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The Prestige
Directed By Christopher Nolan
Starring- Christian Bale, Hugh Jackman, Michael Caine, Scarlett Johansson, Rebecca Hall.

Plot Outline:
Two Victorian magicians engage in a bitter rivalry, triggered by the death of beloved assistant. They attempted to sabotage each others acts, with increasingly tragic results.
Alfred Borden (Bale) performs the greatest magic trick the world has ever seen, he calls it The Transported Man. His rival Angier (Jackman) is baffled by the trick, and become absessed with discovering the secret, and destroying Borden. Like any great magic act, this film keeps twisting and turning, defying and deceiving the audience until the final act. The Prestige.


Review:

The Prestige is an adaptation of Christopher Priests wonderfully dark novel by the same name. I had read the book, which i would now call my favourite book, and could not wait for the release of this film. Let me begin by saying that i will try disregard how the film compares to the novel, and judge the film individually, as the course of event in the screen play are different to those in the book.

Christopher Nolan has done an exceptional job with this film, those of you have seen Momento will know that he has a talent for twisting narratives, and he does so here very skilfully indeed. The film progresses with a non-linear narrative, moving between past and present through the dairies of each magician. The opening scene allows us a glimpse of the films climax, but we are swiftly taken back to how it all started, how the feud began. I will only talk generally about events in the film, as to describe things in too much detail would be to deprive you of a fascinating mystery.

The performances from the films cast are generally top notch, with the exception of Johansson, who is really just there as eye candy. Although as Caine says in the film " the best misdirection is a beautiful assistant". Chirstian Bale is great as Alfred Borden, his accent is convincing, and he carries a dark heavy atmosphere into his scenes. However, it is Hugh Jackman that really steals the show, he portryal of Robert Angier's pain and obsession is both believable and disturbing. Secrets become more important than people in each of these men’s lives, and you can really sense their obsessions growing throughout the film. Micheal Caine plays the role of advisor and engineer to Angier, he is the voice of reason amongst the madness, and as you can imagine is perfect for the role. Also of interest is David Bowie as electrical genius Nickolas Tesla, the lightning effects at his laboratory are crazy!

The magic in the film is also very well done. The stage illusions look fantastic, and to a certain degree are historically accurate for the period. Those of you who are militantly against any form of exposure may not enjoy some scenes. The use of trap doors is shown frequently, as well as the mechanical methods for vanishing a birdcage. At a recent trip to Davenports i overheard two magicians fuming over this, saying the vanishing birdcage was a classic of magic, that was now in their words 'dead'. However, this revelation was not thrown in simply for a cheap point of interest, it was part of the story, and seemed to be well judged. I think any film about magicians will contain a certain amount of exposure, it needs to i think , to hold the audiences interest. people may disagree but it think Nolan respects magic, and did not give too much away. There are also a few nice bits of sleight of hand performed by Christian Bale, known for his method acting, it seems he studied for his role ( i think he was taught by Ricky Jay), i would love to be able to do the ring-roll along the fingertips which he does so easily.

So all in all a masterpiece of a film, not identical to the book, but great none the less.

10/10 i cant imagine anyone who is reading this not enjoying the movie, for me it has to be the film of the year. A truly magical piece of cinema, if I ran the Oscars this would get Best Picture!

Where did you see the film? Isn't it out this Friday (10th) in the UK???

i went to a preview screening a the Apollo Cinema in Leamington Spa, more previews tonight nationwide, get your tickets now!

WOOOOHOOOO!!!

Although, I am patiently waiting for a pre-arranged night out on Friday with Mrs Seige. Not been to the flicks for a while

Can't WAIT now after reading the review!

Yes this does look like a class film. Bale, jackman and Caine are all brilliant in all their roles.. I think Ill try and persuade the Mrs to come along.. make out its a night for the both of us

Has the Illusionist been released in the UK yet? It came out in the USA back in August.

I've recently got married and bought a house, so I am worried that with all of that going on, I've missed it.

I recently got married and bought a house too!! June 24th ...

Yeh mate.. being married you'll miss out on a LOT more trust me

Weird... I recently got married and bought a house too :S

(August)

There may be something weird going on here ...

Maybe its a conspiracy.. some kind of wretched plot..

I would ask her.. but Im afraid of her!!

I recently got buried and bought a horse too... wait...

I saw it here in the US the day it came out (a while ago) I thought it was an amazing movie. The complexity of the plot and how it was presented was fun to piece together too.

I can't wait to see this movie later today!!! It looks really dark.
What other films are there about/based on magic?... Ooh, going to start a topic!

I fancy seeing this - magic, Michael Caine! Jackman is the only thing that puts me off though.

Hugh Jackman gives a great performance, especially in his drunk scenes, i dont know why he would put you off? not cool enough as wolverine?!?
Anyway, if you are a member of talkmagic, then you need to see this film, TRUST ME ! ITS AWSOME!

I married a house eleventy days ago, does that count?