The Prestige

Nolan should make more period dramas.

<em>'The Prestige'</em> is tremendous! An expertly made movie about magic, one that lasts just over two hours but it is most definitely 120mins+ well spent. I was sold by the whole vibe of it from the very beginning, sometimes you can just tell you're going to absolutely enjoy something from the opening minutes and this, for me, was one of those films. The casting is terrific, many well known faces appear. Hugh Jackman, Michael Caine (how about that speech), Christian Bale and Scarlett Johansson are all brilliant, the latter two do hold minimally iffy accents though; or maybe it was just me. There are a few other strong performers too, like Andy Serkis and David Bowie! No-one onscreen puts a foot wrong. Christopher Nolan is again back to his twisty best with this one. It's admittedly nothing as super deep as, say, <em>'Inception'</em> and I did read where this one was going in certain aspects, though certainly not every angle - either way, it's just as thrilling to watch no matter how much or how little you pick up. Big fan of the way the film depicts its events throughout. Just now seeing how highly this is regarded, on Letterboxd at least. I know I do try to avoid as much as I can with movies, but based on the aforementioned I'm kinda shocked I hadn't heard anything about this growing up or even in recent years. Most of Nolan's other works I at least recall hearing through the grapevine, yet this one evidently somehow slipped through the net. Probably a good thing, mind you.

As ever with Christopher Nolan films the chronology needs close attention - as so many of the clues as to what the hell is actually going on require a considerable degree of concentration (and multiple viewings) before any semblance of quality emanates from the outwardly cluttered and, frankly, preposterous plot. We start with Christian Bale ("Borden") about to swing for the murder of Hugh Jackman ("Angier") but of course it is not that simple; and through a series of complex flashbacks we discover just how these two, erstwhile friends and colleagues, got themselves into this predicament. This is a story about ambition, obsession - to succeed and to hate; it has elements of love - both men have relationships, one the cause of their estrangement; the other (with Scarlett Johansson) continues to fuel it. The whole nature of their profession - illusionists; conjurers of/to the imagination - lends itself splendidly to the subject of this vendetta. The look of the film is first class, with Wally Pfister creating a gem of vivid imagery with some wonderful visual effects too. The performances are OK - they are not great; the dialogue is likewise. For a film essentially about seeing being believing (or not) the script is frequently too wordy and overpowers the subtle opportunities for the actors to demonstrate rather than speak their parts. Sir Michael Caine probably brings the most authentic accent to the proceedings - the others left me needing quite a bit of convincing; and the brief appearances of David Bowie as Tesla were a poor choice of casting, I felt. This is a good film, and I enjoyed it - but I did need to watch it 4 times before I felt half way comfortable writing anything down about it!