Filled with Darkness and Mystery....but ends up great!

Rating: 9/10 (20 November 2006)

Certainly one of the darker, yet more interesting films of the year, The Prestige sets out to tell a story full or originality and intrigue. Magic is a hard subject to resist. There is a part within all of us that has an avid curiosity and need to know how to explain the unexplainable. Of course, once it's revealed, almost all interest is lost, and it seems it's time to move onto the next thing. The Prestige tells a lot. I won't venture too far for fear of giving too much away, but while much is revealed in this film, there is still a lot to scratch your head over as the final credits roll (to a magnificent Thom Yorke song I might add). Yes, The Prestige has all the elements that keep your head spinning. Is it good? Yes. Will it stay with you? Yes. I'm just not sure I want that much darkness to follow me home.
The Prestige, (like The Illusionist also released this year) is another thriller about 19th-century stage magicians with secrets which advances so far beyond its recent predecessor that only the subject matter entices me to mention them in the same sentence. Credit lies with director Christopher Nolan, who approaches his projects with a dark vision that I find wholly appealing. He wanders through the shadows of human desire and ambition, coloring his observations with sarcastic wit that staves off the despair to which they might otherwise succumb. Showbiz illusion makes a natural fit for Nolan. He understands as few others how much film has in common with it -- and Christopher Priest's source novel sets a story uniquely suited to his sensibilities. It centers on the bitter antagonism between two rival performers, once friends apprenticed under the same man, but now poisoned by jealousy and reproach. Alfred Borden (Christian Bale) is a master of technique, grasping sleight-of-hand mechanics with unparalleled insight. Robert Angier (Hugh Jackman) is less physically adept, but makes up for it with supremely charismatic stage presence. This is something that his counterpart never quite got the hang of. Both have good reason to despise one another. Borden's arrogance once triggered an accident that cost Angier dearly, leading to an act of vengeance that threatened to cripple Borden's performing abilities for good. The two survived and went on to successful careers, but the seeds of hate were planted deep, and now the good things in their lives mean nothing when compared to the prospect of destroying each other.
The interesting and visually brilliant technique that Nolan uses in keeping your interest in by enticing you with his abstract, and sharp color, as well as reminding you that if you look away, you might miss something--and certainly you might. As the film trails on, you are left to develop theories and ideas, knowing full well that your guess is as good as the person sitting next to you. There are jump cuts, quick edits, and long meditative shots on such beautiful starlets as Scarlett Johansson. This may be Nolan's technique for distraction as the background may very well be giving you the big reveal. The plot grows intensely complicated (the posters aren't kidding when they admonish you to watch closely) and sometimes strains credibility (fake beards come into play a little too often), but faithful viewers will be richly rewarded by the clever ingenuity on display.
Nolan keeps it all together with the same tricks that have made his previous films so enjoyable: clever story development and focus upon character. Like Memento, The Prestige utilizes a complex editing style, cutting back and forth between eras to create a cinematic texture of misdirection and revelation (high regards should also go to editor Lee Smith for an extraordinary job). The results draw us close to the central figures, then let us watch in rapt fascination as their wounds and desires drag them down. A few problems and inconsistencies do arise -- places where plausibility strains or the twists become repetitive -- but like the characters on-screen, Nolan is so good at guiding our attention elsewhere that we soon forget such problems. His leading men give him plenty of help. Bale's knack for evoking the dark side is well established, but it's sublime watching Jackman turn his immense charm towards sinister ends (this is easily his best film performance to date). Both make excellent use not only of their characters' strengths, but also their fears and insecurities, which retain an ounce of humanity even as they seek new parts of their souls to sell.
There is a lot to here to be creeped out by, especially when the end comes around. The darkness became so overwhelming to me that I had a hard time shaking it soon after. It made me fearful again of what humans are capable of and reminded me that there is still much to be learned about the dark side of the human psyche. The Prestige does earn high praise not just as a terrific historical thriller, but also because it grasps the medium's links to this subject so remarkably well -- just like Welles, Hitchcock, Wilder and all those other great filmic magicians whose ranks Nolan is well on his way to joining.