An absorbing magical rivalry

Film review: The Prestige

Topping the US box-office the weekend that it opened, The Prestige is a masterfully-directed film by Christopher Nolan. Set in turn-of-the-century Victorian London, the film evokes an era when stage magicians were celebrities, when their live acts passed as the premier form of entertainment. Utilizing his trademark non-linear distortion of time continuum, that was in evidence in his wonderful 2000 film Memento, Nolan essays the novel of Christopher Priest (winner of the 1996 World Fantasy Award). The film’s plot centers on the rivalry between two magicians, Robert Angier (Hugh Jackman), a consummate polished entertainer, and the purist, Alfred Borden (Christian Bale), more talented but destined to constantly compete under the shadow of Angier.

A fatal accident involving the wife of Angier (Piper Perabo) brings the rivalry to a vicious, obsessive and destructive level. It is this rivalry and the pursuit of that astounding perfect magical trick that forms the core of the film. What is special is the fascinating manner in which Nolan makes an intricate Chinese puzzle box of all that develops secrets within secrets, disclosure after disclosure, plumbing the depths of how obsession can carry us to dangerous and irrational extremes.

In the wake of these two magicians, we see how women are mere pawns, how confidants and trusted associates become mere stepping stones to the men’s achieving their purposes. There are great performances all around, and besides Jackman and Bale, Michael Caine as Cutter, the ingenieur, David Bowie as radical inventor Nikolas Tesla, Scarlett Johansson as the magician’s assistant Olivia, and Rebecca Hall as Julia, wife of Borden and holder of his darkest secret, are all topnotch.

It’s good to remember that Chistopher Priest mines the genre of science fiction/fantasy, as there are elements of the story that traverse this realm. This is in contrast to the other turn-of-the-century magic-themed film that came out this year, The Illusionist. While The Prestige could have used some tighter editing, the storytelling prowess of Nolan is absorbing, and with such a complex, detailed story, one’s full attention is needed. The resolution and final revelation may be simple, but it’s the journey there that makes for Nolan’s own conjuring.