The Prestige (2006)

"You don't really want to work it out. You want to be fooled."

I've seen this film before, a few years before this blog was ever envisioned. I haven't read the original novel be Christopher Priest, but I understand there are a few differences; I won't look them up, as I have a vague intention to read the novel someday- although the ever-moving onset of middle age is making me aware that I have a finite number of decades left in order to consume all the culture I would like to consume.

I don't intend to simply rercount the intricate and clever plot, but, obviously, SPOILERS.

This filom, as one would expect from Christopher Nolan, is supremely entertaining and bloody clever. Let's get the evaluation out of the way now: it's superb. The whole plot is constructed and layered like a magic trick, ending with not one but two prestiges: the revelation that Borden is in fact two twin brothers, and that Angier goes to such lengths for revenge on Borden, potentially dying every night: the latter of these is positively existential. Yet the final prestige is that yes, Borden is judicially murdered, but his daughter still has her father. For Borden, there is hope. For spoilt rich boy Angier, there is only empty death.

It's even cleverer than it seems, with the structure of the whole thing and the foreshadowing- early on there is a trick with a bird being made to disappear, and the small boy realises that the way it's done is for one brother to die and be replaced by the other. Quite.

It's an entertaining film behind the cleverness, with a first rate main cast and a delightful supporting role from David Bowie himself. It is, naturally, exquisitely shot and written. The score by Thom Yorke is exquisite. And the film has understated but very real heart too. A triumph.