This week's special, the first of its kind, has been guest-written by Colombus James Bell a.k.a 'babynolan_', going into detail about The Prestige and why it shouldn't be Christopher Nolan's most underrated film.
**MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD**
The Prestige, directed by Christopher Nolan, is a film that came out in the early 2000’s and performed fairly okay at the box office, far below what you’d expect a Nolan film to do now but for it’s time, it did well considering only being the director’s third box office film. One key element in what I just stated is that of ‘’for it’s time’’. The film itself is way ahead of it’s time, it expresses complex themes that most films these days don’t dare touch, as it’d cause the film to be torn apart and all the cast hand in a stellar performance that some of them don’t go on to top. Now, to be fair to the cast of the film, it’s far from the truth if I were to say their careers went downhill but to say that they settled down in familiar, less demanding roles after this would be fair to say.
To truly understand this film you need to do exactly what the film questions of you at the start. Watch closely. There will be smoke and mirrors. There will be complex and compounded lines in the script. There will questions that fool you but have simple answers. But if you watch closely, you may even have to watch the film a couple of times but what you uncover can make you feel like a genius.
Now this may be a mere theory but it just feels too right that if someone like me can figure it out then you feel a genius like Mr. Nolan had it all planned. Now, the simple truth of the film is that Alfred Borden, portrayed by Christian Bale, has a twin brother, who is named Fallon and that to allude everyone that it’s the same man they both make massive sacrifices in order to keep the image of magic up. What I believe to be the complex truth is that, Alfred cloned himself and worked alongside his double instead of having to commit murder every single performance.
There are many signs to prove my point. One being that when Alfred hands over his keyword to his notebook to his rival, Robert Angier, portrayed by Hugh Jackman, the piece of paper reads ‘’Tesla’’ and he states, ‘The keyword is the method’’. Angier then uses this to eventually to uncover what the notebook has to hide and eventually go to Tesla and make clones of himself. When it’s revealed that Alfred actually tricked Angier into wasting his time the audience’s mind is blown that he was that extra step ahead of him but that is simply part of the performance. Alfred handed over the secret as his biggest prop, his clone, was about to die. In a moment where you feel you’re going to lose everything, you’ll do anything. It’s simple basic human instincts.
Not enough to convince you? Well the script is a tight one, it says things that aren’t true but hold an element of truth. Some lines that go straight under the radar because of how they are placed in conversation. For example, at the start of film we are at the stories end. Alfred is approached for his tricks in exchange for money, this being set up via his assistant who, unlike Alfred, isn’t in jail. The person who comes to buy the tricks says ‘’he agreed to all but one trick ‘The Transported Man’ ‘’ and in response Alfred replies "I couldn’t forgive myself for selling my best trick’’. At this moment I believe that the true Alfred, the man that cloned himself is the one outside of the jail and that ‘Fallon’, the end product of the cloning, is in jail. To keep up the illusion Alfred would have to keep the name ‘Fallon’ for the rest of his days, something that we know he is willing to do. This can also be backed up by the fact when ‘Alfred’ gets hanged in jail he bounces a ball, like what he does in his ‘The Transported Man’ trick and says ‘Abracadabra’. At this stage, the trick is finished, and the performance is over. Thus, meaning that the real Alfred will live out his remaining days as Fallon. This is just one reason why this film is underrated and before it’s time.
If a film of this caliber came out in today's film climate, it would be Oscar gold. Christian Bale would be up for best actor in leading role and so would Hugh Jackman. Christopher Nolan would get a best director nod and the film would win best original screenplay. Yet, it didn’t get a single Oscar nomination. Maybe the film was too complicated for early 2000’s critics and audiences. It’s so hard to analyse a generation of critics and maybe something to look at in a later case study but once you’ve seen the truth it is hard to see how this beautifully complex film has been missed and unappreciated by millions. I’m not here to state that I have greater eye for these things but I’m here to apply some justice to this film as many close to me haven’t seen the film for what it is and some haven’t even seen it.
Now to quickly review the film as a whole and not only to highlight why it’s a masterpiece. The film has arguably the best script I’ve ever seen on screen and to think about how someone could put together such a complicated and tight script is impressive and inspiring. Every single actor puts in a great performance, the two leading men are great, Scarlett Johansson puts in a surprisingly great, and more importantly, believable performance. When it comes to this film, it’s all about illusions and tricking the audience and to do this to such a high calibre isn’t only an amazing feat but it also creates the space for the audience to carry on talking about it for years after it’s release. That is something truly magical. To say that Christopher Nolan did this and Batman Begins back to back is amazing and truly demonstrates why he will go on to become one the greatest visionaries of our time,
If you haven’t already, which I’m sure you haven’t, watch The Prestige.