“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 work it out. You want to be fooled.” This line from The Prestige is the perfect invitation to Christopher Nolan’s film about illusion, obsession, and sacrifice. On the surface level, the film is about rival magicians – Angier (Hugh Jackman) and Borden (Christian Bale) in 19th-century London, but beneath the tricks and sparks lies the examination of the cost of human ambition and deadly obsession. Nolan structures the story itself like the magic trick explained at the start of the movie – the pledge, the turn, and finally the prestige. When the credits roll, we realize that the greatest illusion isn’t magic performed in the movie but the lies and deceptions born from the relentless pursuit of greatness.
The film opens with Micheal Caine’s character, Cutter, explaining the three parts of a magic trick. This structure mimics the film itself: the pledge introduces us to Angier and Borden; then, the turn is the complications of their rivalry with betrayal, sacrifice, and the dangers of new technology; and finally, the prestige delivers the shocking reveal of the extent each man is willing to go. Nolan pulls the audience themselves into his trick of his own, making us feel like a part of the magic trick that is this movie.
Cinematographer, Wall Pfister, expertly matches the actions of the characters through the camera. There is a sense of suspicion and secrecy throughout the scene in London as it is shot in shadows, fog and muted colors. Many scenes of drama and friction unfold backstage, in dimly lit theaters, where it occurs not under spotlight but hidden from the people. The non-linear telling of the story, jumping between diary entries and timelines, forces the audience to piece together the puzzling nature of the magicians, the same way Angier and Borden try to decode each other’s tricks. Nolan makes us frustrated with the deception but enlightened by the reveal at the end.
At the heart of The Prestige is sacrifice. Borden’s greatest trick, “The Transported Man”, is so compelling because it requires a dedication so great and so devastating for most men to endure. He shares his life with his twin brother, living a half life to pull off the greatest trick ever. The cost of the trick is apparent as it leads to the death of his wife Sarah. Her despair and death reveals how obsession not only consumes the magician, but also the people around him. Borden’s ultimate act comes at the expense of love, honesty and family.
Angier, on the other hand, represents obsession without limits. Wrecked by the death of his wife during a performance because of Borden, he channels his grief to outdo him in every aspect. It leads him to Nikola Tesla, who creates a machine that changes reality itself. Angier’s use of the machine creates a chilling motif: each night, he doesn’t know whether he will be the man transported or the duplicate left to drown under the stage. It becomes a haunting image of ambition’s dark side of an endless cycle of self-destruction for the temporary reward of applause.
Ultimately, The Prestige asks us what we are willing to give up for glory. Both Angier and Borden achieve their acts, but at the cost of their humanity and the people closest to them. The audience applauds, but behind the velvet curtain lies a path of broken relationships, betrayal, and death. The film becomes a metaphor for obsession. That is the brilliance of The Prestige as it isn’t about magic at all but the human cost of wanting to be extraordinary and glorified.
