The Prestige

Before reading this, it is recommended that you must watch movie first !

The Prestige is a 2006 film about an ongoing rivalry between two magicians.

Director = Christopher Nolan.

Writer = Jonathan Nolan and Christopher Nolan from

Novel = Christopher Priest.

     The movie starts with 3 lines and end with same 3 lines. This is also one of the most interesting feature of movie direction. These three lines and the director is trying to explain in whole movie, what the Prestige is !

     These 3 lines are :

Every magic trick consist of 3 parts, or acts. First part is called "The Pledge". The magician shows you something ordinary. The second act is called "The Turn". The magician takes the ordinary something and makes it do something extraordinary.

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 third act. The hardest part. The part we call ... " THE PRESTIGE "

Now you are looking for secret, but you won't find it, because, of course, you're not really looking. You don't really want to know. You don't wanna work it out.

YOU WANT TO BE .... FOOLED ...!!!

  The story starts at around of year 1857, when 2 magicians began there journey. Two young men devoted to an illusion and lost in the competition.

     Alfred Borden ( Cristian Bale ) is the "Natural Magician". He always try to do something new, something , he is always ready to take any risk. His tricks, his secrets is his life. According to him, a real magician always tries to invent something new. He doesn't deal with methods.

     Robert Angier ( Hugh Jackman ) is a magician, who always try to copy the work of other magicians. Yeah, really it is very difficult task. It took courage. Any how.. I like the acting of Jackman than any other, Specially dialog delivery at the climax of movie is excellent.

     The following two lines are enough to describe both characters

Robert Angier: "Worried he'll stole your tricks?"

Cutter : "Doesn't deal with methods"

Robert Angier: "How do you know?"

Cutter : "Because I hired him to find out how Virgil do the orange trick"

Robert Angier: "I don't trust him"

Cutter : "He is natural magician. Course you cant trust him"

  What the movie is about ? The story of Great magician Chung Ling Soo is enough to give the answer of this question. This movie is about what magic is? It is devotion, self-sacrifice! 'Living whole life pretending someones else' is the scarifies of magician for his trick. Both actors in the film thinks that other one do not experience scarifies like he did and laugh at each other by reading their dairies. The movie is basically non-linear time interval based.

Alfred Borden:

"Are you watching closely ?

look closely.

Never show anyone.

They'll beg you and flatter you for the secret,

But as soon as you give it up,

You will be nothing to them.

THE SECRET IMPRESSES NO ONE.

THE TRICK YOU USE IT FOR IS EVERYTHING .. !"

  The real spice of the movie is it's dialogue. This dialogue is the most touching and have deep impact and deep meaning. It puts soul in movie. Just think about the rules of Universe. Consider gravity, if I come to know how to cheat the gravity and break the rules of Universe then what is the use of that 'rule'? When I think about the creator of this matrix ( Some may refer it as God ) he deliberately keep the secrets. He can, and so we call him God. Suppose he give you all the administrator privileges then after some time you may think that you are God and real God will mean nothing for you. So, some secrets must be kept secrets forever !

  Most of the people think that Jackman is the Villain in this movie .... but it is not true. He was a good person when he started his journey. He promised he wouldn't embarrass his family with my theatrical endeavors. But the competition dirts his hands. This is one more important characteristic of Christopher Nolan's film, someone gets died, someone is revenging for his/her death. And finally his character changed. In Inception is Cobb, in Batman Dark Knight it is Harvey Dent and so on ... in this movie it is the Robert who at the time of starting of story, afraid to kill a dove, in end kill his own clone.

" If anybody really believed the things I did on stage, they wouldn't clap, they'd scream."

Robert Angier: "I don't want to kill doves."

Cutter : "Then stay off the stage. You're a magician, not a wizard. You got to get your hands dirty, if you are going to achieve impossible."

  Very true lines. For this dialouge, I would like to give a good and sexy example. Katrina Kaif is one of the leading and successful actress of this decade. Few years ago, I remember her in the Ad of Pantene shampoo. I also watched her movie "Boom" in which she gave bold scenes. That was her struggling time but she never give up. This might be her devotion for her carrier. And right now she is among top few actresses. You have to loose something to get something ... rule of Universe !

Cutter : "The manager says he's never seen a reaction like it."

Robert Angier: "At least he saw it. I spent the ovation hiding under the stage. NO ONE CARES ABOUT THE MAN WHO DISAPPEARS. They care about the man who comes out".

  You know what a magician wants? He makes you fool. He just wants to see the expressions on your faces. That is the real satisfaction of a magician. Above words are humbly expressing the primary need of magician.

  This film is effort of many Great people. Every one leaves no stone unturned to make such a beautiful film. None of the audience knew the real efforts taken by the people behind the curtain. I specially thanks to them. Because I care about the man in the box.

Robert Angier: "Cutter knew. cutter knew. But I told him it was too simple, Too easy."

Alfred Borden: "No. Simple, maybe, but not easy ! There is nothing easy about two men sharing one life.

See, SACRIFICE, Robert, THAT'S A PRICE OF A GOOD TRICK"

  Above lines are said by Robert, when he was dying. Things you might be noticing, Alfred told the secret of bullet catch to Sara (Alfred's wife). From the conversation of Sara and Alfred (before the Sara dies) it is clear that she knows the secret of duplicates and she was going to tell Olivia because she don't trust on Alfred any more. And in next scene Sara get hanged. All these things creates possibility that Sara got murdered by Alfred. I just want to ask " ARE YOU WATCHING CLOSELY ?"
     The second punch line let me to think about the difference between simple and easy. For which I am still looking, I might understand but can't explain it , if any one get it please share it with me !
     If anyone ask me, What is LOVE ? I will answer that it is Scarifies. Scarifies of one for happiness of his partner. Parents working hard for their child (scarifice) is love. A person staying away from home just to earn and feed his family (scarifice) is love. To leave "someone special", with some other guy just for her happiness is Love. Sacrifies and the Trust are the two building blocks which make the Love go round.

This is the most important question and it explain many 'not ever thought' secrets of life.

Alfred Borden: "You went halfway around the world. You spent a fortune. You did terrible things. Really terrible things Robert. And all for nothing."

Robert Angier: "For nothing. Yeah. You will never understood .... why we did this. The audience know the truth. The world is simple. It's miserable. Solid .. solid all the way through. But you could fool them, even for a second ... then you could make them wonder. And then you ... you got to see something very special. You really don't know. It was ... it was the look on their faces."

     Do you know why I am here? Telling you all things? ... Of course to impress you. If I do any unexpected thing, it creates a layer of abstraction between you and me. It makes me special in your vision. Every one in this world is an artiest, an actor. An Artiest because everyone wants to do something new, which make them special for others and it make them to act to represent that thing in world's acceptable manner.

     Last question what we get from this movie? This is the most important thing if you fail to summarize then your 2 hours are just waste. Anything you are doing, do it with devotion, try to move towards perfection (like Aamir Khan). Competition is good but with certain limits ! Following are my lines for this great movie -

The world is Stage,

Life is play,

You get introduced to world is Pledge

You have to do is Turn

And your climax will be The PRESTIGE ... !