Chris Nolan Creates New Magic Trick in The Prestige

 A good magic trick can be a very good movie. Christopher and Jonathan Nolan (Batman Begins, Memento) once again contrive a dark and twisted tale of heartbreak and revenge in their new film "The Prestige". This film focuses on one magic trick which is organized into three parts which also resembles the structure of a film. The Nolan brothers become magicians in through their creativity behind The Prestige. 

"The first act is called the pledge. The magician shows you something ordinary, but of course, it probably isn't" describes Cutter,Michael Caine (Batman Begins, Secondhand Lions). The Nolans do the same in the script. The first act of the film is designed to introduce you to the characters and set up the story. In this act we are introduced to Rupert Angier, Hugh Jackman (X-men: The Last Stand, Kate and Leopold) and Alfred Borden, Christian Bale (Batman Begins, The New World), two ordinary and aspiring magicians. 

However when Angier's wife, Julia, Piper Perabo (Cheaper by the Dozen 2, Coyote Ugly), is killed because of Borden's actions, the friendship becomes a rivalry between these two aspiring magicians, thus ushering in the second act; "The Turn". "The magician makes this ordinary something do something extraordinary". The Nolans do the same in the second act of the film in which Angier and Borden sabotage each other's magic shows and at the same time try to outdo one another in their tricks. Then comes the third act or "The Prestige" in which the Nolans do what they did in Memento and write a great, twisted, and though provoking ending. 

The Prestige continues director Christopher Nolan's style. It is a long yet very character driven plot. The narrative sequence of the film is shattered again as he did most notably in Memento (2000) in which the story was told backwards to front but at the same time certain parts were moving forward while the rest of the narrative was moving backwards. The narrative follows each of the two magicians reading each other's diaries and it is confusing the first part of the film however it becomes more clear and easier to follow as the film progresses.