“The Prestige” by Christopher Nolan
Revision Handbook
This handbook is laid out in the following sections: key scenes, characters, setting. If you would rather have these printed on card so that they could be cut out into ready-made study cards, just ask.
Key Scene:
Opening Sequence
Synopsis:
The Prestige begins with shots of several dozen top hats mysteriously strewn about in the woods. (Remember them for later).
Cutter (Michael Caine) explains the three parts of a magic trick while performing a disappearing bird trick for a little girl. Part one is the pledge, where the magician shows you something ordinary, like a bird. Part two is the turn, where he does something extraordinary, like make the bird disappear. But this isn't enough. There always has to be a third act, the prestige, where you have a twist, and bring the bird back. Only then will the audience applaud.
Robert "the Great Danton" Angier (Hugh Jackman) attempts a transporting trick that involves walking under a giant electrical machine with a Tesla coil and then disappearing through a trapdoor. Except that he falls straight into a giant tank of water that has been placed under the stage, and is automatically locked inside. A man in the audience, who we shortly learn is fellow magician Alfred "the Professor" Borden (Christian Bale), forces his way beneath the stage in time to see Angier drown. (Synopsis taken from
Technique:
Voice Over – Cutter explains how a magic trick works.
“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".”
Analysis:
- This helps the audience understand what is going on onscreen. As Cutter explains this, he is performing the bird cage trick for a little girl. At the same time, Angier is performing The Transported Man. However, while Cutter’s trick achieves its desired affect (the bird is returned), Angier’s does not (the magician does not reappear, but dies instead).
- This creates suspense as it makes the audience uncomfortable as the trick has gone wrong.
- It also creates confusion as the audience would not expect the professional magician’s trick to go wrong. Furthermore, they want to know what has gone wrong and this makes them want to watch the rest of the film to find out what has happened.
Technique:
In Medias Res – “In the Middle of Things”
Nolan starts the film in the middle of the plot.
Analysis:
- Starts with the top hats in the middle of a forest. The audience does not know why they are there or where they are. We don’t find out until later that these are duplicates of Angier’s hat.
- Who the characters are – there are no clues as to who the characters are at this point.
- The trick – Borden appears to sneak backstage and tells a stagehand that he’s part of the act. At this point in time, the audience has no clue as to whether he’s involved or not.
Technique:
Camera Shots
NOTE: When discussing camera shots, make sure that they are showing you something important or in an interesting way. Don’t just play spot the camera shot!
Analysis:
- Establishing shot – hats in forest. Pans over the hats. This gives audience a clear picture of the amount of hats and introduces the strange location.
- Establishing shot – theatre. Captures the grandness of the theatre and the size of the audience. The impressive turnout shows how popular a magician Angier is. Also lets audience see the stage, suggesting that something spectacular is about to happen.
- Close-up – Cutter’s birds. This tells the audience that this bird will be an important part of Cutter’s demonstration of how magic tricks work.
- Close-up – Angier in the tank. These close-ups show the audience Angier’s face, capturing the fear and panic he is experiencing. This creates tension and excitement for the audience as they experience the horror of watching the man die.
- Close-up – Borden’s reaction to Angier being trapped in the tank. This shot is used to capture how horrified and afraid Borden is. This makes the audience sympathise with him as he tries to save Angier. There is no way he will manage it in time and close-ups let the audience see how fearful he is at this moment.
- Tracking shot – Nolan loves tracking shots. It is used in this scene while Borden is surveying Angier’s equipment onstage. This makes the audience feel like they are the one of the volunteers up checking out the apparatus and gets them more involved in the film. It also creates tension as we then follow Borden backstage, making us feel like we too are investigating the strange events occurring before us.
Key Scene:
The Bullet Catch
Synopsis:
Borden performs the bullet catching trick for a rowdy audience, handing the gun to a man who turns out to be Angier in disguise. Angier, knowing the trick, deliberately puts his own bullet into the gun, and confronts Borden again about the knot he tied. When Borden's answer is still "I don't know," Angier shoots him, blowing two fingers off his left hand and seriously jeopardizing his career.
Technique:
Sound
Analysis:
- The scene starts with rowdy crowd noise. This tells us that the place where Borden is not the professional theatres we have seen up until now. In fact, it is highly likely that he is performing in some kind of pub. The crowd are booing, showing that Borden is not holding their interest at all. Several members of the crowd shout “Get your gun out!” suggesting that Borden has been performing this trick for a while now and it is all they are here to see. This chaotic noise makes the audience nervous as they have already been told that this trick might go wrong. This creates tension as they audience start to worry for Borden’s safety.
- Once Borden produces the gun, the noise dwindles. When his volunteer takes the stage, the noise stops entirely and is replaced with tense music. The music is high-pitched and discomforting. This draws attention away from the rowdy crowd and focusses on the two magicians. Silence creates suspense as the audience waits to see what Angier will do.
Technique:
Repetition of dialogue – “Which knot did you tie?” – “I don’t know”
Analysis:
- These lines are repeated throughout the first half of the film as Angier struggles to work out which knot Border tied around Julia’s wrists on the night she died. Repeating Angier’s line, “Which knot did you tie?” shows the audience how much turmoil he has gone through after the death of his wife.
- The repetition of Borden’s answer, “I don’t know” leaves the audience confused as they saw him tie the Langford double (the bad knot). However, his reason behind saying these lines becomes clear once the audience discovers that he is a twin. The reason he claims not to know is because it was the other twin that tied the knot that night.
- Repeating dialogue gives the film greater depth as it keeps everything connected and linked. It also helps the audience piece bits of the puzzle together while also helping them feel the characters’ frustrations.
Technique:
Camera shots
Analysis:
- Tracking shot – used at the beginning of the scene. This makes the audience feel like they are amongst the audience at Borden’s show. The camera here is clearly handheld and gets knocked about by a few of the members of the crowd. This helps to consolidate the previous point about feeling like you are part of the audience.
- Mid-shot – Borden produces the gun and brandishes it. Also when he is preparing the gun for the trick. These shots let the audience see how Borden prepares for his trick. It is very different from anything we see Angier doing later. This shows that while he is not a very good showman, he is great when it comes to taking risks and performing shocking tricks.
- Close-up – the camera starts by focussing on a hand putting a bullet into the gun and then the camera pans up to give a close-up of the volunteer’s face, revealing him as Angier. These close-ups reveal Angier’s intentions to the audience, thus creating tension as they can only wait to see if he will go through with killing Borden. The close-up of Angier’s face shows that he is wearing a disguise, revealing how he managed to get into the show in the first place. This shot also shows how distraught Angier is and how much of a weak state he is in.
Technique:
Characterisation – Angier
Analysis:
- This is Angier’s first act of revenge. He went from being the good guy who had a family and just wanted to impress the audience to the villain. While the audience pities him for losing everything, his desperation in this scene makes us turn against him and fear for Borden instead. While Julia’s death is the inciting incident (the thing that ultimately kick-starts the plot), this is certainly what takes the rivalry onto a dangerous level.
- Angier is a different man now. His grief has consumed him and pushed to violence.
Key Scene:
Lord Caldlow visits Borden – Angier is revealed as alive
Synopsis:
In his prison cell back in the present day, Borden comes to the end of Angier's diary, which gloats that Borden is being blamed for his death. Borden believes the diary must be a fake, until he's called out of his cell to say goodbye to Jess and meet the collector who wants to buy his secrets.
The collector, Lord Caldlow, is Angier. Borden is dismayed that he would go so far and involve his child in their rivalry. Angier refuses to help clear his name, and won't even take the secret of Borden's "Transported Man" when bribed, telling him "mine is better." Borden swears he'll get out and have his revenge, promising Jess he'll come for her.
Technique:
Camera shots
Analysis:
- Tracking shot – at the beginning of this scene, the shot tracks Jess as she runs to see her father in jail. The shot is taken from behind the bars so that the audience are seeing things from Borden’s perspective. The focus on Jess shows how excited he is about seeing his daughter. However, in his excitement, he pays no attention to the visitor – Lord Caldlow. This is made clear to the audience by the fact that his face is not in the shot, therefore obscuring his identity. By doing this, Nolan is prolonging the twist – that Angier is actually alive – and creating more tension. This makes it more shocking when we discover the truth.
- Close-up – a series of close-ups are used to reveal the twist. As Borden says “You must be…” and stands to meet Caldlow, we have a close-up of Borden’s face as he realises that it’s Angier standing in front of him. This shot lets the audience see how horrified and confused Borden is. It also means that it takes us a moment to wonder who Caldlow might be. Nolan then uses a close-up of Angier’s face, thus revealing the twist. The scene has been building up to this shot and Nolan is finally giving the audience what they want – an answer to the question “Who is Lord Caldlow?”
Technique:
Mise-en-scene
Analysis:
- Prison bars – in many of the shots in this scene, the prison bars are obscuring the audience’s view. This is to constantly remind the audience that Borden is trapped in jail, separated from the outside world.
Technique:
Characterisation - Angier
Analysis:
- This scene highlights just how low Angier has sunk. He has taken the rivalry to deadly lengths in attempting to pull his greatest trick ever.
- By taking Jess away, Angier feels that he is taking back what he lost – a chance for a family. This is a final act of revenge as Angier still blames Borden for Julia’s death.
- Borden states “…you’re not afraid of getting your hands dirty now”. This idea of “getting your hands dirty” (i.e. doing something terrible) recurs throughout the film and is often referring to Angier. At this point of the film, we can see that he lost his morals long ago and is now willing to do whatever he has to in order to succeed.
- Angier’s obsession with magic seems to have taken over anything he felt about his wife, as he callously tells Borden “I’ve won” and “Whatever your secret was, you have to agree, mine is better”. These lines reveal that in the end, Angier sees the whole rivalry as some kind of cruel game. The fact that he is willing to let Borden die for a crime he did not commit totally turns the audience against him. We have to sympathy for him anymore. He has become the villain and Borden the victim.
Technique:
Characterisation - Borden
Analysis:
- This film makes us feel real sympathy for Borden. He has to say goodbye to his daughter before he is hanged. His dialogue with Bess is heartbreaking yet ironic at the same time. He tells her that he’ll see her soon which we know he won’t as he’s going to die. Yet we also know that Jess will see the other twin soon as he is still alive and reclaims her after Angier’s (real) death. So while Jess will see her father again and we know he is not lying to her, the man behind the bars will ultimately die and never see his daughter again.
- We also feel sympathy for him as he is going to die for a crime he did not commit. This creates a great feeling of injustice for the audience and creates suspense as they now know that Borden has been wronged. Knowing this makes the hanging scene later on much more dramatic.
- Borden has become the film’s hero and the audience are now totally on his side due to Angier’s actions.
Key Scene:
The Final Sequence
Synopsis:
Borden has one last visitor: Fallon. Borden tells him what he's learned, gives him the rubber ball he sometimes uses for tricks, and tells Fallon to go "live for both of us."
Cutter brings the machine to Angier, and as he leaves, we see Fallon arrive to confront Angier. This is intercut with scenes of Borden being hanged. Borden dies just as Fallon shoots Angier. The camera pans up to reveal that the gunman has two missing fingers and Borden's face.
Angier finally realizes that the secret of Borden's "Transported Man" was simple. Borden had a twin brother, and they were switching back and forth between the roles of Borden and Fallon. One of them loved Sarah, and one of them loved Olivia. They both lived half of one life, never telling anyone in order to maintain the illusion. In a flashback, the unmutilated twin lets his brother cut off the ends of two fingers on his left hand so they will remain identical. Sarah, in a scene we've seen before, is puzzled and worried as to why the wound looks new and bruised again; Borden distracts her by shouting that they cannot afford the doctor and waking the baby.
Angier, who only ever cared about the glory of wowing an audience, went to far more terrible extremes. In his "New Transported Man," he knowingly created a double of himself every time he used Tesla's machine, and he rigged the trapdoor to drown the one onstage. He never knew if he would be the prestige or the man in the box. The room where the machine is being kept is filled with water tanks, all of which hold a drowned double of Angier for every time he performed the trick. Several times, he mutters to himself a line we've heard before in a different context: "No one cares about the man in the box."
Angier falls and kicks over the lantern as he dies from the gunshot wound, and the fire ensures the machine and all the evidence are destroyed.
We loop back to the trick with the small birds in the opening scene (though this time, no birds are harmed) while Cutter reiterates the three parts of a magic trick. As Cutter has told Jess Borden, "before the audience can clap, you have to make the disappeared man come back." On cue, her father appears to reclaim her. She runs into his arms, and Borden and Cutter exchange nods.