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@heavy spoilers - The last scenes in the movie hints us that they were not brothers, but they were «clones». That is why the hat is so important in the shot, the one that fallon wears. Also the look on Bales’ face at the end when angier dies, like he knows the machine and what it does, and that he might make a new one of «himself». - At least I think it’s a fun plot twist for the whole movie, making us think again on everything when we have thought through everything already 50 times. Amazing movie.
@David Weed This is my opinion as well. He just ups the show and can rehire his drunk double from before until he catches Borden and finally kills the double rather than having someone free them. Tesla tricked him and we want to believe in magic.
At the beginning of the film, Borden says something like "We were two men at the start of a career." You'd think he was referring to himself and Angier, but he is really referring to himself and his brother.
@owen wurzer that's not a plot hole, you ding dong. the movie is literally about obesssion. they weren't obsessed with money or food, they were obsessed with outdoing each other on the stage.
The biggest plothole is that the magicians knowly used a duplication machine to pull off... magic tricks. They could have duplicated food, money water, literally anything besides more of them. They were given the power of a God and did magic tricks.
@Jayanti If they really had a machine that could duplicate items and people it's incredibly stupid to only use this for a magic trick. This Machine could be used to duplicate items and we'd be in a Star Trek post scacity universe. Nobody would ever want or need for anything ever again. How incredibly idiotic is it to only use this for a magic trick instead of changing the world for good forever?
@World Comics Review why would he duplicate money? he was born rich. money is no object. there's nothing he cares less about. he only cares about revenge, and one-upping Borden. If he cared about money in the slightest, he wouldn't have pretended to be an out of work American magician's assistant in the first place.
Something that wasn't pointed out: at the 18:00 mark there's a reference to why Angier shoots the duplicate instead of having two - later in the movie Borden remarks that the 2 brothers were satisfied living half a life each - something Angier couldn't do. I thought it was a nice touch - the reason Angier can't do the trick, even after having a duplicate, is because he can't live that life - Angier and Borden aren't the same.
@James Yes, that's literally the point: Angier the original and Angier the clones are literally indistinguishable from each other. Their whole consciousness (memory, personality, identity, secrets) is present in the clone: effectively meaning there's no way to ever know when the original Angier or the first clone died in that first scene where one of them is shot!
@Neonsilver13 This is it. The question of whether or not Angiers is "the man in the box" is not a question that can really be answered objectively, it's a philosophical question. Angiers seems to think that BECAUSE he knows that he has all his own memories, he must be the "original," either in the box or teleported across the room, whereas the one left behind must be a "copy" or in some way a less authentic version of Angiers. However, it is likely that both Angiers carry the exact same memories, meaning that you can't determine which one is "really" Angiers by that alone. The first Angiers that gets shot begs for his life, for example. That Angiers doesn't really understand the principle of the machine is foreshadowed when he first gets it from Tesla. When looking through all the copied hats, he asks Tesla "which one" is his hat. Tesla replies, they are ALL his hat. For whatever reaon, Angiers just can't accept that concept. For him, there has to be a single "real" hat. But from Tesla's perspective, if the hats are identical in all physical qualities, then there is no one "real" hat- they're all the same. In Tesla's view, both Angiers are equally as authentic as each other. To take a more psychoanalytic approach, it may be that Angiers also psychologically NEEDS to believe that there's one "real" Angiers and one "fake" Angiers, because he cannot bear to share his life the way Borden does, and doesn't want to face the truth that he's murdering a human being every time he does the trick. I think what speaks in favour of this interpretation is that he always kills the "other" Angiers as fast as he possibly can- before it can make any case for itself. Essentially, believing that he's not killing a "real" person helps him sleep at night- and he makes perfectl sure that he never has to confront a clone to find out one way or the other.
To me it also seemed that he didn't really understand the machine, the way he talked about the trick it felt like he thought that one would be somehow lesser, maybe would lack the memories. He thought since he had all the memories afterwards that he was still the real one, that he was transported but left a copy behind to drown, at least that was the impression I got from what he said about the trick.
Well Angier and Fred Borden are very similar. While he could live just having half a life, he didn't put much effort into the other brother's part of the life. Like tending to the wife and daughter properly. The main characteristic that Angier and Fred Borden share is Obsession. They are obsessed with each other and it drives them both to do some pretty twisted stuff. Al Borden was more or less a passenger. He tried to get his brother to drop the obsessions and the misdeads. Not listening, not being able to move on is what cost him to get set up. There is real tragedy in here initially for Angier, but Al faces quite a bit of tragedy. Fred just seems to create tragedy for both men.
And Angier running from home and then is revealed as the Lord shows that he was 1 man living 2 lives, a foil to The 2 Borden's living 1 life. Which is pretty fucking cool.
I personally think it is the the worst- it is obviously well made and all actors are very good. But the overall motive of sacrificing everything for a stupid magic trick kills the entire movie for me, reminding me of the movie "flash of genius". And revealing both of the absurd ways they get their tricks working doesn't even matter anymore- they already showed that their obsession destroys and kills everything... and on top of that there comes this cloning machine, that undermines the realistic setting of the entire movie. It is also completely out of proportion- imagine someone inventing a laser in the middle ages but then they use it only to play with cats...
If you watch the movie very closely, you notice that Bale actually shifts personalities while representing either of the Borden brothers. the one married to Sarah is overall more calm and composed with more focus on his family, while the brother who falls in love with olivia is more obsessed with magic, and looses temper easily. He's the brother who is later hanged, so in a way, the one who was the familyman got to be with his daughter, which to me, was very powerful moment in the final scene of the movie
He still lost his wife and brother and gets to live with all the mess the other caused. I also think he has a huge amount of guilt for the death of Angier's wife and feels responsible for turning him into a monster. Ironically, it's the very same for Angier. Angier was also a good man and all his "twins" are evil. All clones start their lives by killing the "original". The original Angier and his goodness died when the first clone shot him. That's how he came to the decision of killing Borden and taking his daughter. But of course, the good Borden will never know that.
It's complicated. My understanding is the brother that tied the knot I think has regret for what he did. The other brother is shot for it(he didn't know which knot was tied),,, which was not his fault and I think that fueled a rage / resentment in him. That made him hate Angier. The guilt ridden brother wanted to let it go, but the injured brother could not, which led to his undoing.
@Nils Bengston Well his brother was still going to be hanged to death. Might as well keep the legacy of their trick in tact. Coming forward wouldn't have saved him and would potentially pose it's own set of legal issues. It likely had he come forward Angier would have seen to his execution too.
@ashley sterling I think it was Fred. Because it was in pursuit of his obsession with Angier. Al didn't share that obsession. Also why I think when Fred is being a dbag and said he almost lost something very close to himself today, I don't think he was talking about his brother. I think he meant his life. He almost lost his life.
The source novel is also really good, though very different in many ways from the film. For one thing there's an overall 20th-century framing device in which a journalist, a descendant of Borden, is investigating the Angier-Borden rivalry, which would have way overcomplicated an already complicated film. The characters and plot vary quite starkly at times from those of the film as well. Overall I like the film better, but it's definitely worth a read.
I watched it recently, and it's probably one of my top 3 movies by Nolan. The movie itself is a magic trick as you also called it out. But I wonder, what was the ultimate message of this movie?! Because with Christopher Nolan and Specially in a collaboration with Jonathan there is always a core and meaningful hidden message. Other than that I totally loved it.
I could be wrong, but I thought that Borden really did appear in Sarah's home, and it was not the twin brother. Right before the scene cuts away from him, we see Borden looking and heading towards an open window in the stairwell. And when he appears in Sarah's house, he is right next to her window. Presumably, he climbed out the window from the stairwell and climbed into Sarah's house from her window.
@nerd journalI dont remember the "kcik" but the smile probably has to do with the fact that the brother that swapped was the one who loved her, as they say that each of them loved one of the women truly. It just seems like with this movie every minor detail has been thought out and this seems like an obvious one.
@Daniel Reynolds But is that the truth? How would one brother know to break in? How would they know things went well. I guess you are just like Fred Borden, too stuck on themselves to just give their opinion without trying to put someone else down.
@Austin Casey The thing is though.. How would the other brother know the date went well and that the trick would be appropriate? That's what makes me wonder. Also the fact that he has a genuine true smile on his face inside.
My favorite of all Nolan's films. He blantanly spoils it several times in each act, and even explicitly tells us that even though he's revealed the twist, we the audience will CHOOSE not to believe it.
@MELKOR It is real though. I know it's a fun fan theory but there are several scenes that directly contradicts it even after the 'unreliable narrators' bit through the diaries is over. The machine is real in the book the film is based on and it's real in the film itself.
@MELKOR the twist is that it is science fiction and that you keep wanting to put a "real" spin on it because everything else in the movie is real. you want to be fooled, so you keep denying the science fiction aspect... thats what makes it soooo good.
This movie made my jaw drop. It's literally about perfect. This is cinema. This is why I love film. I wanna read the book now so bad. The casting was perfect! So many twists.. god this movie was so fucking interesting
@nerd journalI’ve also heard that the movie is the better of the two, which doesn’t seem to happen very often. I tried to read the book when this movie first came out but just couldn’t get into it. Love the movie, tho!
I've been meaning to read the book for years. Dominic Noble does a series on TRvid called Lost In Translation where he compares the books to movies to see what they got right and what they changed. From what I could tell from talking to people and watching that video, this is one of those rare situations where the Movie is better than the Book.
At the beginning of the film, Borden says something like "We were two men at the start of a career." You'd think he was referring to himself and Angier, but he is really referring to himself and his brother.
@Wilma Wallace Well, I only know that Christain Bale played Fallon in the movie. When he is on seen that's Christian Bale. If Christian Bale is on scene and Fallon. They are both Christian Bale. Acting both parts and then combining the two videos to make like he is there in both. Prestige came out in 2006 so at that time to achieve that quality they would most likely only have used CGI to enhance aspects of the scene. They didn't CGI some double or use a double. Christian Bale is what you get here.
@nerd journal Again, your not really looking you want to be fooled. I'm not saying he has a twin in real life in the biological sense but It's either that or a twin like double that is in the shot. Again using any sort of overlay would detract from the whole premise of the movie. The scene showing them side by side removing the make up is not the same person at different times then super imposed, it's two different people at the same time pretending to be one person which is the trick. It's the whole point of the movie. We know alot of famous people use doubles so is it beyond the realms of possibility that in all the years of famous male actors there may be one that uses a double in a movie to either replace him or in this case assist him. It's the simplicity that is the whole point. What would be easier and more in keeping with the trick about a double, using a double or a real life twin or using a cgi overlay to portray a double.
@Wilma Wallace When this movie came out it wouldn't really be a good idea to use full CGI to make a twin, so it's certainly just Christian Bale playing both roles hitting different marks then taking both videos of the same actor acting both parts. Then using masks, while editing the movie it's just superimposed over each other. The only CGI would probably be for creating shadows in areas that the superimposed performances may conflict with reality. Christian Bale is not a twin in real life. So I don't know what else to say.
@Chaitanya CH "now comes the secret, but you wont to find it because your not really looking, you want to be ......fooled". look deeper and ask yourself would a director making a movie about the dedication of a true trick and that trick being about twins would then use cgi twins?? if you as a viewer believe that then you want to be ......fooled. Look at the plot of alot of christian bale movies, they involve brothers or a character that has more than 1 personality or a character that has been over looked for the advantage of someone else.
@Heavy Spoilers Agreed, awesome to see you do a breakdown of what I think is one of the greatest pieces of cinema ever created and Nolan's best by a long shot.
Personally believe this is one of the best written movies of all time. Expertly crafted, acted, & executed. Thanks for the video on it, as there’s not many and this move is extremely underrated.
I think Angier knows he could never share the spotlight with a copy of himself and neither would the copy. When he looked into his own eyes he literally sees his inability to do so and in that moment they both know one must die for this trick to go on. It’s why the other is immediately afraid of what’s going to happen.
Yeah, its a copy where as a twin who you have a bond with. Great movie. Saw it when it came out when there wasnt breakdowns or spoilers. Mind blowing. Masterpiece of cinema.
This was a great breakdown, I’ve watched this film several times and missed so many of these details. Nolan is so good with weaving all these tiny threads together. Truly a genius.
20:40 watch the Mauler Twins scenes from Invincible. Same concept there. The clone and the original share the same stream of consciousness so neither knows who is the copy.
This movie is literally: ---incredible ---one that DOES get better the more you watch it ---one that if u happen upon it while channel surfing, u just watch it til the end no matter where u catch it ---such a great example of finding more and more "new" stuff with virtually every viewing One of my all time favs too
Love that you're breaking this down. This came out when I was too young to fully grasp its greatness and as I've got older this movie has become a go to for showing people how good movies can be.
When I first watched this when it came out I said straight away that's Bale also with a tash and beard, I could see him easily, I don't know why so many people missed it,, still a great movie.
This movie, like a lot of Nolan's films, found a way of being both fast-paced, and a slow burn. There is SO much detail in his films, it's a miracle they don't implode in on themselves. His ability to jump from past to present is masterful. He did the same thing in Batman Begins, making both that movie and Prestige my favorites of his.
Personally the only problem I have with the film is the fact that it favors Borden more. And I mean with the framing on who would I seen the most “right” they’re both horrible and I think having Angier painted as more villainous at the end I genuinely don’t like.
The book is even better and has more twists. The Borden / Angier relationship is very different in how it forms. But despite the differences this is a fantastic film and just because some of the book is missing doesn't mean that it's a bad thing.
I disagree. I feel the book adds a completely unnecessary modern time plot line. Also what happens to Angier is a little more out there. I think the movie honestly cleans it up better.
This one of the most underrated movies and one of Nolan's Best. Amazing Details, Twists And Turns, And Performances especially from Christian And Hugh.
@Louis Berry Oh, I'm actually not aware about how much people talk about this movie in general. I've talked with others about this movie at several occasions. But maybe the fact that it's almost a quarter of a century old by now could explain that the talking about the movie has been ebbing out a bit. Sure, it's a timeless classic. But after one or two decades, maybe pretty much all that can be said about the movie has already been said. And repeated hundreds of times. How long should this go on? People still talk about The Shining, for example. But for movies of this category, there are new interesting theories and discoveries every few years. While I'm pretty sure that there might be a few things hidden in The Prestige that no fan has discovered yet, I don't think those discoveries would be as ground-breaking as for movies like The Shining.
we know only one thing about the death of the double... that after the 1st copy the one that lives either knows that he will die next for the next trick or he infact has his mind transferred and its just killing his old self! both terrifying. However he does mention that he does not know if he is the man in the box or the man on stage and it takes courage to do his trick...... so perhaps its a coil toss and changes randomly?
Well the first clone seems to have his conscious and seemingly tries to stop the Original from killing him. However, the first time the trick is done and he kills the person on stage that is when the Original Angier dies. You know the one on stage has the memories, because he is the one who lives as Angier between the next show then it dies and the next copy starts over. So every single copy he kills and his Original self were all exact copies memories and all. Now from the moment it was born had it been given a chance to live they would slowly diverge from the exact same mental state as each one gained their own memories and encounter not including the other.
A real beauty of this movie is that the "twist" is foreshadowed so heavily that it's almost expected, to the point that Michael Caine repeatedly tells Angier what the trick is but he won't listen. But the foreseeable but unknown twist is basically what the theme of the movie is. I think it's represented well when Borden shows his wife the bullet catch and she's like "womp womp". Ppl would rather be tricked, ppl want to believe in the impossible. And that's what makes magic (and film) so enduring.
This is one of my favorite movies because when I first saw it, I was totally blown away by the plot twists and all the entanglements. How cool that you made a video of easter eggs.
I adore this movie, it’s definitely my favourite of Nolan’s work, though it’s closely followed by Memento. It’s clever, gripping and with a simply brilliant cast. Btw, have you ever done a breakdown of Memento? Cos if you haven’t, that would be an excellent one to add to the list. x
Easily my favourite Nolan movie. Incredibly interesting and a rare example of a movie that is even better AFTER you know the twist. Chuffed to bits to see what my favourite British movie reviewer thinks about one of my favourite movies of all time.
17:03 he wasn't happy about almost losing his brother - in that scene he was the brother who was in the box that was buried. He almost lost his own life!
The first time Tesla tests out the machine it’s on a cat that he brings out in a box. While I was thinking about the concept of Robert having to face death every night, I realized that at the moment he stepped into the machine, he was both dead and alive, exactly like Schrödinger’s cat. I am utterly blown away by Nolan.
@Noel Yanes Someone isn't much into thought experiments, eh? The idea fgoes to the ideological belief of the consciousness. The one on the stage on that platform seems to fear that he could accidentally kill the copy that held the consciousness and collective thoughts and memories that make the man Angier is. For the brief moment when the machine does it's magic the character is both alive and dead. Metaphorically speaking. One is going to go on from that moment and live till the next trick. The other is going to die. For the briefest of moments he is both Dead and Alive.
Great Breakdown and Definitely one of my all-time Favs! I'm on Team The Machine never worked though. Those unreliable diaries or a Dying Angier are the only times we're told it duplicates (also the cats and hats r told by Angier). Insert the 'The entire movie is a magic trick' line here, but it's the truth. A Saw never actually cuts a girl in half, same idea in the Prestige. That's to me what makes it so amazing 💯
One of my favorite movies. It gets overlooked a lot. I also watched it back to back and own it on DVD. Also, I have a crush on all the actors who play the most important characters, specially David Bowie and Michael Caine
I turned it off the first time I watched it, after the actress I'd instantly fallen in love with gets drowned in a cabinet. I still fast-forward past that bit.
This movie deserved soo much more upon its release at cinemas. I remember while working there ppl leaving angry and talking down on the movie while I sat it disbelief and awe at how they missed such a gem
yeah I've noticed that with a lot of Nolans stuff. Always gets meh reviews when they first release and then overtime it finds appreciation. Outside of the Dark Knight and Inception its happened with all his movies.
People go to the movies to escape not think, plus trailers can mislead people into expectations not even a great film can match. I remember when Drive with Gosling came out it was made out to be the next fast and the furious and it was a much more thoughtful movie and I walked out hating it, but then I saw it in a film class and it’s one of my favorites. Perspective is a helluva drug.
One of my all time favorites!! Loved this breakdown brother. Thank you very much for this!! Never knew of the Current Wars, now I do. Will check it out this week and you’ve definitely got me planning to watch the Prestige again.
I love this movie. It’s one I catch something new on every watching. In fact, you pointed out several other things I haven’t noticed before. Thanks for the great video.
Absolutely top shelf mate! I love this film, have seen it many times and I always find something new. Christopher Nolan is a true genius and has not made a bad film. I also love Memento
Loved this movie- 16 years ago...wow, really, I'm getting old, and love it today too! It really was that movie which had me looking at C. Nolan as a magician. I had seen Memento a couple times too, but since the Prestige I get always excited when I hear he has a new project/movie coming out. Goes without saying, I really enjoyed your breakdown of it. Do you ever recommend movies? What are your top 5 movies ever? Happy Holidays.
gosh this movie is everything. i wish i could erase it from my memory and watch it again like it was my 1st time just so i could experience that plot twist again 🤩
I love how in the beginning of the movie cutter explains how in the end of the trick the thing that dissapeared is brought back. In the beginning of the movie angiers is killed and in the end it’s revealed that he didn’t actually didn’t die, thus he is returned
Hugh jackman also plays the rich playboy who uses money to buy prestige and will do anything to get it but put in the hard work and dedication that Christian Bale's characters were willing to do. And thus parallels the two roads that people in life have to choose to walk down.
Absolutely love this movie. Its ridiculously underrated and much like yourself I was rewatching it straight away after first seeing it. Great vid. Cheers
@Heavy Spoilers you are very welcome. David Bowie is one of my favorite musicians tied with one other. I always enjoy it when he gets a solid acting role like Andy Warhol in (another ‘27 club’ member) Basquiat
Yeah, Fallon was a brilliant demonstration of misdirection, so essential to so many magic tricks. I'm a lifelong amateur magician and am usually pretty good at figuring out movie twists, but I have to admit that Fallon flew completely under the radar.
*Minor spoilers for the book ahead* One of the heartbreaking things about this movie compared to the book, is that both Angier's wife and Borden's wife live. Seeing them both die in the movie is brutal! Still though, great movie! One of my favourites of all time! Glad you did this breakdown.
This is a great movie… one of my favorite of the “cerebral” type. And lot least of which because it was my first time seeing Scarlett Johansen. And there was nothing cerebral about that! Despite her questionable accent, she definitely left an impression on me.
BEST OPENING LINE EVERRRRRR. Preach it Paul, Prestige is a gem, often mixed up with The Illusionist (Norton/Biel - also worth noting a great film in its own right) but I own both and this one is the superior presentation. Stronger actors, visuals and themes.
This is one of my top favorites to this day. I have not seen a film that has captivated me this much that after the first watch I rewatched right away to find out what was going on lol. The closest to it was The Illusionist
OMG, finally! Someone doing this movie! I've watched it so many times and always see something new and you pointed out many things I didn't see! This is my fav Nolan movie by a long shot!
My favorite Nolan movie! It gets better every time I watch it (and it IS an improvement on the book, which is very convoluted). This AND the Thing!?! Love it!
My fav theory is that Alfred actually told Angier how to do the trick, when he told him to go to Tesla. Reason being that Tesla was super secretive about his life, so he never makes public appearancesbut his "assistant" does. His "assistant" is always the one doing presentations, the one who speaks to Angier, the one with the cat in the lab (Tesla was known to have owned a cat in his life) and the first to greet Angier on Tesla's property. The man we know as Tesla is just an actor who is the public face so the real Tesla can live more freely. It explains why when the machine didnt do anything to the hat initially he didnt react, since he couldnt. He didnt know what to say. And when he wanted to experiment on the cat, his "assistant" pushed back on it, as of to say "hey chill, youre improvising". Finally, when Alfred was at the expo, he stared intently at Tesla instead of the machine like everyone else was, cause Alfred was studying his trick like with the old man. The passcode Tesla is the method and trick: Alfred was living a double life, like him. Angier just couldnt see it. Anyways, that was the theory, or at least what I remembered of it.
listen: my favorite mental exercise is to watch this movie and in real-time figure out WHICH Borden i'm watching in each scene. I will say this: Christian Bale absolutely 100% did the work to figure it out and plays the two physically identical characters noticeably differently. The Alfred Borden who loved Sarah was more polite and refined and careful, and the Borden who loved Olivia was more edgy and boorish, and more likely to push the limits of what they could get away with. If you pay attention, you can figure out WHICH Borden you're watching in every single scene, and it makes absolute perfect sense plot-wise. All credit to Nolan for doing the work to distinguish the two, and all credit to Bale for playing the two with such subtle distinction that it's challenging but absolutely obvious to tell them apart once you know the secret. What a brilliant film. Spoiler: the happy ending is honestly a happy one -- the Borden who ends up alive and reunited with their daughter is the Borden who truly loved Sarah and the family they'd made, and is no doubt the daughter's real father, for whatever that's worth.
