The Prestige
Yesterday I watched a movie on Amazon Prime (It may also be on NETFLIX now too) called The Prestige.
I watched it because I like Christian Bale, especially in Newsies :D, and it was in a list of movies that "make you think long after you finish watching" on Buzzfeed. It was a really good movie and did make me think a lot. The ending was a sort of mystery - and there was an underlying idea that people sometimes just don't want to see what the answer is - maybe because it is too scary or uncomfortable.
[Spoiler (click to open)]
The movie starts with an old magician showing a little girl a trick with a bird. He covers the cage with the bird in it, then he hits it really hard with the palm of his hand. BAM. And the cage disappears under the cloth. It is explained that there are three stages to a magic trick. The first stage in this case is the bird in the cage. The second stage is "the change" where the bird disappeared. The third stage is when the magician brings the bird back. I can't remember precisely, but I think the man showed the bird in the palm of his hand.
We find out later that the bird in the cage was killed. Sacrificed for the trick, dead in the cage under the table. The little girl, however, is extatic that the old man has the bird in his hand and doesn't think that it was killed. This is actually a scene shown again at the end of the movie so there is a sort of flashback from there and it is very important throughout the movie. The trick is done at a show as well, where a little boy actually figures out what happened to the first bird and is very upset. He had the courage to see what was in front of his eyes, while many others just didn't want to see or admit to what they saw, you see.
Anyway, back to the story. There are two young magicians. One naturally talented and dedicated magician (Borden) finds a way to do a disappearing act that seems simple to the old mentor - he must have a double, that is the only way that it is done. But the other young magician (Angier) and assistant who are not as talented, insist that it is not a double. The one that went in one door at one end of the stage is the same one that came through the other door at the other end of the stage (doors with nothing between them but stage). You see, Borden played by Christian Bale has lost two fingers in a daring trick involving "catching a bullet" and both saw that both the one that went in the door, and the one that came out were missing fingers.
The two magicians are very competitive with each other - to the extent that they ruin eachother's shows when they can. But Angier cannot compete with this disapearing act because he can't figure out how it is being done. He tries his own disappearing act using a double, but Borden gets to the double and convinces him that he now has power over the original magician and can ask for more money and all kinds of troublesome things. He then goes about to ruin the show. Angier steals Borden's trick book to try to figure it out, but is lead on a wild goose chase because Borden knew what he was doing. The goose chase turns out to be lucrative, though. He finds "an even better way" to do the disappearing act. Using electricity - the new scientific discovery of the time. We see hints of what is actually happening with his trick from early on and, again with the theme, if you want to see it you do, but if not...it remains a mystery. True magic, if you will.
Finally he comes back from his travels with this new machine. He is only going to do 100 showings of this trick, which is a mystery again. Why? Borden goes to watch. He is mystified by the trick because the guy can disappear on stage, and appear way up in the balcony. He goes back stage to see if he can figure it out. Under the stage, where the magician would drop (like the bird in the cage above) is a tank full of water - the kind used for the escape trick with the magician inside, struggling for air. Nearby is only a blind old man that can't see what is going on. Borden tries to save the magician, but it is securely locked - not like in the trick where the lock is a fake. He breaks it open, but it is too late. The magician is dead.
He then is accused of killing Angier and sentenced to death!! WHAAAAT?!!!
All this time, Borden has a friend who helps him with all the stuff he needs for the acts, and even takes care of his daughter and wife for him when he can't. His daughter is the little girl we saw at the beginning. But he can do nothing to save Borden or even take his daughter because he is not seen as reliable by the court.
Then this soliciter comes to visit him and suggests that his client will take care of his daughter for him after his death if he will give over all of his tricks including the disappearing trick. Borden is very reluctant and finally gives everything over but finds out that this client is actually dun dun... Angier!!! WHAAAAT?! (If you know how he did his trick, then you know why) But of course no one is going to believe Borden when he says that it is the same guy, and that he was alive. Everyone has seen the body that was dead.
Borden has no choice but to die by hanging. He tells his friend to take care of his daughter for him and live for the two of them and it is very moving but it is puzzling why he loves this friend (and vice versa) so much.
Meanwhile, the old mentor figures out what Anglier did and how he framed Borden for his own death and even though he was helping Angier before, he now switches sides. He tells Borden's friend where Angier is going to be - after telling Angier that although he had told him that death by drowning was not painful and was like, "going home". it was actually agony (according to his friend who almost died). And we are wondering why he said this, because Borden's friend doesn't drown him or anything. He shoots him. Then he takes off his disguise and ... IT'S BORDEN.... no. His TWIN BROTHER! They had been hiding the fact that they were twins all this time for the sake of their career as a magician. His(their) wife didn't know, their child didn't know, and their mistress didn't know either. One loved the wife, and one loved the mistress and they both loved the child very much of course. But they had taken turns, not only doing the disappearing act but also in life. And when I think about this further, there are so many instances in the movie where this is apparent! So, it WAS a double. But, they were twins who loved eachother and took turns in the spotlight so they were never unhappy like Angier's double. And the fingers? The brother who didn't get them shot sacrificed his fingers for the cause of the trick too!
Then we see the brother who killed Angier go back to the workshop, where the mentor is showing his daughter the bird trick and the little girl is extatic that his father, who disappeared (was actually HANGED - with the floor opening in much the same manner as the disappearing act) has appeared again. But we know, that as with the bird, the actual father she said goodbye to is really dead, and this is just the lucky "bird" who survived for another day.
At the very end, we see the corps of Angier in another water filled glass container. It's not the guy that was shot. It's not the guy that was broken out before. This is another.
OMG
And again, if you have really been looking carefully, you know.
[Even more spoilery...]But basically, this electric shock created a double. Angier had been sacrificing himself for this trick by actually dying each time and living as the new double. Maybe sometimes his spirit moved to his new self, sometimes it didn't - according to how Angier explains it,
So Borden had just walked in on this act and saw what he shouldn't have so was framed.
So both Angeir and Borden sacrifice themselves like the magician sacrifices the first bird in the act. Angier with his trick, and Borden finally has no choice because he is hanged but his brother is able to live for the both of them.
If you have not watched this movie, I strongly suggest you watch it. And please come back later to check out the very spoilery contents of this post. If you are not going to be watching it right away, or just feel like reading about it first, help yourself. You may want to go watch it anyway. I have left out little tidbits that would make this post super long. The more I think about it, the more I remember scenes that were meaningful from the film. The best movie I have watched in a while.
I watched it because I like Christian Bale, especially in Newsies :D, and it was in a list of movies that "make you think long after you finish watching" on Buzzfeed. It was a really good movie and did make me think a lot. The ending was a sort of mystery - and there was an underlying idea that people sometimes just don't want to see what the answer is - maybe because it is too scary or uncomfortable.
[Spoiler (click to open)]
The movie starts with an old magician showing a little girl a trick with a bird. He covers the cage with the bird in it, then he hits it really hard with the palm of his hand. BAM. And the cage disappears under the cloth. It is explained that there are three stages to a magic trick. The first stage in this case is the bird in the cage. The second stage is "the change" where the bird disappeared. The third stage is when the magician brings the bird back. I can't remember precisely, but I think the man showed the bird in the palm of his hand.
We find out later that the bird in the cage was killed. Sacrificed for the trick, dead in the cage under the table. The little girl, however, is extatic that the old man has the bird in his hand and doesn't think that it was killed. This is actually a scene shown again at the end of the movie so there is a sort of flashback from there and it is very important throughout the movie. The trick is done at a show as well, where a little boy actually figures out what happened to the first bird and is very upset. He had the courage to see what was in front of his eyes, while many others just didn't want to see or admit to what they saw, you see.
Anyway, back to the story. There are two young magicians. One naturally talented and dedicated magician (Borden) finds a way to do a disappearing act that seems simple to the old mentor - he must have a double, that is the only way that it is done. But the other young magician (Angier) and assistant who are not as talented, insist that it is not a double. The one that went in one door at one end of the stage is the same one that came through the other door at the other end of the stage (doors with nothing between them but stage). You see, Borden played by Christian Bale has lost two fingers in a daring trick involving "catching a bullet" and both saw that both the one that went in the door, and the one that came out were missing fingers.
The two magicians are very competitive with each other - to the extent that they ruin eachother's shows when they can. But Angier cannot compete with this disapearing act because he can't figure out how it is being done. He tries his own disappearing act using a double, but Borden gets to the double and convinces him that he now has power over the original magician and can ask for more money and all kinds of troublesome things. He then goes about to ruin the show. Angier steals Borden's trick book to try to figure it out, but is lead on a wild goose chase because Borden knew what he was doing. The goose chase turns out to be lucrative, though. He finds "an even better way" to do the disappearing act. Using electricity - the new scientific discovery of the time. We see hints of what is actually happening with his trick from early on and, again with the theme, if you want to see it you do, but if not...it remains a mystery. True magic, if you will.
Finally he comes back from his travels with this new machine. He is only going to do 100 showings of this trick, which is a mystery again. Why? Borden goes to watch. He is mystified by the trick because the guy can disappear on stage, and appear way up in the balcony. He goes back stage to see if he can figure it out. Under the stage, where the magician would drop (like the bird in the cage above) is a tank full of water - the kind used for the escape trick with the magician inside, struggling for air. Nearby is only a blind old man that can't see what is going on. Borden tries to save the magician, but it is securely locked - not like in the trick where the lock is a fake. He breaks it open, but it is too late. The magician is dead.
He then is accused of killing Angier and sentenced to death!! WHAAAAT?!!!
All this time, Borden has a friend who helps him with all the stuff he needs for the acts, and even takes care of his daughter and wife for him when he can't. His daughter is the little girl we saw at the beginning. But he can do nothing to save Borden or even take his daughter because he is not seen as reliable by the court.
Then this soliciter comes to visit him and suggests that his client will take care of his daughter for him after his death if he will give over all of his tricks including the disappearing trick. Borden is very reluctant and finally gives everything over but finds out that this client is actually dun dun... Angier!!! WHAAAAT?! (If you know how he did his trick, then you know why) But of course no one is going to believe Borden when he says that it is the same guy, and that he was alive. Everyone has seen the body that was dead.
Borden has no choice but to die by hanging. He tells his friend to take care of his daughter for him and live for the two of them and it is very moving but it is puzzling why he loves this friend (and vice versa) so much.
Meanwhile, the old mentor figures out what Anglier did and how he framed Borden for his own death and even though he was helping Angier before, he now switches sides. He tells Borden's friend where Angier is going to be - after telling Angier that although he had told him that death by drowning was not painful and was like, "going home". it was actually agony (according to his friend who almost died). And we are wondering why he said this, because Borden's friend doesn't drown him or anything. He shoots him. Then he takes off his disguise and ... IT'S BORDEN.... no. His TWIN BROTHER! They had been hiding the fact that they were twins all this time for the sake of their career as a magician. His(their) wife didn't know, their child didn't know, and their mistress didn't know either. One loved the wife, and one loved the mistress and they both loved the child very much of course. But they had taken turns, not only doing the disappearing act but also in life. And when I think about this further, there are so many instances in the movie where this is apparent! So, it WAS a double. But, they were twins who loved eachother and took turns in the spotlight so they were never unhappy like Angier's double. And the fingers? The brother who didn't get them shot sacrificed his fingers for the cause of the trick too!
Then we see the brother who killed Angier go back to the workshop, where the mentor is showing his daughter the bird trick and the little girl is extatic that his father, who disappeared (was actually HANGED - with the floor opening in much the same manner as the disappearing act) has appeared again. But we know, that as with the bird, the actual father she said goodbye to is really dead, and this is just the lucky "bird" who survived for another day.
At the very end, we see the corps of Angier in another water filled glass container. It's not the guy that was shot. It's not the guy that was broken out before. This is another.
OMG
And again, if you have really been looking carefully, you know.
[Even more spoilery...]But basically, this electric shock created a double. Angier had been sacrificing himself for this trick by actually dying each time and living as the new double. Maybe sometimes his spirit moved to his new self, sometimes it didn't - according to how Angier explains it,
So Borden had just walked in on this act and saw what he shouldn't have so was framed.
So both Angeir and Borden sacrifice themselves like the magician sacrifices the first bird in the act. Angier with his trick, and Borden finally has no choice because he is hanged but his brother is able to live for the both of them.
If you have not watched this movie, I strongly suggest you watch it. And please come back later to check out the very spoilery contents of this post. If you are not going to be watching it right away, or just feel like reading about it first, help yourself. You may want to go watch it anyway. I have left out little tidbits that would make this post super long. The more I think about it, the more I remember scenes that were meaningful from the film. The best movie I have watched in a while.