The Prestige - 'Have you watched Closely?'

The Prestige - 'Have you watched Closely?' - Part II

Actions of the characters in Prestige is driven by 'ambition'. The ambition of the two magicians to be better than the other. As Borden proved himself to be a better magician and sent Robert in search of Tesla; coming up with a science or real magic won't satisfy Robert's ego. Angier never got any output from Tesla. 'The evil machine' was just a wild goose chase for Borden like Tesla was for Angier.

We want to know the secret but we are not really looking. We want to be fooled.

Angier's Ploy:

After losing all hope with Tesla's machine, in his desperation, he turns to his double Gerald Root. He finds him and trains him well.
Though the machine couldn't create magic, it could at least be a spectacle for the eyes of audience to get enough distraction.
Using Root as his double and spectacle of science, he performs 'The Transported Man'.
In the opening scene of the film, it was Root who was inside the water tank. Borden was to be executed for his murder as Angier planned.
Angier excelled so much in his magic that even Cutter couldn't find out how he did it.

The Trick played with our mind with this magically presented film:

A mystery is shown to surround 'The Evil Machine'. A trick used by magicians to distract audiences from the truth.
Making of the machine by a real scientist (Tesla) makes it more believable.
Most part of the film is Borden's imagination based on only a few facts he knew to be true. This makes us believe it as truth.
The fact of mentioning Edison makes the story somewhat detailed and believable (to Borden and even us).
The scenes where a clone of Angier shoots the other is just in imagination (of Borden's mind. Borden couldn't believe that Angier is using a double, like Angier wasn't able to believe the same).
The last scene where various water tanks are present shows only one body of Angier and that too with this dialogue, "because you want to be fooled"

A classic literal achievement in film-making of which many directors just dream.

Comments

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