So on Sunday I watched The Prestige. Two magicians in ‘Victorian England’ start as friends then turn into rivals, both trying to out-trick each other and get revenge for previous slights between the two of them. They become obsessed with outdoing each other which ultimately destroys them and the people they love.
I watched this a few years ago and loved it. I remember we bought it on a whim because it was one of those ‘three for the price of two’ deals and it sounded interesting enough. I don’t remember there being much publicity for it at the time and there was another magician-themed film out around the same time that did a lot of publicity so The Prestige seemed to be overlooked. I think that’s a bit of a tragedy because this film was really well done. I have tried to get Ben to watch this for a while (he read the synopsis on wikipedia when I first told him about it, so he knew the twist and subsequently didn’t care any more) but he really didn’t care for it. He watched a bit before going back to his computer because it was boring. I on the other hand was really excited to watch it again because it had been a few years since I watched it last and remembered enjoying it a lot.That being said, the movie doesn’t really work well with multiple viewings.
Once you know the big twist at the end it is interesting to go back and see the clues throughout the film, but it also makes it a bit boring. There’s not really any mystery to keep you watching. Add to that a few dodgy accents (David Bowie, I’m looking at you) and I didn’t really connect with it like I used to. It’s interesting because I still feel like it was quite a well made film that dealt with obsession and the lengths that people go to fulfil that obsession. The actors were very good and I did appreciate the complexity of the roles. The story was interesting in that all the threads were tied up neatly and in a way that still kept you wondering how it all worked. The film had the three acts of a magic trick that were mentioned in the film: the pledge, the switch, and the prestige. It was entertaining; I just didn’t seem to care any more once I knew the end.
I guess that ties in with what was said throughout the film. Once people know how the trick has been done they don’t care about the trick any more. Magicians should never tell their secrets to people because it ruins the magic. So I guess in that respect the film had another layer to it and made it that bit more complex. But I don’t know if that was intentional; it probably wasn’t. I’m pretty sure most film makers don’t make a film just to be watched once.
The other suggestions were Batman Begins and The Dark Knight (we’ve both seen these and didn’t feel like watching them), Inception (seen it, have it but couldn’t access it because itunes is dumb) and Memento (Ben has seen, I haven’t, would have had to acquire it). I feel like maybe I should have watched Memento instead this week. Reading the description it sounds interesting but I was just super lazy this week. This whole Movie Book Challenge I decided to do has started getting a bit tiring. I’m going to keep it up because I still like doing this, but sometimes I am just sick of watching movies and want a week off, or want to watch silly trashy films instead. Next week is about ‘Interracial Clashes’, so we’ll see how I go with that one.