this stylish thriller perfectly works on many levels

Rating: 9/10 (31 January 2007)

The Prestige is a stylish thriller, story about obsession, magic trick and metaphor of a film art at the same time. Thanks to director Christopher Nolan (Memento, Batman Begins) the movie perfectly works on every level. On the most obvious level - it is a superbly shot thriller keeping in a heart-pounding suspense with numerous twists and turns. As regards psychology, we have a dangerous obsession with searching for something new and an intense rivalry between two different personalities, which is reliable owing to excellent performances by two leads - Christian Bale and Hugh Jackman. Their characters are not only obsessed with personal ambitions, but they also resign from family life by hurting people they love. In the allegorical sense, the flick is an overt metaphor of the magic trick in which creators show more things than actually communicate and viewers' aim is to decipher a riddle. Besides, they often reveal secrets concerning the enchantment. Finally, Nolan focuses on a labourious creation process. Filmmakers, just like illusionists in this movie, do everything within their power in order to amuse viewers and the effect is sometimes incommensurate to their hard work and devoted time. To conclude, The Prestige is a first-rate cinematic experience which both criticizes and glorifies film-making.