The Prestige is the story is of two rival magicians (played by Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale) that are locked in a life-long struggle of rivalry and revenge.
In craft, the grudge drives the performers to excellence. In life, they are driven to alienation and emptiness.
Hugh Jackman’s stage and screen presence is delightfully graceful although his character’s story lacks a certain solid redeeming quality. Christian Bale’s character, on the other hand, has a truly captivating and sympathetic story presented with a grittiness that is, at times, difficult to watch. These performances are an intentional mirror image of the characters they play.
Similarly, the plot mirrors the stages of, according to the film, any traditional magic trick: the pledge, the turn and the prestige.
In the cinematic “pledge,” we have a sort of set up in the form of a back-story about the characters friendship and eventual falling out. You can bet that this portion of the film takes advantage of a misdirection that will probably only become obvious on a second viewing.
We then move on to witness the rising careers of the magicians and the effects their fight have on their personal and professional development. This is the film’s “turn.”
“The prestige” of the film suffers from confusion as the conflict spirals out of control… more often than not the conflict is subtly acted out on screen through tricks that are being subtly acted out on stage. This murkiness is not a fatal flaw and actually lends itself well as an illustration of the characters’ lost perspectives.
The film’s reveal is not hard to figure out, but quite hard to believe. However, the same can be said of any stage magic. It all comes down to presentation.
And Christopher Nolan’s presentation is most impressive.
