A Fascinating Mystery

Rating: 10/10 (25 February 2008)

Christopher Nolan's Memento didn't impress me, although I found the movie's structure interesting. Batman Begins downright disappointed me. Based on these two negative experiences I made the decision of not watching The Prestige when it came out in the theatres. I just knew I wouldn't like it.
We all have mistakes we'd like to erase: The Prestige is my mistake. If I could go back in time and watch it on the big screen, I wouldn't think twice. I'd watch it twice actually! The Prestige is simply one of the best movies I've ever seen in my life. I saw it on a Monday and on Tuesday I was watching it again. As labyrinthine as the plot may be, it's never hard to follow (good screen writing and editing deserve credit for this), but you will want to watch it again because it's just too damn good! The Prestige follows the rivalry between Angier and Borden, two stage magicians at the end of the 19th century, as each one struggles to come up with the ultimate magic trick. Rivalry quickly becomes obsession, and deceit, kidnapping and murder become the means they use to reach their goals. Science also plays an unexpected role in this movie, which contributes to one of its more interesting twists. Yes, plural: there are at least 4 major twists in this movie. Too much? Trust me, the Nolan brothers know what they're doing.
The cast is superb: we have the always excellent Michael Caine, Christian Bale, who's enjoying a renaissance in his career, Hugh Jackman and Scarlett Johansson. The editing and cinematography are great. I love the art direction: the art crew brings 19th London to life, recreates the magic stages of the time, and speculates on how some of Tesla's inventions would look like.
But what I really love in this movie is the screenplay. It might be light on character development, but this is first and foremost a mystery movie. The Nolan brothers do everything to delay giving information and keep suspense alive for as long as possible; they use flashbacks, they use an ingenious diary-within-diary narrative, voice-overs and just a lot of intelligent, and honest, misdirection. If you don't crack the mystery on your own, you have yourself to blame; the movie puts all the answers right in front of you.
Watching The Prestige is a unique cinematic experience. It's everything I want from a movie. It's renewed my interest in the Nolans again and has made me anxious about The Dark Knight. If you want to have fun, watch this movie.