Are You Watching Closely?

MOVIE : THE PRESTIGE

My Rating : 9/10

My Take : Second Best Movie Ever

Genre : Drama, Mystery, Thriller


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".

This movie is like a great magic trick. First one hour is "The Pledge". Next 45 minutes is "The Turn" and the climax is "THE PRESTIGE". Christopher Nolan is not a magician, but a wizard.

Analysis : Best part of the movie is screenplay and the editing. After an excellent screenplay in memento Christopher Nolan worked his magic again, but this time it is even better. Dialogues are so well written that every dialogue has a hidden meaning. You have to watch the movie a second time to savour all the little points in the movie.

Hugh Jackman, Christian Bale played the roles of two ambitious magicians, who try to outperform each other. Each of them portrayed their characters so well that it appeared as if they are really trying to outperform each other in acting. Michael Caine is brilliant as usual.