Chris Beaumont
beaumont@ifa.hawaii.edu
2680 Woodlawn Drive
Honolulu, HI 96822
Publication Date: October 27, 2006
Calvin Chimes
Headline: ‘The Prestige’ Never Fails to Entertain
The Prestige
Chris Beaumont
They say that magic is about surprise and misdirection. Perhaps, then, Christopher Nolan is a magician. The writer/director created “Memento,” the psychological thriller filmed backwards to capture the dilemma of a man with no short-term memory. He also created the unusually nuanced “Batman Begins,” which set a new standard for the quality of character development in comic book films. With his cinematic affinity for dazzling the audience, perhaps it’s natural that Nolan focuses directly on magic in his new film, “The Prestige.”
“The Prestige” follows the careers of two 19th century magicians, Rupert and Alfred (played respectively by Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale). The opening scene shows Alfred being convicted for Rupert’s murder, and proceeds in flashback fashion to tell their story. The magicians’ friendship is destroyed early in the narrative when one of their tricks goes terribly wrong. Afterwards, the two become obsessed with revenge, which manifests itself both on the stage and off. You may guess from the opening scene that things don’t turn out well of these two. You would be correct.
The movie makes some interesting statements about rivalry. Both characters are deeply flawed in their obsession with one-upmanship, which directly precipitates their downfall. It is rare to see things turn out so badly for both lead roles in a Hollywood film. However, I feel that Nolan’s approach is a more realistic portrayal of conflict and its connection to destruction.
While “The Prestige” has something to say, its message isn’t its main focus. At heart, the film is a magic trick, meant to dazzle and surprise the audience. Here Nolan works on two levels, impressing us both through the magicians’ performances and through the larger construction of the narrative.
“The Prestige” showcases a fair amount of magic tricks which are quite entertaining to watch. It’s an achievement for a movie to captivate audiences with these tricks, since so much can be (and probably is) created through special effects.
To deal with this, Nolan skillfully moves behind the scenes to show elaborate gizmos, hidden trap doors, and clever slights of hand to create the illusion that these magicians are hard at work. Recent summer blockbusters like “Spider-Man” lack such attention to detail, and their heavy special effects come across as tired and boring.
There’s also a fair amount of visual grandeur in the film. The makeup and costumes are excellent in spooky way, and complement the elaborate set designs. At the same time, Nolan doesn’t become preoccupied with showcasing these elements – they merely serve as an efficient backdrop through which the story moves. A scene shot in a field full of glowing light-bulbs is an example of such restraint, as the set never takes the attention off of the actors (less fortunately, the scene also represents one of many atrocities that Nolan commits against physicists everywhere). The film’s greatest source of entertainment, however, is in the narrative structure. The flashback structure resembles that of “Memento,” though in a less linear fashion. Through flashbacks and journal entries, Nolan is able to develop multiple (at times at least three) narratives in parallel which eventually merge into a single entity as flashbacks lead to the main narrative’s present time. Nolan withholds and releases key details throughout the movie which both maintain a level of mystery throughout the film and promote a deep level of satisfaction and surprise at the movie’s conclusion.
In an era saturated with filmmakers like M. Night Shyamalan who consistently strive for twist endings, such films are often as disappointing and unoriginal as…well, M. Night Shyamalan. For every fantastic “Usual Suspects” ending, there are several “Ocean’s 12” endings which never quite live up to the anticipation created by the rest of the film. “The Prestige” stands apart from these recent lackluster suspense films to deliver a conclusion that surpasses its expectations.
Perhaps the cleverest use of misdirection that the film takes advantage of is the theatrical trailer for “The Prestige,” available on the apple.com/trailers website. I won’t spoil any more of the movie by giving away specifics, but the trailer misleads the viewer in a few subtle but important ways. For those of you who see the movie, I recommend that you watch the trailer afterwards to catch Nolan’s best trick of the film.
Calvin Chimes
Headline: ‘The Prestige’ Never Fails to Entertain
The Prestige
Chris Beaumont
They say that magic is about surprise and misdirection. Perhaps, then, Christopher Nolan is a magician. The writer/director created “Memento,” the psychological thriller filmed backwards to capture the dilemma of a man with no short-term memory. He also created the unusually nuanced “Batman Begins,” which set a new standard for the quality of character development in comic book films. With his cinematic affinity for dazzling the audience, perhaps it’s natural that Nolan focuses directly on magic in his new film, “The Prestige.”
“The Prestige” follows the careers of two 19th century magicians, Rupert and Alfred (played respectively by Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale). The opening scene shows Alfred being convicted for Rupert’s murder, and proceeds in flashback fashion to tell their story. The magicians’ friendship is destroyed early in the narrative when one of their tricks goes terribly wrong. Afterwards, the two become obsessed with revenge, which manifests itself both on the stage and off. You may guess from the opening scene that things don’t turn out well of these two. You would be correct.
The movie makes some interesting statements about rivalry. Both characters are deeply flawed in their obsession with one-upmanship, which directly precipitates their downfall. It is rare to see things turn out so badly for both lead roles in a Hollywood film. However, I feel that Nolan’s approach is a more realistic portrayal of conflict and its connection to destruction.
While “The Prestige” has something to say, its message isn’t its main focus. At heart, the film is a magic trick, meant to dazzle and surprise the audience. Here Nolan works on two levels, impressing us both through the magicians’ performances and through the larger construction of the narrative.
“The Prestige” showcases a fair amount of magic tricks which are quite entertaining to watch. It’s an achievement for a movie to captivate audiences with these tricks, since so much can be (and probably is) created through special effects.
To deal with this, Nolan skillfully moves behind the scenes to show elaborate gizmos, hidden trap doors, and clever slights of hand to create the illusion that these magicians are hard at work. Recent summer blockbusters like “Spider-Man” lack such attention to detail, and their heavy special effects come across as tired and boring.
There’s also a fair amount of visual grandeur in the film. The makeup and costumes are excellent in spooky way, and complement the elaborate set designs. At the same time, Nolan doesn’t become preoccupied with showcasing these elements – they merely serve as an efficient backdrop through which the story moves. A scene shot in a field full of glowing light-bulbs is an example of such restraint, as the set never takes the attention off of the actors (less fortunately, the scene also represents one of many atrocities that Nolan commits against physicists everywhere). The film’s greatest source of entertainment, however, is in the narrative structure. The flashback structure resembles that of “Memento,” though in a less linear fashion. Through flashbacks and journal entries, Nolan is able to develop multiple (at times at least three) narratives in parallel which eventually merge into a single entity as flashbacks lead to the main narrative’s present time. Nolan withholds and releases key details throughout the movie which both maintain a level of mystery throughout the film and promote a deep level of satisfaction and surprise at the movie’s conclusion.
In an era saturated with filmmakers like M. Night Shyamalan who consistently strive for twist endings, such films are often as disappointing and unoriginal as…well, M. Night Shyamalan. For every fantastic “Usual Suspects” ending, there are several “Ocean’s 12” endings which never quite live up to the anticipation created by the rest of the film. “The Prestige” stands apart from these recent lackluster suspense films to deliver a conclusion that surpasses its expectations.
Perhaps the cleverest use of misdirection that the film takes advantage of is the theatrical trailer for “The Prestige,” available on the apple.com/trailers website. I won’t spoil any more of the movie by giving away specifics, but the trailer misleads the viewer in a few subtle but important ways. For those of you who see the movie, I recommend that you watch the trailer afterwards to catch Nolan’s best trick of the film.