Line #3 YMMV/ThePrestige


1	* AdaptationDisplacement: You'd be forgiven for not knowing the film was based on a book. After all the book came out in 1995 and the film came out in 2006 (and Christopher Priest's name was nowhere on the advertising).
2	* AlternateCharacterInterpretation:
3	** With TheReveal that [[spoiler: Borden is a twin]], does he really know which knot he tied when Angier asks him at the funeral? [[spoiler: Or is he covering for his brother]]?
4	--->''' ''From Borden's Journal:''''' He came in to demand an answer and I told him the truth. That I have fought with myself over that night, ''one half of me'' swearing blind that I tied a simple slipknot, ''the other half'' convinced that I tied the Langford double.
5	*** It could be read as [[spoiler:the one who didn't was convinced that his twin tied the Langford double and accused him of it, while the other swore he didn't. The one who went to Julia's funeral didn't tie the knot, and says he doesn't know what knot was tied because he doesn't know whether to believe his brother.]]
6	** Likewise did Sarah actually figure out the truth? [[spoiler: Was her suicide a reaction to finding out she had been lied to for her whole marriage? Or even darker, did she fear she was going mad]]?
7	** How much sympathy does Borden actually deserve? As noted under UnintentionallyUnsympathetic below [[spoiler: even if his twin brother is responsible for the nastier actions, he still fully allowed them to happen and deceived his wife. While Angier and the brother get their dose of LaserGuidedKarma, Borden is happily reunited with his daughter and escapes all consequences of this behaviour beyond having to live on with the guilt]].
8	** [[spoiler: Does Angiers murder all of his copies? Or did a copy murder Angiers, and is he murdering all of his other copies or are they just all committing suicide until one of them gets revenge? Do even ''they'' know the answer to these questions?]]
9	* AwardSnub: It was nominated for only ''two'' UsefulNotes/{{Academy Award}}s - Best Art Direction for Nathan Crowley and Best Cinematography for Wally Pfister, losing both. Some accused the Academy of consciously snubbing the film to ensure that ''Film/TheDeparted'' finally delivered Creator/MartinScorsese an Oscar after several Award Snubs of his own, though Creator/ChristopherNolan himself said that he wouldn't have expected this film to beat ''The Departed'' even if it '''had''' been nominated, and that if anything the problem was that ''The Prestige'' got released a little too early to take advantage of the usual "Oscar Buzz" season.
10	** Some people are still miffed that Creator/ChristianBale didn't get an Oscar nomination for his work for this film. Though to be fair, his performance is something that you really need to watch at least twice, in order to fully understand how subtle and brilliant he was, given [[spoiler:he is actually playing two characters.]]
11	* BrokenBase: Who is the protagonist between Angier and Borden [[spoiler:(or more accurately the two Borden brothers)]] and who is ultimately more sympathetic?
12	* DesignatedHero: [[spoiler:Both Bordens exploited the death of their friend's wife and deprived said friend of a much-needed closure and taunted him every step of the way and ultimately crippled him for life. TheReveal angled the surviving Borden as the hero reuniting with his daughter and Angier as the villain, despite being understandably under extreme emotional stress from the death of his wife and the elusive closure, and his actions against the twins are justifiably no worse than theirs.]]
13	* EnsembleDarkhorse: Music/DavidBowie has around ten minutes of screen time as UsefulNotes/NikolaTesla, but boy does he make it all worth it.
14	* FridgeHorror: [[spoiler:Which Borden twin did what at any given time?]]
15	** [[spoiler: Did Angiers kill his copies, or did his copies kill him and then keep killing each other?]]
16	* HilariousInHindsight: [[Film/{{Scoop}} Another film]] came out in 2006 also explores the world of stage magicians and also stars Creator/HughJackman and Creator/ScarlettJohansson.
17	* ItWasHisSled: Frequently known as [[spoiler:"the one where the magician turns out to be cloning himself."]]
18	* JerkassWoobie: Both Angier and Borden. Angier is also a WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds.
19	* JustHereForGodzilla: Many first watch the film primarily to see Music/DavidBowie as Nikola Tesla, even moreso because it was one of his only media roles following the 2004 heart attack that motivated him to retire from music for nearly a decade.
20	* MagnificentBastard:
21	** [[spoiler:[[CrusadingWidow Robert Angier]] aka [[AristocratsAreEvil Lord Caldlow]] is a genius magician who becomes consumed with revenge after the accidental death of his wife. Blaming fellow magician Alfred Borden for his wife's demise, Angier goes about sabotaging various aspects of Borden's career and life, culminating in an attempt to steal his secrets by [[TheUnfettered burying his assistant alive]]. After discovering the cloning properties of Nikola Tesla's machine, Angier uses it to put on perhaps the greatest magic trick the world has ever seen, staging each show so that one of his clones ends up in a drowning trap, knowing that at some point, Borden will stumble on the trap out of curiosity, which will enable Angier the [[FrameUp perfect opportunity to frame him]]. Faking his own death and framing Borden for it, Angier leaves Borden to hang for his "crime", stopping by one final time before his death to reveal the full extent of Angier's manipulations, and even proclaiming he's taking Borden's daughter under his own wing]].
22	** [[spoiler:[[TwinSwitch The Borden twins]] are a pair of brilliant magicians defined by their [[TheDeterminator uncompromising dedication to their craft]]. The twins spend their entire adult lives posing as a single man, "Alfred Borden", fooling everyone, including one brother's wife and daughter, the other brother's girlfriend and their arch rival Robert Angier, who is an expert illusionist in his own right. They sustain the act through elaborate disguises and careful attention to detail, with one brother voluntarily having [[{{Fingore}} two of his own fingers cut off]] to match the other when he has the same fingers shot off by Angier. They remain one step ahead of Angier for the majority of their rivalry, hijacking one of his shows mid-performance to prove their superior skill to the audience, and sending him on a wild goose chase by arranging for him to steal and decode a decoy notebook supposedly containing all of their secrets. When Angier frames one brother for his murder, he [[FaceDeathWithDignity calmly accepts his execution by hanging]] while the other manages to kill Angier and end their rivalry]].
23	** [[spoiler:[[TheManBehindTheMan John Cutter]] is a former magician and Robert Angier's ingenieur, who works behind the scenes to make him a success. A witty and charismatic man, Cutter assists Angier's schemes against rival magician Borden, calling in favors with managers to put Angier in the spotlight, helping him plan illusions to one-up Borden, [[GadgeteerGenius and building many of the devices Angier uses]]. As the magicians' feud escalates, Cutter proves to be adept at analyzing Borden's moves, even kidnapping Borden's assistant to coerce him into revealing his secrets. At the same time, he has a clear sense of honor, as when he learns Angier has set up Borden to be wrongly executed and taken his daughter into his custody, [[WhatTheHellHero Cutter is disgusted by how far he's gone]] and helps the surviving Borden twin, subtly allowing Borden to kill Angier in revenge and ensuring that the girl is returned to her father]].
24	* MoralEventHorizon:
25	** Angier [[spoiler: letting Borden take the fall for his murder and kidnapping Jess.]]
26	** Borden [[spoiler: implicitly engaging in marital infidelity alongside his twin and driving his wife to suicide.]]
27	* RewatchBonus:
28	** In spades. This film is even more interesting to watch once you know [[spoiler: Christian Bale is playing two characters]]. It takes some careful analysis of the plot and close attention to the performance, but [[spoiler: the two twins have very distinct personalities, and Christian Bale plays them differently, in a subtle way. Even their accents are slightly different, especially when angry or drunk (when the facade is weakest). This is particularly impressive, since it is a subtlety of acting performance that not only won't an audience likely get the first time through, they're NOT EVEN SUPPOSED TO. Which leads to an extra bit of FridgeBrilliance when you realize there's another art form that involves the artist doing a lot of work that the audience isn't supposed to notice--magic.]]
29	** The film contains a significant amount of symbolism and {{Foreshadowing}} that can be properly appreciated on second viewing. A viewer almost gets the impression that Christopher Nolan is enjoying teasing the audience.
30	* SpecialEffectFailure: A fairly minor one with unfortunately major implications. Whenever [[spoiler: the silent Fallon]] is shown in close-up, in-universe stage makeup readily hides his identity. But in one scene where [[spoiler: he's sharing dinner with his twin and their respective love interests]], a seemingly less intensive form of the makeup and prosthetics make it possible to tell that [[spoiler: he's also played by Christian Bale]], and making that connection potentially spoils one of the main twists of the film.
31	* SugarWiki/RuleOfSeanConnery: Music/DavidBowie and Creator/MichaelCaine, the former of whom only appears for maybe ten minutes.
32	* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: TheReveal [[spoiler: Shows that Borden is actually a twin, and the 'bad' twin is responsible for the affair with Olivia and most of the nasty things Borden does]]. Notably Borden still [[spoiler: deceived his wife and allowed his brother to enter their bed]]. FridgeHorror if Sarah actually ever slept with [[spoiler: the twin, thinking it was her husband. And likewise the 'good' twin still carried on an affair with Olivia]], despite knowing how much it was upsetting Sarah. All out of dedication to the craft. Not once is this kind of behaviour called out. There's also the fact that [[spoiler: their charade ended causing Julia's accidental death early in the film, and they still decided to carry on with it.]]
33	** A bit lessened by the fact that [[spoiler: each twin is considerably colder to the other's lover, Freddie is shown to be not really interested in Sarah, and Alfred is reluctant even to kiss Olivia. They still lie and cheat all the way, but it's implied that each twin at least only has intercourses with his own lover.]]
34	* TheUntwist: More than once, characters blatantly explain major twists to one another, and they, and the audience, refuse to take an answer staring them in the eye at face value. Which is part of the point, after all; magic tricks and all that. [[spoiler: Most blatantly, Cutter flat-out tells Angier how the Transported Man is being performed almost as soon as the audience sees it onscreen, but both he and the audience refuse to believe it could be that simple even after he's literally recreated the trick himself and it does seem to be that simple.]]
35	* VindicatedByHistory: The film was somewhat lukewarmly received during its initial release (it only scored a 76% approval rating on ''Rotten Tomatoes'', making it one of Nolan's lowest rated films). Nowadays, it's often ranked critics and fans alike as one of Nolan's best works, if not ''the'' best. That the film has a high RewatchBonus value has probably helped.
36	* TheWoobie:
37	** Sarah. Having to put up with a husband who loves you one day, then is emotionally abusive the next will take its toll on anyone. [[spoiler: Even more when she figures out that she has been manipulated and used by two men her entire marriage: she almost immediately hangs herself.]]
38	** Tesla. Just consider this exchange:
39	--->'''Tesla:''' Go home. Forget this thing. I can recognize an obsession, no good will come of it.\
40	'''Angier:''' Why, haven't good come of your obsessions?\
41	'''Tesla:''' Well, at first. But I followed them too long. I'm their slave... and one day they'll choose to destroy me.
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Context YMMV / ThePrestige