THE PRESTIGE

[jo]

From each period --

[jo]

If you are interested to get a fuller appreciation of the movie ( and even how the book differs from the movie) -- someone has summarized many key plot points and character highlights from the movie.

It is a long & continous twitter/X entries.

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18h
THE PRESTIGE was released 17 years ago. Regarded as one of Christopher Nolan’s most underrated films, the move features and all-star cast and its making of story is full of misdirection and magic…



1/36
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18h
In 1995, Christropher Priest’s novel The Prestige was published. Spanning the science fiction and horror genres, the book told the story of two rival magicians in Victorian-era London with themes of obsession and jealousy. It quickly drew attention from the film industry.



2/36
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Sam Mendes wanted to adapt the book after his Oscar-winning American Beauty. At the same time, Christopher Nolan was interested. Nolan had no hits but Priest was a fan of Following and wanted to support up and coming filmmakers. As such, he sold the rights to Nolan.



3/36
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Nolan brought in his brother, Jonathan, to co-write the script and the plan was to make The Prestige immediately after Nolan’s Insomnia in 2002. Then, however, Warner Bros came calling. Nolan’s Batman Begins was released in 2005, at which point Nolan returned to The Prestige.…


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In casting the leads, Nolan considered Josh Hartnett to play Robert Angier. Jude Law was also linked to one of the main roles but Nolan cast Hugh Jackman saying “he has a wonderful understanding of the interaction between performer and audience."”



5/36
7:42 PM · Jan 4, 2024
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Jackman said when he heard about the film, his agent told him he should go for the part of Alfred Borden. When Jackman met Nolan they talked about both parts and Jackman said “actually, I think I’m better suited to Angier.”

6/36
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In preparation, Jackman did some research into real magicians. He learned about Channing Pollock, a world-famous American magician in the 1950s - Angier dresses like him on stage. He also went to see David Copperfield, and told quite a story…

7/36
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Jackman also plays Angier’s doppelganger Gerald Root, with help from make up artist Leo Corey Castellano. He did a prosthetic nose, mouth, and earlobes. If you watch closely you can see Angier’s earlobes are attached, Root’s aren’t.

8/36
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Nolan and Christinan Bale had worked together a year earlier in Batman Begins but Nolan didn’t consider casting Bale as Alfred Borden, until Bale read the script, loved the part of Borden and contacted Nolan about being in the film.

9/36
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Nolan said he can’t imagine anybody else playing Borden now. He also suggested to the entire cast that they not read Christopher Priest’s novel but Bale didn’t listen and read it anyway.

10/36

[jo]

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18h
There’s a scene between Borden and his wife Sarah (Rebecca Hall) where she shouts “I know what you are”. That line was ad-libbed by Rebecca Hall and she thought Nolan would ask her to do it again. But he liked it and kept it in.

11/36
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Nolan wanted David Bowie to play Nikola Tesla but Bowie said no. Nolan personally flew out to meet Bowie and told him nobody could play the part except him. It was the only time Nolan went back to an actor and he said “I would say I begged him.”

12/36
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There are differences between the film and the novel. In the book the rivalry begins when Borden starts a fight leading to Angier’s wife having a miscarriage. There’s also a subplot set in the modern day that revolves around the great-grandchildren of Angier and Borden.

13/36
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In the film, Tesla’s machine duplicates a person as they are at that moment and transporting them a few hundred metres away. In the book, the machine transports the essence of a person into a new body, leaving behind an empty husk.

14/36
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Nolan took elements from real life. The vanishing bird cage trick that Angier does was the trademark trick of magician Harry Blackstone, known as The Great Blackstone. It was then carried on by his son, Harry Blackstone jr.

15/36




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Chung Ling Soo was a real magician. His name was William Ellsworth Robinson, he disguised himself as a Chinese man and never broke the act or spoke English in public. He died when a bullet-catch trick went wrong and his last words were “My God, I’ve been shot.”

16/36
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The two main characters’ initials spell out ‘ABRA’, as in abracadabra. And it’s only hinted at in the film, but the Bordens have individual names. Sarah’s Borden is Albert, and Olivia’s Borden is Frederick. When they became one they combine their names to become Alfred Borden.

17/36

****************************************************************************

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The production designer Nathan Crowley scouted 70 locations in L.A. that looked like turn of the century London. They filmed in Colorado too. And they also turned part of the Universal backlot into Victorian London by building several huge streets.

18/36
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Nolan wanted to be able to visualise the film when he was writing the script so he had Crowley start designing the sets in his garage while the Nolans were writing the script.

19/36
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Nolan had one internal set built for the film, the under-the-stage section that sits beneath Tesla’s machine. We see it at the start and the end of the movie when Angier drowns in the tank.

20/36
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We see a few nods to the Tesla-Thomas Edison rivalry which led to electrical engineering breakthroughs in the 19th century. We see Alley demonstrate Tesla’s alternating current machine and a heckler shouts the machine isn’t safe. We find out later he was working for Edison.…

21/36



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David Julyan wrote the music for the film, but it was the last time he and Nolan worked together. Nolan worked with Hans Zimmer for the first time on Batman Begins and became his musical collaborator. Analyse by Thom Yorke plays over the end credits.

22/36

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Nolan had his DP Wally Pfister shoot about 90% of the film handheld. And actors weren’t given marks. Pfister said that was because Nolan wanted the film to feel naturalistic and wanted to be able to move the camera freely, and block scenes as they went.

23/36
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The costume designer was Joan Bergin and she worked closely with Pfister in creating costumes based on a particular colour palette. Pfister and Nolan wanted to use muted colours for most of the costumes so the actors’ faces would pop out more on the screen.

24/36
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Bergin said Nolan told her to design with an eye on contemporary fashion as he wanted the costumes to match the modern filmmaking style. We see that in Scarlett Johansson’s costumes. If a woman went into a theatre in a skirt above the knee in Victorian London, they’d likely have been kicked out.

25/36
7:43 PM · Jan 4, 2024
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Nolan said one of the things that drew him to the film was the turn of the century time period: a time of great industrial developments and change, when magic would’ve seemed more possible to audiences than it does now. Nolan said magicians were the rock stars of their day.…

26/36



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Nolan said he structured the film like a magic trick and there are endless theories online about what the film is really about. Some of the out there ones include the idea Angier had a twin too, Tesla’s machine didn’t work, and that the Borden’s were quadruplets.

27/36

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The first two shots of the film reveal the future secrets of both Angier and Borden. The opening shot, the camera pans across top hats - we find out later they’re Angier’s cloned hats. The second shot is two identical-looking birds in a cage that Sarah’s nephew calls brothers.…
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The first two shots of the film reveal the future secrets of both Angier and Borden. The opening shot, the camera pans across top hats - we find out later they’re Angier’s cloned hats. The second shot is two identical-looking birds in a cage that Sarah’s nephew calls brothers. Identical brothers is Borden’s method.

28/36


7:44 PM · Jan 4, 2024
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Milton The Magician is played by Ricky Jay - a real life American magician, with a reputation for being brilliant at sleight of hand. As well as playing Milton he also taught Jackman and Bale some sleight of hand techniques.

29/36
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Jay wouldn’t reveal all his secrets, though. One day Jackman said “Hey Ricky, my kids keep asking me to do magic tricks for them. Any chance you can show me something simple?” And Jay just said “No.”

30/36
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Some criticisms of the film have said it’s a plot hole that when Angier’s wife, Julia, is pulled from the tank, Angier kneels over her body but doesn’t try and resuscitate her. This is accurate though, as CPR wasn’t recognised until 1960.

31/36

*****************************************************************************

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At Julia’s funeral, Angier asks Borden which knot he tied when performing the water torture trick and he says he doesn't know. This is one of many hints ato the twist at end of the film regarding Borden being a twin.

32/36
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There is another connection to the magician’s wives. Angier ends up drowning in the water tank - just like his wife. Borden’s twin dies by hanging, like his wife, Sarah.

33/36
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The narrative structure is such that the editing includes 146 time jump cuts, in which the next shot either flashes back or skips forward to another time period. This works out at almost one time jump cut per minute.

34/36
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Before performing the trick each night, Angier removes his wedding ring. That way the Angier that left the theatre that evening, whether it be the original or duplicate, had the original wedding ring.

35/36
Show replies
SpoffleWearAMaskSaveLives
@bofflespoffle

15h
Excellent choice. He is a cypher here….
Chris Edwards
@chris5piece
·
14h
Some would say he’s a Great Showman. The Greatest even.

[jo]

There are pictorial displays -- sorry, there were too many and would be too laborious for me to reproduce.

Do check out the opening post and follow through if you want to see the photos that helped illustrate the message.


x.com/ATRightMovies/status/1742874203982795178?s=20


Thanks.

Jo

[jo]

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19h
Jackman said when he heard about the film, his agent told him he should go for the part of Alfred Borden. When Jackman met Nolan they talked about both parts and Jackman said “actually, I think I’m better suited to Angier.”




JoAB
@joab46466753
From Nolan(Men'sVOGUE)"It wasn't until we got in the edit suite & put the film together that I got to sit back & watch what he'd really done...Jackman's performance is very subtle & it builds over the course of the film in a really specific way that he'd really planned very carefully"
3:05 PM · Jan 5, 2024
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JoAB
@joab46466753
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and "Hugh has this innate ease with a live audience"

[jo]

Hugh Jackman has this unique link with audiences --

*first, he has an innate joy of performing, whether it is in a musical or even heavy drama.

*second, his charisma is especially effective with live audiences

(even in a live show where he is himself, although using other characters, such as in the Opening number of the 2009 Oscars, Hugh has shown this very strong link with audiences. A standing ovation from his peers at the end!)

[njr]

I need to watch this movie again! I loved it (and read the book)

Nancy

[jo]

Joy
@mamaape77
·
1h
The hats are from the movie The Prestige

One of the biggest clues in the film comes right at the start, depicting a pile of Angier's top hats laid on the floor near Tesla's laboratory. It's a simple opening, with the titles 'the prestige' overlaying the shot, but it's still one


Joy
@mamaape77
·
1h
The Prestige is a puzzle box of a film, following the dual perspectives of Hugh Jackman's Robert Angier and Christian Bale's Alfred Borden as they try to uncover each other's secrets. It's a film that is constantly keeping the audience on their toes but leaves several clues for


JoAB
@joab46466753
Arguably Chris&Jonathan Nolan's best film.Adapted from book of same title, the film presents different perspectives from Angier & Borden. Both protagonists- neither is hero or villain but both continuously seeking perfection in their calling! Deserved an Oscar - film & acting!