Hooray! It’s the holidays! That means that I can take some time to watch the movies that I have obtained. Movie numero uno that I am going to talk about, not really review because I’m cool like that. Drum roll please…..;
The Prestige!
The Prestige is a movie that was directed by the infamous Christopher Nolan. I think it was released in 2006. Back then, I had no idea who this person was and I didn’t really watch much movies ( not that I do now though) . However, I vaguely remember my cousin telling me that it was, I quote “Awesome! It’s about two magicians trying to outsmart each other”
Uhuh, yeahh. The whole movie can be basically summarise into that short sentence…IF it WASN’T a movie by Christopher Nolan. However, taking into the account of who Mr. Nolan is, you should be able to guess that he likes to spin your mind roun’ and roun’. :D
I had no idea that the prestige had anything to do with magic tricks. I just thought that the prestige meant, well, prestige lah! Higher social status, fame ,infamy etc. The prestige is actually the most important part of the magic trick. I quote from Cutter, also known as, Alfred the butler in Batman. :D
[First lines] Every great magic trick consists of three parts or acts. The first part is called "The Pledge". The magician shows you something ordinary: a deck of cards, a bird or a man. He shows you this object. Perhaps he asks you to inspect it to see if it is indeed real, unaltered, normal. But of course... it probably isn't. The second act is called "The Turn". The magician takes the ordinary something and makes it do something extraordinary. Now you're looking for the secret... but you won't find it, because of course you're not really looking. You don't really want to know. You want to be fooled. But you wouldn't clap yet. Because making something disappear isn't enough; you have to bring it back. That's why every magic trick has a third act, the hardest part, the part we call "The Prestige".
Okay, now we know what “The Prestige” means. So this movie is about Robert Angier (Hugh Jackman) and Alfred Borden (Christopher Bale) who are two rival magicians. Basically, they became mortal enemies as when they were still “Sorcerer’s Apprentices” they worked for the same magician. And Angier’s wife died in the trick because Borden tried to tie a different knot, making it harder for Angier’s wife to escape from the water-filled container, and thus drowning. (My hypothesis la)
So after she died, they started their own shows, and thus began the sabotaging of each other. Angier and Borden are actually like Tom and Jerry, except that Angier doesn’t try to eat Borden la. :P
One day, Borden came up with this new trick, the Transported Man. It’s basically this trick is about him showing us two doors, just the door and the frame, mind you. And he bounces a rubber ball on the stage. As he does so, he enters from the first door, comes through the second, and catches the bouncing ball. Impressive eh? Oh yeah, don’t expect to understand it immediately. Nolan, for some unknown reason didn’t show us the complete trick. He only showed Borden entering the first door. And expected us to understand. -_-“
Since, Borden’s new trick was so amazing, Angier became Angrier. And tried to find the secret to the trick la. Now enters the super confusing part, with Nikola Tesla, lala and cats and hats. Basically, there is a twist at the end. And then, there is another twist. And then comes another twist. Twisted Nolan. Okay, no spoilers, as I promised. So, just watch it. Come on, you get to see GOLLUM! (Andy Serkis) and David Bowie who plays Nikola Tesla. Look out for his differently coloured eyes- yes it’s true. You get to feel stupid as in “Why didn’t I notice that before?!” and you get to feel confused. At the end of it, you might even have a headache and try to watch Inception instead, maybe finding it less complicating and easier to understand than this movie.
All in all, good story la. Christopher Nolan makes us think. Acting was okay, save the fact that Christian Bale’s British accent was horrid, and he was born in Wales, mind you.
My rating : 7/10
P.s. I’ve also watched Kick-Ass which was bloody bloody. (that wasn’t a kata ganda. I meant it.) I may decide to review it later though. For now, I have these movies to watch :
Boy A
Fantastic Mr. Fox
Memento (Oh no! Nolan again!)
The Hurt Locker ( I will determine if it was worthy of its accolades.)
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