An enormously-pleasurable melodrama about duelling magicians, told in a manner that while fractured into a complex time (and mindfuck) structure is never less than coherent and compelling. I’m a sucker for the lore and legend surrounding the heyday of magic (and I’d note that Ricky Jay, a real expert on those subjects, turns up too briefly onstage)–it was a cutthroat business, as interesting for the backstage infighting as for the strange ‘exoticism’ and confidence tricks of the shows. The movie captures that feel very well, even though zeroed in on the story of two rivals. Every actor is quite wonderful, particularly David Bowie in a small turn as Nikola Tesla. Much hay is made about the ‘twist,’ but I wasn’t terribly surprised–and the energies of the plot do not hinge entirely or even too much on that surprise. (As with magic, the “Prestige” may be the showy flash at the end, but the pleasures are all in the getting there. Which brings me back to my theories on narrative, but you all know them, so insert here.)
And I’ll forego further conversation so as not to ‘wreck’ anyone’s surprise. But at some future date I’d love to talk about this. And how the best films of this year have been/are crowd-pleasers–from Lee’s Inside Man to Scorsese’s Departed. Screw the serious?
I feel like my tolerance for magicians was exhausted by The Illusionist. but your review encourages me, even if the film has one of the worst titles of recent years.
as for the year, I hardly have seen either the first run or the Netflix available movies that most of you have seen (nor have I explored the global variation, particularly of Asian and Indian films) but if I scan the list of what I’ve seen, I like the modest pleasures of Hollywoodland, the heist theatrics of Inside Man, the offhand charm of Prairie Home Companion, the epic horror/East European decay of Night Watch and the unpretentious dialectic between guile and innocence in The Devil Wears Prada. In my angry young man film viewer days, I never thought I would praise not one but two Meryl Streep films. I have big hopes for The Departed which I have not yet seen and my disreputable film viewer is intrigued by the phenomenon of Saw.
Bloated Duds include X-Men: The Final Stand, which may be the worst-directed thing I saw all year; Mission Impossible III; Pirates of the Carribbean: Dead Man’s Chest, the laziest of sequels; The DaVinci Code, proving that a massive centuries-long conspiracy is…well, boring; King Kong, which redefines bloated; The Chronicles of Narnia, an obscolescent slice of Staunch English Christianity (a glass of port and some whist anyone?); and Memoirs of a Geisha, a film noteworthy for reducing the world war and japanese fascism to the equivalent of an intertitle card. Non bloated duds include The Illusionist and Capote, which proves that impressionism isn’t necessarily great acting.Also Underworld: Evolution which disturbingly demonsrates that even Kate Beckinsale in form-fitting leather palls after a while in a humorless incoherent film.
All together, it looks like I’ve seen a lot of bad or disappointing movies.
Honorable mention to V for Vendetta and Fun with Dick and Jane (remember that? at least it took corporate greed and yuppie desperation as its target, in a manner superior to American Beauty).
now the dilemma of seeing or not seeing Flags of Our Fathers–I can’t tell from the advertising whether it’s an examination of PR in war or a patriotic tear-jerker. mostly I’m afraid of a very loud score and too much greatest-generation rhetoric.
I usually am the last one in the room to figure out a film’s “secrets.” But I figured out The Prestige far too early for my liking (the filmmakers practically give it away in what appeared to be little more than a “meet cute” throwaway scene). Still, there are many pleasures in this film worth savoring. The acting for one: Bale, Jackman, Caine, Bowie (who looks so old, like a spaceage Tom Skerritt), even Johansson deliver wonderfully moderated performances; each character harboring clever tricks up their sleeves. Bale, in particular, delivers a quietly aching performance as a man unable to come to terms with his identity. This is what made the film so interesting; the existential dread that haunts these characters and fuels their internecine revenge scenarios. Sure, this is a film about magic but it is just as much a film about loneliness–the kind of loneliness that can never escape a full house.
Just saw this. I never thought that I’d consider Hugh Jackman a better actor than Christian Bale, but Bale’s silly accent was a lot less tolerable and believeable than Jackman’s slumming obsessive.
I’d say that Bowie looked a lot more like Jon Voight than Tom Skerritt. He was fine I guess.
And the secret – yeah, no real secret there; twins. Ha. I was however amused by the less telegraphed secret – that Jackman was drowning his doubles every night. Or did you folks also know that was happening as well?
But besides my little jabs, yeah, this was pretty good. Certainly better than the the Illusionist. Still though, I caught a big chunk of Sideways a couple of weeks ago on TV, and was once again mightily impressed by Paul Giamatti.
the version I rented was a cheapie that’s only available stripped down from grocery stores. I’m wondering if there’s a more expanded version that has more scenes by Ricky Jay – or even commentary or background on the time.
Ricky Jay is the king of this kind of stuff. And if it’s not been mentioned before, Mark Singer’s New Yorker profile of him is one fine read.
http://rickyjay.com/newyorker.htm
What else can you do with a Tesla-made double?
i can’t believe mark gives away the end without a spoiler alert! MAAAARRRRK! wroooooong!!!!
[USELESS SPOILER ALERT] nice movie. nice touch when jackman says that every night he doesn’t know whether it’s he who’s going to drown or the other guy. little ontological twist on identity and existential twist on dread there.
my mom, who watched with us, thought it impossible that the wife couldn’t tell the twins apart. we need more women on this blog. okay by you if i ask my mom to join? she doesn’t know how to use the internets and she doesn’t know english, but other than that i believe she’d be a perfect contributor. she’s a fanatic supporter of the italian soccer team.
arnab?
no moms allowed.