Christopher Nolan has directed many great films. For FILMSTARTS editor Pascal, however, his masterpiece is not “Inception” or “Memento”, but “Prestige”. The mystery thriller will soon disappear from the Prime Video subscription.
With “Inception”, Christopher Nolan not only directed one of the most popular films of the last 20 years, he has also had to put up with being called a dazzler ever since. This is quite ironic, because the 2006 film “Prestige – The Masters of Magic”, which is only available on Amazon Prime Video until 22 September, is all about the fine art of deception.
WHO IS PLAYING WITH MARKED CARDS
Although we learn right at the beginning that the story of “Prestige” is heading for a terrible tragedy, the film remains eerily suspenseful from beginning to end. Through the non-chronological narrative, which repeatedly jumps through the time levels to challenge the viewer’s concentration, Christopher Nolan develops an obsessively detailed, complex conundrum.
“Prestige” explores the great art of illusion and the power of illusion – and thus also analyses the mechanisms of cinema. Like magicians on stage, filmmakers are also magicians – or in Christopher Nolan’s case “dazzlers” who don’t want to let anyone look into their cards. Also for the reason that their existence depends on it. The grandiose thing about “Prestige” is that it not only engages in magical overpowering, but also questions it at the same moment.
For me, Christopher Nolan has created perfect entertainment cinema with brains with “Prestige”, because he also lets the showmanship, which is the theme of the film, fall back on itself again and again. This is as clever as it is gripping, which is also evident in the big twist, which is so superbly constructed that no matter how much you pay attention to the clues, you are bound to fall into the trap yourself. A masterpiece!
THIS IS WHAT “PRESTIGE” IS ABOUT
Aspiring magicians Robert Angier (Hugh Jackman) and Alfred Borden (Christian Bale) have only one goal in life: to become famous as magicians. Angier wows audiences as a brilliant entertainer, while Borden is an innovative genius when it comes to developing new magic tricks. A perfect team, right? Far from it.
The friendly competition that the two men sometimes enjoy on stage gradually turns into a duel to the death. Angier’s wife Julia (Piper Perabo), who is an assistant on stage, is tragically killed during one of Borden’s spectacular and daring tricks. What follows is a fierce battle for fame, honour and audience favour…
