Saw The Prestige slightly illegally, and seeing as it ain't been review, here we go!
Name of the Film: The Prestige
(2006, Christopher Nolan)Christopher Nolan. That name can (and probably does) invoke a number of different reactions from a number of different people. Some people will say 'oh him! He made Batman cool again!'. Others will say 'Bastard confused the **** out of me!'. Other people will say 'Who?'. Either way, people generally think well of him (expect, of course, the latter bunch; they don't have any opinion...). And they probably won't be disappointed with The Prestige.
Set in the backdrop of Victorian London, the story opens with stage magician Alfred Borden (Christian Bale) on trial for the murder of 'fellow' magician Rupert Angier (Hugh Jackman). The plot thickens through a series of flashbacks, and we find that it isn't quite as clear cut as we might think. It's difficult to truly sum up this subtle piece of storytelling, but that's the best I can manage; and all I can really say is that you have to see it to truly get it!
The first thing that I simply
have to mention is the subtlety of Nolan's direction. In a word, it's simply magnificent; like a true magician, he pulls you in to the trick; he shows you things and then quickly takes them away, leaving you wondering what the hell it was you just saw, and keeping you guessing until the final part of the trick...sorry, movie; the reveal; the prestige of the thing. But, as always, this isn't solely down to brilliant direction. It's also down to the actors, and they do such a fine job; adding to the overall mystery of the movie, and giving their characters the required depth and more importantly, their subtlely concealed layers.
Another impressive feat is the maintaining of this odd, harrowing mood to the film; and this is mostly thanks to first - and to a lesser extent - the slightly gothic setting, and secondly to the photography. The tone is dark, with slightly washed out colours and stark contrasts between the characters and their backgrounds. The camera is rarely stationary either, always on the move, always dynamic, and this stop you, as a viewer, from settling back into auto-pilot, keeping us on our toes and looking for the plot twists, and adding to the atmosphere of the movie as a whole.
The acting is, as I said, rather good. Christian Bale - once you get past the
slightly over the top cockney accent - is both endearing and mysterious as Borden; Hugh Jackman understates his 'box-office star' status to deliver a subtle and affecting portrayal of Angier - who is on the tragic end of the aforementioned tragedy, and becomes increasingly sour as the movie progresses. Leading the supporting cast are Michael Caine - for once not doing a Michael Caine impression for his character - as Angier's trick-engineer, and Scarlett Johansson doing a damn fine job of mastering a British accent (there are a few shaky moments, but overall she holds her own) in her role as Angier's glamorous assistant. Perhaps one of the more ingenious castings was David Bowie as the elusive Tesla; he brings a strange, slightly harrowing performance to the role which in the long run is more or less a good thing.
Now, one of the problems with reviewing this movie is that if I go in to too much depth, I'll give the story away - and trust me, this is one that you'll want to go in to more or less unspoiled - so I'm just going to stop now. Let's just leave it at the fact that this is a brilliant movie, with more twists and turns than seven crazy straws linked together. It's well played, and fantastically directed. See it. Talk about it with your friends, start arguing. See it again!
Rating Out of Ten: 8