The Prestige - Bloddy Briliant!!

Title: The Prestige
Director: Chritopher Nolan (Remember ?? director of Batman Begins and Memento...)
Cast: Christian Bale, Hugh Jackman, Scarlett Johannson,David Bowie,Michael Caine.
Story: The Story of two rival magicians and their efforts to outwit each other.
Bottomline:Abracadabra Alakhazam!!!


There are pretty few things in “the Prestige” that doesn’t work. Brilliant editing, superb cinematography(the walk up the hill at colorado heights is brilliantly designed), a cohesive script with twists and turns and a sincere performance from the lead cast leaves you spellbound and wanting for more when the final credits roll.

Christopher Nolan gives us what I would call a ‘Perfect Thriller’. I would define a thriller as a movie that is mysterious but clues as to what is going to happen at the end is spread throughout the movie and left in the open. Only that the viewer is lazy enough to work it out. The viewer wants to be fooled and he gets just that.

“The Prestige” is just the sort of the movie and much more. Director Christopher Nolan believes that the best way to hide a clue is to leave it out in the open. He gives us reasons why he is one of the most innovative directors around.

“The Prestige” is about two magicians Robert Angier (Hugh Jackman) and Borden (Christian Bale) who are friends at first but gradually fall out to a rivalry that turns ugly. Each of them tries to outwit the other by sabotaging the other’s magic shows. Who outwits whom is what forms the story.

The movie itself is designed like a magic trick which consists of three parts The Pledge (the magician shows you something ordinary), The Turn (magician then makes the ordinary do something extraordinary) and The Prestige (the magician then makes the extraordinary change back to normal). There are three sometimes even four streams of stories going along at the same time in the movie but not for one moment does the viewer get perplexed. The back and forth way of storytelling (a signature style of Nolan) makes the movie even more fascinatingly complex.

As for the acting Hugh Jackman revels in a role that requires a lot of showmanship. Christian Bale is brilliant as always. David Bowie is in one of the best supporting roles I have ever seen recently. Scarlett Johannson is
there to decept and deceive.

Rating: 9/10 (Masterpiece)

PS:
And by the way, the tagline of the movie is “Are you watching closely?”. Be sure to watch the movie closely or else you might need a second viewing. “The Prestige” is a movie that reiterates once again why we go to the cinemas in the first place. It also shows what writers can create when they just think harder than they usually do. Watch out for the end its 
S-H-O-C-K-I-N-G!!