A MAGICIAN ALWAYS AIMS TO MISDIRECT HIS AUDIENCE ...
WITHOUT THEM REALIZING IT ...
THE MOVIE ITSELF ... IS THE TRICK
THE MISDIRECTION ... IS BY NOLAN
THE PLEDGE ... THE TURN ...
THE PRESTIGE
"Now you're looking for the secret... but you won't find it, because of course, you're not really looking. You don't really want to work it out... you want to be fooled"...
NO ONE HAS WORKED IT OUT ... TILL NOW
(LINKS FOR: MULHOLLAND DRIVE - INLAND EMPIRE - LOST HIGHWAY - ENEMY - BIRDMAN - ARE ON THE RIGHT >>>)
THE PRESTIGE (2006)
Firstly, I have to start off by saying that Christopher Nolan, on the balance of his work to date, is a genius... but a very flawed genius.
As a massive Nolan fan, but disappointed with Interstellar, I decided to revisit his earlier work, with a view to reassessing how I feel about it - I will always be a fan, and look forward to his work, but, so far in my reassessment, I feel he needs to address issues with his script development process - probably not an easy thing for a writer / director to do, but he must remember - he will be remembered for his movies, not who collaborated on his scripts
(The only Batman movie I have seen is the one with Heath Ledger as The Joker)
As a massive Nolan fan, but disappointed with Interstellar, I decided to revisit his earlier work, with a view to reassessing how I feel about it - I will always be a fan, and look forward to his work, but, so far in my reassessment, I feel he needs to address issues with his script development process - probably not an easy thing for a writer / director to do, but he must remember - he will be remembered for his movies, not who collaborated on his scripts
(The only Batman movie I have seen is the one with Heath Ledger as The Joker)
THE PRESTIGE
Now from my observation, The Prestige has four possible explanations, but three become invalid on scrutiny.
Explanation 1)
(Throughout these explanations, I will just refer to the "nice" Borden brother as Fallon, and the "obnoxious" Borden brother, as Borden, regardless of their interchangeability)
(Throughout these explanations, I will just refer to the "nice" Borden brother as Fallon, and the "obnoxious" Borden brother, as Borden, regardless of their interchangeability)
This is the mainstream explanation which 98% of the audience so far has come to believe.... that Nikola Tesla builds Angier a duplicating, teleporting machine that creates exact copies of him, and teleports either the original or the copy some distance... it matters not which because both are completely identical and have the same consciousness and memories right up till the point of duplication (they both believe they are "original" - but (because one "Angier" called out "No, wait... I'm the..." the first time) both are also aware that the other feels the same way - so given a gun, both would try to shoot the other first - the one that drowns in the tank knows he is the "unlucky" one - effectively there is no original or copy - they are just completely identical)
Angier frames Borden for murdering one incarceration of himself... Borden is executed, and Borden's twin brother Fallon takes revenge and kills Angier.
Angier frames Borden for murdering one incarceration of himself... Borden is executed, and Borden's twin brother Fallon takes revenge and kills Angier.
This explanation makes a very good movie, but not an exceptional one... follows the science fiction genre of the book it is based on... but is a disappointing cop-out from the point of view of what Nolan could have done with the movie had he not gone down the sci fi route, and the way he actually engineered that route - and, I believe, becomes invalid under scrutiny, as I will explain.
Explanation 2)
Explanation 2)
But what people don't seem to have realised in the years since the movie was released... there is one scene that doesn't fit... one scene that upsets the apple cart... and leads to an extended explanation of the movie... the reveal hinted at in the final words of the movie (note, spoken by Cutter - the importance of why he is narrating at the beginning, and end of the movie, will become apparent) ...
"Now you're looking for the secret... but you won't find it, because of course, you're not really looking. You don't really want to work it out... you want to be fooled"...
And that scene is... the scene with Cutter and the trial judge.
Whether Cutter tells the judge "yes, the machine works", or "no, the machine doesn't work" - doesn't matter - this scene is the smoking gun, that asks the question - what does Cutter know?
Whether Cutter tells the judge "yes, the machine works", or "no, the machine doesn't work" - doesn't matter - this scene is the smoking gun, that asks the question - what does Cutter know?
Cutter initially believes the machine is a teleporter - the fact that it also duplicates Angier has been kept from him... (we see this at the disused theater when Angier demonstrates the machine to Ackerman - both Cutter and Ackerman are unaware of the duplicate being secreted beneath the stage)
Cutter tells the judge that the machine works, is real, was built by a wizard, and can do what no magician can do - he has to tell the judge the machine works (and teleports Angier), because he cannot admit to a duplicate or a double - this would beg the question - who, and where, is the double, and who was really murdered?
But Cutter is only referring to the machine as a teleporter, not a duplicator... but the judge doesn't ask the questions he should, and moves on to the water tank... this is another cop-out in the movie - Cutter doesn't really reveal the trick to the judge at all... it's too far for even a Victorian judge to ask to be told how a trick works... then to just believe a strange machine "works" (the judge is actually no better off than he was in the courtroom, as to how the "illusion" works)
But Cutter is only referring to the machine as a teleporter, not a duplicator... but the judge doesn't ask the questions he should, and moves on to the water tank... this is another cop-out in the movie - Cutter doesn't really reveal the trick to the judge at all... it's too far for even a Victorian judge to ask to be told how a trick works... then to just believe a strange machine "works" (the judge is actually no better off than he was in the courtroom, as to how the "illusion" works)
But why does Cutter tell the court that Borden was watching Angier drown, when it was clear Borden was trying to save Angier's life by trying to break the glass with an axe? (there is later evidence that Cutter must also know that it is unlikely that Borden had anything to do with the water tank being under the stage, and even if he still believed the machine only teleported Angier, he knows that the teleportation is into the gods, not to under the stage - but the evidence is that Cutter has worked out that the machine is both a duplicator, and a teleporter, and Cutter knows very well that Borden had nothing to do with upsetting this process)
(We even see Cutter attack a water tank with an axe (an axe Cutter himself, the ingenieur, always keeps on standby during water tank acts) ... in a vain attempt to save the drowning assistant's life ... Cutter knows very well that Borden was trying to save Angier's life)
(Once scrutinized ... this becomes very obvious - Cutter must have known Borden was trying to save Angier - but Nolan has masterfully "misdirected" us from making this observation - and there's an even bigger clue - when Cutter stops Borden from breaking the glass with the axe - that we overlook as well - it's Cutter that puts the emphasis on this whole situation)
(We even see Cutter attack a water tank with an axe (an axe Cutter himself, the ingenieur, always keeps on standby during water tank acts) ... in a vain attempt to save the drowning assistant's life ... Cutter knows very well that Borden was trying to save Angier's life)
(Once scrutinized ... this becomes very obvious - Cutter must have known Borden was trying to save Angier - but Nolan has masterfully "misdirected" us from making this observation - and there's an even bigger clue - when Cutter stops Borden from breaking the glass with the axe - that we overlook as well - it's Cutter that puts the emphasis on this whole situation)
And why, when he delivers the machine to Angier at the disused theater, is he not surprised by all the dead duplicates that we are led to believe are in the water tanks?
Cutter delivers the machine to the disused theater with a complete crew, but is the only one to remain behind to help Angier lower the machine down to the under stage area. It seems Angier has come clean to Cutter about what the machine actually does, and what happens to "the man in the box" - something I think Cutter has already deduced - he is a clever man and we see him watching the blind stagehands moving a shrouded water tank (we also see Fallon watching the same process) - so why did he lie in court to send Borden to the gallows?
The explanation: - Cutter is in cahoots with Fallon - Fallon is now out to change his miserable life, and kill his oppressive brother, Borden. (It won't be till later that Fallon realizes that he also has to kill Angier)
Fallon has dedicated his life to his brother's obsession - but has ended up sacrificing half his life, has had to have two fingers chopped off (or shot off, it doesn't matter which, it is still down to the feud), - the love of his life Sarah has committed suicide, and his daughter is motherless - all because of Borden and Angier's obsessive feud.
Borden is actually an arsehole - and it was his arrogance over a knot that lead to Julia's death, a fact that hasn't gone unnoticed by Cutter, who has had to live with the consequences, and it was Borden's indifference, despite Fallon's pleas, that led to Sarah's death. Both Angier and Borden have loved Olivia, but both have also driven her away with their heartlessness
(Borden knows very well which knot he tied in Julia's death, but he lies, and says that he "doesn't know", and Fallon is forced to go along with the same excuse - as evidenced at the funeral)
And, yes, at one stage Angier did try to kill Borden with the bullet catch trick, but it was more in frustration that Borden would not reveal the knot he tied, rather than love for his dead wife - he could have pulled the trigger immediately (like Fallon does when he shoots Angier) - and later, it becomes obvious he is far more obsessed with outdoing Borden, than killing him, or having a romantic relationship (Angier says "I don't care about my wife, I care about his secret")
(Borden knows very well which knot he tied in Julia's death, but he lies, and says that he "doesn't know", and Fallon is forced to go along with the same excuse - as evidenced at the funeral)
And, yes, at one stage Angier did try to kill Borden with the bullet catch trick, but it was more in frustration that Borden would not reveal the knot he tied, rather than love for his dead wife - he could have pulled the trigger immediately (like Fallon does when he shoots Angier) - and later, it becomes obvious he is far more obsessed with outdoing Borden, than killing him, or having a romantic relationship (Angier says "I don't care about my wife, I care about his secret")
It is Fallon and Cutter who set Borden up - that is why Cutter does not actually go down under the stage until after the machine finishes, despite seeing Borden go offstage and down the stairs, and actually stops Borden from breaking open the water tank to save the Angier duplicate (yet he said at Julia's funeral that a sailor had come back to life five minutes after drowning - and when Julia died he clearly continued to attack the glass until it broke, well after Julia appeared to have drowned), - and that is why he lies in court - he is deliberately sending an innocent man to the gallows
(We see Fallon in court, watching Cutter send his twin brother to the gallows - why would he have anything to do with Cutter later? - why wouldn't he kill Cutter as well as Angier?)
(We see Fallon in court, watching Cutter send his twin brother to the gallows - why would he have anything to do with Cutter later? - why wouldn't he kill Cutter as well as Angier?)
Angier has been away for two years - Fallon has got in contact with Cutter (remember, it was Fallon (as Borden) that worked for Cutter getting the secrets to Virgil's tricks - that's how he met Sarah), and Cutter says "he doesn't deal in methods" - to me this indicates that Cutter may be the only person privy to Borden / Fallon's secret (he is privy to Chung Ling Soo's secret), and has been all along, at least he has continually said that he knows Borden uses a double.
(When Fallon is kidnapped, we are clearly shown he has a double barreled Derringer type pistol (that holds two rounds). He blindly fires a shot through the box and hits Cutter, but stops firing as soon as he hears Cutter's voice - and later it is made very clear which brother was in the box - and all this happens, remember, before Sarah's death)
(When Fallon is kidnapped, we are clearly shown he has a double barreled Derringer type pistol (that holds two rounds). He blindly fires a shot through the box and hits Cutter, but stops firing as soon as he hears Cutter's voice - and later it is made very clear which brother was in the box - and all this happens, remember, before Sarah's death)
Later, Cutter is horrified to learn that Angier has taken Fallon's daughter away from him, so plays along with Angier's deception so he can lure him to the old theater where Fallon can kill him (Cutter could easily destroy or sabotage Angier's machine if he so wished - he doesn't need to deliver it to Lord Caldlow - but he knows Lord Caldlow really is Angier (from Fallon), and so needs to track him down to retrieve Fallon's daughter, and to lure Angier to a trap so Fallon can kill him)
Fallon doesn't tell Borden who Lord Caldlow really is, because he wants his brother to hang (if Fallon didn't already know Lord Caldlow was Angier, he would have certainly known after Caldlow's prison visit to see Borden) - both Fallon and Cutter know the obsession has gone too far (Cutter refuses to go to Colorado Springs with Angier for this very reason).
Fallon is out to avenge his wife's death, for him and his daughter, and to give them both a better life - and the clue to this is actually Angier's thwarted assassination attempt on Borden - the point being that Angier later stated he didn't care about his wife (Fallon did really love his wife, and has even more motive than Angier for revenge - and Borden knows he did wrong by Sarah, because he later apologizes to Fallon just before he is hung - it's a bit late - and Fallon's "Goodbye" to his twin isn't exactly heartwrenching)
Fallon doesn't tell Borden who Lord Caldlow really is, because he wants his brother to hang (if Fallon didn't already know Lord Caldlow was Angier, he would have certainly known after Caldlow's prison visit to see Borden) - both Fallon and Cutter know the obsession has gone too far (Cutter refuses to go to Colorado Springs with Angier for this very reason).
Fallon is out to avenge his wife's death, for him and his daughter, and to give them both a better life - and the clue to this is actually Angier's thwarted assassination attempt on Borden - the point being that Angier later stated he didn't care about his wife (Fallon did really love his wife, and has even more motive than Angier for revenge - and Borden knows he did wrong by Sarah, because he later apologizes to Fallon just before he is hung - it's a bit late - and Fallon's "Goodbye" to his twin isn't exactly heartwrenching)
When Angier is on stage, and sees Borden go below to investigate, he obviously decides to not reappear as the duplicated, teleported "Prestige" on the upstairs balcony, and slinks away, because he must maintain his secret - that his machine only teleports him, not duplicates him as well (as both duplicates are exact copies, they share the same conscious memory right up till the point of duplication)
It is Fallon that tips off Cutter that Borden is in the audience disguised - (we see Fallon in the audience when Borden disrupts Angier's show earlier, causing the damage to Angier's leg, and we also see Borden lambasting Fallon and saying "What is going on under that stage?" - Fallon knows, that no matter what he says, Borden is going to go under the stage at some point)
Cutter's man offstage, who we assume tries to stop Borden going downstairs under the stage, doesn't actually try to stop Borden at all - what he does, is check his identity, by removing his wig and beard - Cutter even asks "Who was that?" (which is actually a clue) (and we're deliberately not shown the answer - because the answer would have been "Borden") - a "misdirection" clue which now becomes obvious - they were waiting for Borden to make his move - Cutter does not immediately follow Borden down under the stage - because he knows he has to wait until after the "duplication" process.
(Cutter needs to be able to positively identify Borden in court, to frame him ... and by removing his disguise, he also has another witness that can positively identify Borden as the man who went under the stage - the "misdirection" of this scene is pure genius ... and, again, is damning evidence Cutter framed Borden)
Once Angier realizes Borden has gone below the stage, he knows he cannot complete the "Prestige" reappearance without giving away his terrible secret - but it is actually Cutter that pursues Borden, and actually frames him for the murder - (there are no other witnesses below except blind stagehands)
I believe it was originally Angier's intention only to get Borden to attend his show and be stumped and outdone by his magic - he sets a limit of 100 shows (no matinees, because he must transport the bodies at night) because he knows that this is more than enough to convince Borden that he performs the better trick (which has always been the crux of their obsession), and there is a limit to the number of bodies he can store or dispose of - it is just an illusion we fall into that Angier is responsible for framing Borden.
But the set-up by Cutter and Fallon has also played into Angier's hands. Certainly Angier would not contemplate coming forward to free Borden from prison, as Borden is still his arch rival and enemy, and it would be Angier with the explaining to do.
(Later, when Angier says to Cutter "I tried to leave you out of it" - he is referring to all the murders he has had to carry out beneath the stage, not to setting up Borden - we have been distracted to believe that Angier has set-up and framed Borden, and this is why Fallon shoots him at the end - but if you think about it, Angier hasn't set-up or framed Borden at all - he sets-up his own duplicates to die, and as he is supposed to be dead, he has no influence on the court proceedings)
It is Fallon that tips off Cutter that Borden is in the audience disguised - (we see Fallon in the audience when Borden disrupts Angier's show earlier, causing the damage to Angier's leg, and we also see Borden lambasting Fallon and saying "What is going on under that stage?" - Fallon knows, that no matter what he says, Borden is going to go under the stage at some point)
Cutter's man offstage, who we assume tries to stop Borden going downstairs under the stage, doesn't actually try to stop Borden at all - what he does, is check his identity, by removing his wig and beard - Cutter even asks "Who was that?" (which is actually a clue) (and we're deliberately not shown the answer - because the answer would have been "Borden") - a "misdirection" clue which now becomes obvious - they were waiting for Borden to make his move - Cutter does not immediately follow Borden down under the stage - because he knows he has to wait until after the "duplication" process.
(Cutter needs to be able to positively identify Borden in court, to frame him ... and by removing his disguise, he also has another witness that can positively identify Borden as the man who went under the stage - the "misdirection" of this scene is pure genius ... and, again, is damning evidence Cutter framed Borden)
Once Angier realizes Borden has gone below the stage, he knows he cannot complete the "Prestige" reappearance without giving away his terrible secret - but it is actually Cutter that pursues Borden, and actually frames him for the murder - (there are no other witnesses below except blind stagehands)
I believe it was originally Angier's intention only to get Borden to attend his show and be stumped and outdone by his magic - he sets a limit of 100 shows (no matinees, because he must transport the bodies at night) because he knows that this is more than enough to convince Borden that he performs the better trick (which has always been the crux of their obsession), and there is a limit to the number of bodies he can store or dispose of - it is just an illusion we fall into that Angier is responsible for framing Borden.
But the set-up by Cutter and Fallon has also played into Angier's hands. Certainly Angier would not contemplate coming forward to free Borden from prison, as Borden is still his arch rival and enemy, and it would be Angier with the explaining to do.
(Later, when Angier says to Cutter "I tried to leave you out of it" - he is referring to all the murders he has had to carry out beneath the stage, not to setting up Borden - we have been distracted to believe that Angier has set-up and framed Borden, and this is why Fallon shoots him at the end - but if you think about it, Angier hasn't set-up or framed Borden at all - he sets-up his own duplicates to die, and as he is supposed to be dead, he has no influence on the court proceedings)
Robert Angier is dead and buried, so Angier cannot continue with his career as The Great Danton, and must return to his previous life as Lord Caldlow - he certainly doesn't need the money, and has nothing more to prove, as his great rival is to be hanged.
All he has left is one last gloat, one last "Prestige" reveal to Borden, and to rub salt in the wound by taking his daughter - but he is unaware of the combined forces against him.
When Angier says "Whatever your secret was, you have to admit, mine is better" - and tears up Borden's notes - we infer he is gloating about his whole set-up of Borden - but he is just talking about the fact that he is supposed to be dead - not just supposed to be dead, but a body has actually been verified as dead, and Borden is going to the gallows because of it.
He rips up Borden's "secret" as a final last "trump" of Borden - to show Borden that he is the ultimate victor, with the ultimate "trick" - but that "trick" is being alive when he should be dead, not the set-up of Borden. He may be implying he had something to do with Borden's incarceration, but, when you think about it - he had no way of influencing Borden or Cutter's behavior under the stage - Cutter was the only person that could actually frame Borden ... and he was going to do exactly that ... no matter what Borden did under the stage
(And we are clearly shown that Angier keeps Cutter "out of it" as far as his secret goes - to what goes on under the stage ... it is Cutter and Fallon that are working together to frame Borden - because they have already worked out what goes on under the stage)
(They only had one shot at it - Cutter was the only person who could be a witness as to what Borden did under the stage, the only person that could stop Borden saving the Angier duplicate, the only person who could frame Borden, the only person who could stand up in court and send Borden to the gallows - yet we know Angier has kept him in the dark - how could Angier rely on all this going as it did? (and that Cutter would lie?) (How did he know that Cutter would even see Borden go downstairs, or follow him?) - without being in cahoots with Cutter, and Cutter knowing everything? - Borden may have saved the duplicate?
But Cutter, he knows what's going on - Cutter is your man... and he's in cahoots with Fallon, not Angier)
Cutter was the key prosecution witness that got Borden hung - and he lied in court to do it, yet he appears a very decent man - the reason is because he is a decent man - he is helping Fallon to free himself from his evil, overpowering twin brother's grip over him, which, along with Angier's corresponding obsession, is ruining everyone's lives, and to allow Jess to have a decent life.
When Fallon kills Angier, we're distracted (classic misdirection) to believe it's because of Borden's death, but it's actually because Angier took the girl, and so Fallon can get the girl back and not be bothered by Angier again - now you realize why the little girl is in the beginning, and ending of the movie.
Throughout the movie, the director Nolan has used classic misdirection - just like a magician ... and that's what the movie's about - magicians - the movie itself is the trick ... and the three classic Acts of the movie become the three Acts of a magic trick - The Pledge ... The Turn ... The Prestige
(When we see Fallon and Cutter watching the blind stage hands move the shrouded water tank, there is some very subtle, clever misdirection at this point - (with the dialogue as well) - note it is "Fallon" that wears a tie, and then later "Fallon" has it around his neck as Borden - Nolan is very subtly misdirecting us as to which brother was watching the stagehands moving the water tanks - and this alone goes a long way to confirming my analysis - Nolan is leading us to believe it was Borden (as Fallon) watching the stagehands, when in fact it was Fallon, and the misdirection is very subtle, deliberate, and damning - "Fallon" is actually relaying the information to "Borden" - not receiving it (this deliberate misdirection is damning, and actually achieves the opposite of what it sets out to do once you are on to it - it virtually slam dunks my analysis - this is another "smoking gun" - once you have figured out this misdirection, Fallon and Cutter become your prime suspects, and with Cutter lying in the dock, there is no case against Angier for Borden's set-up) - it is very clear that Borden has put the onus on Fallon to watch and "out-think" Angier, to figure out what is going on - and we see Cutter hanging around the old theater, also trying to figure out what is going on - they both do figure out what is going on - this is why Cutter is not surprised, just disgusted, to see what Angier is hiding under the old stage)
Fallon is telling his brother that they should stay away from Angier, let him have his secret, possibly giving him one last chance to break this obsession, but knowing full well that his brother can't, and won't, let it go
Borden has taunted and baited Angier, but now it is Angier that is baiting Borden with his trick, but neither, at this stage, is out to kill the other (Angier says to Borden "All I wanted to do was prove that I was the better magician") - it is Cutter and Fallon that have a plan afoot to bring their destructive obsession to an end
The fact that Fallon has lost his wife, and he and his daughter are grieving is easily overlooked - but the clues are there - such as Jess calling her doll Sarah - the harder you look at this movie, the stronger the evidence for the conclusion that Fallon had a hand in framing his brother.
If this were a Police investigation, charges against Angier would be dropped, and Cutter and Fallon would be the prime suspects.
So in the end, it becomes a story about a man freeing himself from obsession - the "nicer" Borden will live on as Fallon, free from the obsessive feuding of his "evil" twin and his equally flawed adversary Angier, that has only left a trainwreck in it's wake - we have seen the clues - Fallon lovingly trying to protect his daughter from Borden's rants and tirades - now he is free to live a full life, not a half-life.
Borden utters "Abracadabra" just before he dies - the word Abracadabra is often worn in the form of an amulet, with the letters of the word written in the form of a triangle - the irony is that the two identical sides of the triangle (the "magic" sides that say "Abracadabra") actually represent "Borden" and Angier - it is "Fallon" that is the third, and non-identical side, that breaks free and destroys the "amulet" bond between the three men
ALFRED BORDEN = AB
ROBERT ANGIERS = RA
AB+RA = ABRA(CAD)ABRA = THEY ARE BOTH "CADS"
When Angier says "Look around you", and Fallon says "I don't care", and then Angier says "You never understood why we did this?... You really don't know?... It was the look on their faces" - this highlights that Fallon did not have the same obsession as Borden or Angier.
All he has left is one last gloat, one last "Prestige" reveal to Borden, and to rub salt in the wound by taking his daughter - but he is unaware of the combined forces against him.
When Angier says "Whatever your secret was, you have to admit, mine is better" - and tears up Borden's notes - we infer he is gloating about his whole set-up of Borden - but he is just talking about the fact that he is supposed to be dead - not just supposed to be dead, but a body has actually been verified as dead, and Borden is going to the gallows because of it.
He rips up Borden's "secret" as a final last "trump" of Borden - to show Borden that he is the ultimate victor, with the ultimate "trick" - but that "trick" is being alive when he should be dead, not the set-up of Borden. He may be implying he had something to do with Borden's incarceration, but, when you think about it - he had no way of influencing Borden or Cutter's behavior under the stage - Cutter was the only person that could actually frame Borden ... and he was going to do exactly that ... no matter what Borden did under the stage
(And we are clearly shown that Angier keeps Cutter "out of it" as far as his secret goes - to what goes on under the stage ... it is Cutter and Fallon that are working together to frame Borden - because they have already worked out what goes on under the stage)
(They only had one shot at it - Cutter was the only person who could be a witness as to what Borden did under the stage, the only person that could stop Borden saving the Angier duplicate, the only person who could frame Borden, the only person who could stand up in court and send Borden to the gallows - yet we know Angier has kept him in the dark - how could Angier rely on all this going as it did? (and that Cutter would lie?) (How did he know that Cutter would even see Borden go downstairs, or follow him?) - without being in cahoots with Cutter, and Cutter knowing everything? - Borden may have saved the duplicate?
But Cutter, he knows what's going on - Cutter is your man... and he's in cahoots with Fallon, not Angier)
Cutter was the key prosecution witness that got Borden hung - and he lied in court to do it, yet he appears a very decent man - the reason is because he is a decent man - he is helping Fallon to free himself from his evil, overpowering twin brother's grip over him, which, along with Angier's corresponding obsession, is ruining everyone's lives, and to allow Jess to have a decent life.
When Fallon kills Angier, we're distracted (classic misdirection) to believe it's because of Borden's death, but it's actually because Angier took the girl, and so Fallon can get the girl back and not be bothered by Angier again - now you realize why the little girl is in the beginning, and ending of the movie.
Throughout the movie, the director Nolan has used classic misdirection - just like a magician ... and that's what the movie's about - magicians - the movie itself is the trick ... and the three classic Acts of the movie become the three Acts of a magic trick - The Pledge ... The Turn ... The Prestige
(When we see Fallon and Cutter watching the blind stage hands move the shrouded water tank, there is some very subtle, clever misdirection at this point - (with the dialogue as well) - note it is "Fallon" that wears a tie, and then later "Fallon" has it around his neck as Borden - Nolan is very subtly misdirecting us as to which brother was watching the stagehands moving the water tanks - and this alone goes a long way to confirming my analysis - Nolan is leading us to believe it was Borden (as Fallon) watching the stagehands, when in fact it was Fallon, and the misdirection is very subtle, deliberate, and damning - "Fallon" is actually relaying the information to "Borden" - not receiving it (this deliberate misdirection is damning, and actually achieves the opposite of what it sets out to do once you are on to it - it virtually slam dunks my analysis - this is another "smoking gun" - once you have figured out this misdirection, Fallon and Cutter become your prime suspects, and with Cutter lying in the dock, there is no case against Angier for Borden's set-up) - it is very clear that Borden has put the onus on Fallon to watch and "out-think" Angier, to figure out what is going on - and we see Cutter hanging around the old theater, also trying to figure out what is going on - they both do figure out what is going on - this is why Cutter is not surprised, just disgusted, to see what Angier is hiding under the old stage)
Fallon is telling his brother that they should stay away from Angier, let him have his secret, possibly giving him one last chance to break this obsession, but knowing full well that his brother can't, and won't, let it go
Borden has taunted and baited Angier, but now it is Angier that is baiting Borden with his trick, but neither, at this stage, is out to kill the other (Angier says to Borden "All I wanted to do was prove that I was the better magician") - it is Cutter and Fallon that have a plan afoot to bring their destructive obsession to an end
The fact that Fallon has lost his wife, and he and his daughter are grieving is easily overlooked - but the clues are there - such as Jess calling her doll Sarah - the harder you look at this movie, the stronger the evidence for the conclusion that Fallon had a hand in framing his brother.
If this were a Police investigation, charges against Angier would be dropped, and Cutter and Fallon would be the prime suspects.
So in the end, it becomes a story about a man freeing himself from obsession - the "nicer" Borden will live on as Fallon, free from the obsessive feuding of his "evil" twin and his equally flawed adversary Angier, that has only left a trainwreck in it's wake - we have seen the clues - Fallon lovingly trying to protect his daughter from Borden's rants and tirades - now he is free to live a full life, not a half-life.
Borden utters "Abracadabra" just before he dies - the word Abracadabra is often worn in the form of an amulet, with the letters of the word written in the form of a triangle - the irony is that the two identical sides of the triangle (the "magic" sides that say "Abracadabra") actually represent "Borden" and Angier - it is "Fallon" that is the third, and non-identical side, that breaks free and destroys the "amulet" bond between the three men
ALFRED BORDEN = AB
ROBERT ANGIERS = RA
AB+RA = ABRA(CAD)ABRA = THEY ARE BOTH "CADS"
When Angier says "Look around you", and Fallon says "I don't care", and then Angier says "You never understood why we did this?... You really don't know?... It was the look on their faces" - this highlights that Fallon did not have the same obsession as Borden or Angier.
Fallon is, effectively, the "Prestige", because he is the one that comes back, and Cutter, the ingenieur, effectively becomes the magician, because he engineers the deaths of Borden and Angier, in full sight, and nobody realizes (in fact we see him being a magician with Jess, making the canary cage disappear - twice - it's a big clue)
At the beginning of the movie we see Cutter making a canary disappear for the little girl Jess - then at the end we are re-shown him doing the trick, and then her father, Fallon, walks in - this is the movie - the symbolism of the 3 acts - Cutter has set Borden up, made him "disappear" to prison (remember, the canary gets killed in the trick Cutter does - then a replacement is "brought back" - we now realize the significance of being shown the earlier (same) trick - "Where's his brother?" - and that one canary dies), and has now brought him back, to his daughter - this is the "The Prestige" (and Cutter is the "magician" - he is the "ingenieur" of "The Prestige")
Who threw the dead canary away? - Fallon is getting rid of his brother ...
"Where's his brother?"
Throughout The Prestige, the symbolism is of cages and bars, even on all the windows - something needs to be set free.
It's Fallon (or his daughter - the symbolism with the canaries and cages) that is the canary in a cage, and is set free.
 | ||
Were You Watching Closely? |
The canary in the reflection ... is dead ... he killed his twin brother! He sets himself free ...
 |
| "Are You Watching Closely?" |
Explanation 3)
The third explanation has been debated by a few online - that the machine does not work - Angier was duped by both Borden and Tesla - but tries to save face by pretending the machine does work.
This is the one Nolan should have gone for - the one that would have turned this movie into a mind-blowing masterpiece - the opportunity Nolan missed.
All the clues are there:
- the opening (are you watching closely?) with the hats - the next scene with the canaries (real, not duplicates, indicating the hats are not duplicates)
- Tesla and Alley talking about Angier being their only remaining financier, and tricking him with the "magic" of electricity with the light bulbs.
-Tesla talking about using the machine for the purpose of illusion
- The multiple use of "are you watching closely" - every time this is used there is a valid clue that the machine might not actually work any "real" magic.
- When Borden shows the boy the two headed coin and warns him never to reveal the secret of a trick - this alludes to Nolan not giving away the secret of The Prestige
- Angier finding a double, Gerald Root
- Angier being crippled, but Root easily able to climb up on the balcony in the gods and raise both arms in the air as the "Prestige"
- It would be far more logical if the machine did not really work - why didn't Tesla use it to duplicate gold or money? - in fact it's ridiculous that the only viable explanation that Nolan leaves us with, is that the machine does work - a complete cop-out - a slight shift away from sci fi would have done wonders for this movie
But unfortunately the "machine does not work" explanation falls down on one thing that no one pushing this theory seems to have noticed - earlobes - Gerald Root has different earlobes (as well as a slightly different nose, and different teeth) to Angier, and the body in the morgue, and the body in the final scene (they could easily have been the same body, as Gerald Root could not have been buried as Root or Lord Caldlow, and "Angier" does not have any relatives) does not have Root's earlobes. They could have been altered, but the whole Root persona and physical identity would have had to have gone through a transformation to make the "double" deception possible, and there is no allusion to this at all in the movie.
The "Prestige" standing on the balcony has Angier's earlobes (as does the Angier on stage), not Root's, and so this third theory is invalid.
(another clue to this theory being invalid is - when "Angier" drowns in the water tank, he makes no attempt to access the hand-hole to undo the padlock - this is because he is a "real" Angier - and knows the padlock is in fact real, and trying to escape is futile)
How I wanted the machine "not to work" - the clues are there - "the audience knows the truth... that the world is simple... solid all the way through..." - even Andy Serkis says that Tesla is a "conman" on Wikipedia - but the fact is, it does work - we know Victorian London had an investigative Police force and developed justice system (from the courtroom scene, and our knowledge of cases like "Jack the Ripper") - and we had a dead body - we saw a live person drown in the tank - it had to be a "duplicate", or Gerald Root - and there is no allusion to it being Gerald Root (we don't ever find out what happened to Olivia or Gerald Root) in the movie - there are clues as to the machine not working, but no "evidence" (all the evidence points to the machine working) - either Nolan accidentally cut too many scenes from the movie, or the machine works - it's as simple as that.
(When Angier holds the lamp up to a tank, and peers inside, he is right next to the machine - the body we see in the final scene is at the other, and opposite, end of the row of tanks - and if you look very closely, you can see the other tanks contain "bodies" - there are multiple bodies - the machine worked)
Explanation 4)
An even more mind boggling opportunity was to make Olivia and Root lovers - out of work actors looking for a sting (how did Olivia find Root? - it's a bit convenient that she finds Root in short order after helping Cutter convince Angier that he needs a double) - and they seem very familiar with each other, whispering into each others ears, and cuddling - Root only pretending to be a drunk, and them both plotting to kill Angier (and frame Borden), and Root taking his identity as Lord Caldlow (which would have been very ironic) (Root even says "I'd rather be him for now" at one stage) - again this is all possible in the movie - the surgery to Root's ears would have been very believable in this scenario, but it falls down at the end when Cutter talks to Angier about drowning - following on from a discussion when Julia died, and something only the real Angier would know about - another fantastic opportunity missed by Nolan.
There is even a case that the "morgue" scene is actually a "waxworks" scene, and that Cutter is having a wax model made (there is a radiator behind the corpse, and the technician in the background could easily be modelling wax - why would you have a radiator in a morgue? - but you could have one to keep wax soft) - but again, the later story doesn't validate this as being anything other than a morgue. (I think they may be just re-using the room that Cutter and Angier found earlier for his studio, or one in the same building)
It is also possible that Angier, along with learning to get his hands dirty, has also learnt the dedication necessary to be a great magician, and is only pretending to be crippled, his leg long healed - but Borden says that he does 50 yards in a second when doing his trick (a slight exaggeration, - but even so, Angier sprinting up into the gods of the theater isn't really viable) - there are so many little "starts" that could leave so many deliciously loose, but "twistable", ends in this movie, but they end up "fizzing" out, and we end up coming back to the very disappointing sci fi cop-out.
(for instance, we see Angier holding his breath under water after Julia's death, so he could have been holding his breath later in the tank - Borden even mentions he "pulled him out of the tank", but we don't see that part - but none of these things are elaborated on, and we are still left with the unsatisfactory and contrived sci fi theme)
The premise of Borden sending Angier on a wild goose chase to Colorado Springs, where (conveniently) Tesla is suddenly able to build a machine that duplicates people is ridiculous, and where this movie falls down, even as a sci fi movie.
But if Nolan had used the sci fi aspect merely as an illusion, this movie would have been so much better.
There are major plot holes around the machine - for instance - Borden did his Transported Man trick before he got a machine off Tesla (to make him a better showman) - and Angier had seen his earlier show, so it's stretching his obsession a little too far that he would be so easily duped into thinking a machine was Borden's secret, and go running off to Colorado Springs, where, even more ridiculously, Tesla actually does build him a "magic" machine.
(Was Angier's trip to Colorado Springs just a figment of his imagination, to dupe Borden, while he spent two years preparing Root to be his "identical" double, with surgery on Root's ears, nose, and teeth?)
As I said earlier, Nolan is a genius in a lot of respects, but his downfall is script weaknesses and plot holes that end up spoiling far greater masterpieces.
To his credit, Nolan has still given us a marvelous movie experience, a mesmerizing, twisting, mind bending whodunit (that forums are still debating eight years later), that even slightly flawed, rates right up there at 8 to 9/10 - but, in my opinion, with just a few slight adjustments, The Prestige could have been one of the greatest movies in history - a 10/10 .
Unfortunately, much to my extreme disappointment, it is not - the difference between 9/10 and 10/10 basically comes down to earlobes.
I don't think Nolan has pulled it off with Interstellar (there are plot holes in Interstellar as big as planets), and, to a lesser extent I feel, he hasn't quite pulled it off here - there is a "Deus Ex Machina" theme to both movies - the convenient wormhole (amongst others) in Interstellar - (why didn't they create a wormhole using a particle accelerator on Mars or something?) - and Tesla's duplicating machine in this movie - although the book is science fiction, since when have directors ever done anything but loosely adapt fictional books to their own vision?
Although Nolan's movies make billions at the box office, I'm sure he won't want to be remembered as the "Deus Ex Machina" Director
It is also possible that Angier, along with learning to get his hands dirty, has also learnt the dedication necessary to be a great magician, and is only pretending to be crippled, his leg long healed - but Borden says that he does 50 yards in a second when doing his trick (a slight exaggeration, - but even so, Angier sprinting up into the gods of the theater isn't really viable) - there are so many little "starts" that could leave so many deliciously loose, but "twistable", ends in this movie, but they end up "fizzing" out, and we end up coming back to the very disappointing sci fi cop-out.
(for instance, we see Angier holding his breath under water after Julia's death, so he could have been holding his breath later in the tank - Borden even mentions he "pulled him out of the tank", but we don't see that part - but none of these things are elaborated on, and we are still left with the unsatisfactory and contrived sci fi theme)
The premise of Borden sending Angier on a wild goose chase to Colorado Springs, where (conveniently) Tesla is suddenly able to build a machine that duplicates people is ridiculous, and where this movie falls down, even as a sci fi movie.
But if Nolan had used the sci fi aspect merely as an illusion, this movie would have been so much better.
There are major plot holes around the machine - for instance - Borden did his Transported Man trick before he got a machine off Tesla (to make him a better showman) - and Angier had seen his earlier show, so it's stretching his obsession a little too far that he would be so easily duped into thinking a machine was Borden's secret, and go running off to Colorado Springs, where, even more ridiculously, Tesla actually does build him a "magic" machine.
(Was Angier's trip to Colorado Springs just a figment of his imagination, to dupe Borden, while he spent two years preparing Root to be his "identical" double, with surgery on Root's ears, nose, and teeth?)
As I said earlier, Nolan is a genius in a lot of respects, but his downfall is script weaknesses and plot holes that end up spoiling far greater masterpieces.
To his credit, Nolan has still given us a marvelous movie experience, a mesmerizing, twisting, mind bending whodunit (that forums are still debating eight years later), that even slightly flawed, rates right up there at 8 to 9/10 - but, in my opinion, with just a few slight adjustments, The Prestige could have been one of the greatest movies in history - a 10/10 .
Unfortunately, much to my extreme disappointment, it is not - the difference between 9/10 and 10/10 basically comes down to earlobes.
I don't think Nolan has pulled it off with Interstellar (there are plot holes in Interstellar as big as planets), and, to a lesser extent I feel, he hasn't quite pulled it off here - there is a "Deus Ex Machina" theme to both movies - the convenient wormhole (amongst others) in Interstellar - (why didn't they create a wormhole using a particle accelerator on Mars or something?) - and Tesla's duplicating machine in this movie - although the book is science fiction, since when have directors ever done anything but loosely adapt fictional books to their own vision?
Although Nolan's movies make billions at the box office, I'm sure he won't want to be remembered as the "Deus Ex Machina" Director
Thank you for reading
