you’re looking for the secret…But you won’t find it…”. Everybody miss the big picture at the end and the last sentence “…you want to be fooled” … There is more than one clone/twin…Both are fighting like brothers because Borden and Angier are like twins too… Think abouth the double … their share… their fight .. the pistol’s trick(S).. the “TESLA” code they shared … the other machine … the multiple hats and cats…
FLOATING IN BACH AND EVERY TANK, DRESSED IN ROTTING STAGE
CLOTHES, IS YET ANOTHER ROBERT ANGIER.
INT. ABANDONED THEATRE — DAY
Cutter spreads MORTAT on the last BRICK of the wall he has
built in the opening to the cellar.
He places the brick in the wall, sealing it up.
EXT. FOREST — DAY — FLASHBACK
A cat slinks its way through a pile of top harts, knocking
one over as it disappears into the forest beyond.
CUTTER (V.O.)
…you want to be fooled.
We are left alone in the glade, staring at the top hats-
FADE OUT.
CREDITS.
END.
You missed something ;)
This is how I read the film, although there were a couple parts I was hung up on. The Borden twist is so obvious throughout the film I began to wonder if it was a misdirection. Then tesla disappearing after her had gotten Angier’s money. Angier’s realizing he had been duped in more ways than one saw a how to use the “showiness” of the machine to his advantage knowing no one would doubt the magic of the machine including the viewer.
Excellent article. Nolan is the man.
Question – why does Borden give the name TESLA to Angier in the first place? Is it possible that Borden made his twin using Tesla’s machine?
@ SGB,
Borden sends Angier to Tesla as part of a crazy wild goose chase which is revealed via his diary.
He intends this to remove his rival from the stage allowing him to cement his status as the top magician in England.
As for Borden’s line “Tesla is the key to my diary but not to my trick” he means exactly what he says. “Tesla” is the key to solving the ‘cypher’ which Borden’s diary is coded in, but Tesla has nothing to do with how the twins perform their trick.
Borden only commissioned Tesla to build him an impressive looking machine that fires out electrical charges for show, it had no real function.
Check this http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Pinetti
Professor Pinetti was mentioned in Robert-Houdin’s memoirs. He told a fantastical story about his mentor Torrini, a/k/a Count Edmond de Grisy confrontation with Pinetti. He claimed that Pinetti was jealous of the newcomer de Grisy and arranged a performance to sabotage him. After the humiliation, de Grisy learned the profession so well, that his skills outmatched those of his rival. So much so that Pinetti was forced to leave France. It was doubtful if there ever was a Count Edmond de Grisy or if he ever was an adversary of Pinetti’s.
The real wizard is CUTTER
“I saw a someone head below the
stage… I followed… and I found
Borden…watching Mr. Angier drown in a tank.
You all missed something about the “key” and the “axe”
Same with Julia’s death ;)
They also remove the cats collar the first time the machine it’s revealed to be working… why? I know that means something, and I too, am suspicious that the machine worked. I’m also suspicious that Cutter, is some how behind the madness.
I get everything else, (believing that the machine did work because Angier tried it and then shot the first clone that came out), but I was stumped by the body in the tank as the last shot. The one that drowned and got Borden into trouble, was taken out and laid on a slab at the mortuary. The trick wouldn’t have been performed again after that. So, what was the corpse doing in the tank at the end? Were they saying that Angier was so obsessed with the trick, that he kept doing it in secret to relive the glory…that he was so obsessed, he couldn’t stop, like an addiction?
@Benji Taylor
@Anyone else who can logically answer my questions.
The machine only makes a copy (which appears elsewhere), and doesn’t transport the magician at all.
So,
If the final trick uses a trap door, which drops into a locked water tank, the “original” magician is killed. So, my question is….
Doesn’t the “original” magician die on the first of his 100 final performances?
That would leave a “new” magician in the back with all the memories of the “original” but the “original” has to have died the first time he did the trick on stage.
The first time he copied himself was in private, and he shot the “new” magician.
Which begs the question, how could he have been unsure of whether or not he would be the man in the tank or the man in the back of the theatre?
So, two questions really. I’ve been thinking about it for the last hour and I’ve got nothing. Someone, please set my mind to rest.
My contention is that he knew he would die in the first of the 100 shows, but found solace in the idea that his double (complete with all of his memories) would continue his work after his death, giving him the victory he obsessed over for so long, at the cost of his life.