Nothing is Impossible, But  Are You Watching Closely? :-)

Rating: 9/10 (4 February 2007)

I haven't liked a movie so much for some time now; talking about magic, there is no way to it could possibly address to you like an ordinary realistic movie, though it does not appeal to the tricks of SF. The movie comes forth straight with a genuine magical reality, with an invisible curtain raised little by little, it takes your breath away by the immense number of "tricks", by the action in present time "magically" blended with scenes read from two diaries, and by the changes of supremacy between the two main characters - two apprentices who are friends at first, becoming then fierce enemies (Christian Bale and Hugh Jackman). The two heroes are somehow alike: they are in fact driven by the desire to become the best magician, thus changing the initial rivalry into a "fight for your life" war, which makes each of them cause the other sentimental and physical losses.
The first one emotionally hurt (maybe by accident?), is chasing the other - first for revenge, then for finding out the secret of the successful trick involving the queen of the tricks - teleportation; a truthful, imaginative and extremely wise engineer (Michael Caine), gifted at finding magic devices based on recent inventions in the scientific world and responsible for the "making of" the tricks is the "raisonneur" of the movie; a secret machine, which you can't help waiting for intensely, built by a famous physicist, Tesla, in a land which seems to be another world (even if it is "electrically" developed, for the needs of the scientist) also has an important part to play. The women in the movie, be they gentle wives or skilled charming assistants (like Scarlett Johansson) do not enjoy happiness, as the two leading characters are too deep into the obsession for each other.
But trust me on this: the "magic" of the movie, the charm of the characters and the turns of the plot may not be described, only experienced - so I invite you to see this movie as "The Prestige"- meaning the third part of a magic trick- by the director, Christopher Nolan.
PS - The music is just WONDERFUL!