A Truly Intelligent and Gripping Piece of Art

Rating: 10/10 (1 January 2007)

Over these last few years, I have been increasingly against the critics opinions on the quality of movies, whether it is on their criticism of blockbusters and lack of originality, or studio's greed for money on detriment of quality. These past year, i have to start to agree with them. That was until the Prestige came on. It has been a really long time since I have seen a movie that truly made me care about the characters and their motivations, and most importantly it has been a really long time since I have seen a movie that made me totally forget about the hectic life outside, and make me devout myself entirely without looking at my watch at least once. Obviously that isn't a coincidence, this only happens when true cinematic geniuses are behind the camera, either Christopher Nolan's passionate and intelligent direction and skillful writing adaptation capabilities, or Pfister's lighting and Julyan's score. That combined with a top-notch cast leading this peace of cinematic brilliance presented as a magic trick itself makes it a as enjoyable as possible. Christian Bale and Hugh Jackman battle themselves character and acting-wise, because you never know which one has the advantage over the other, and to make the recipe perfect Michael Caine, Scarlett Johansson, Rebecca Hall and David Bowie support the duo not over shadowing them but composing a colorful and deep canvas. I guess what I like the most about the Prestige is the fact that the movie is about magicians composing magic tricks and the three steps to complete them; and the movie is actually presented to us audience in that way: You have The Pledge (Who the characters are, their motives and backgrounds), The Turn (you realize nothing is what it seems, twists keep on coming and you never know who has leverage) and The Prestige (the most interesting of them all, because you are given an explanation for the events, which explains all of its "cientific impossibilities") But are they really impossible. Were all the explanations given to you the reality?.....Did you watch it closely? Make sure you did. Because the explanation is not what it seems. That is the real Prestige of "The Prestige".