The Prestige

Monday, August 13th, 2007
4 Comments

Don’t ask me why but yesterday I washed all the less used pots, pans, storage containers, utensils and other kitchen stuff. I didn’t intend to but cleaning one pot I needed spiraled into a serious cleaning thing. After that I just wanted to relax and so I stuck on a DVD. I picked up The Prestige recently and finally got round to putting it on.

I’d read mixed reviews and I was pleased it wasn’t as bad as a few of them suggested. I enjoyed it and I hope the few comments I have won’t put you off seeing it if you haven’t. For me it spent a lot of time trying to do flashy things with one hand so as to distract from what the other hand was doing. Clever story telling. None linear elements. Various devices. Carefully chosen cameos and character actors.

The biggest distraction tried was double bluffing the audience by deliberately showing them what appears to be the plot building to a climatic plot twist so as to reveal another one isn’t a bad idea. However as with all double bluffs it is risky because once it is spotted it just points to what it is trying to conceal.

Maybe the films most successful bluff is that for all the period touches it is in fact a science fiction film. The premise, which I won’t give away, has been around for at least forty years , if not longer. The clever thing was taking it and putting it in a film that would be seen by people who wouldn’t watch a science fiction film. However, it seems that in order to be certain that they got the point across, the film makers felt that the careful build up to the end wasn’t enough. They did the prestige of their story but then felt obliged to hammer it home for anyone who didn’t get the horrific of the implication. Personally it would have been more effective if they’d just cut before going to the films final close up – the hint was far more horrific than what was revealed.

A good film but I’d avoid spoilers before seeing it.

Leave a Comment

4 Responses to The Prestige

Mark Tuesday, August 14th, 2007

Tina :-)

Maybe it was just me but from a male point of view and for a film with women wearing less than the traditional victorian costume drama I thought there costumes were remarkably unsexy.

They did pull off creepy though.

Tina K Tuesday, August 14th, 2007

I consider it a "Christian Bale" movie. *Sigh*

Seriously, I thought it was great and creepy.

Mark Monday, August 13th, 2007

I wasn't even certain what genre it was... Costume Drama, Horror, Melodrama, Science Fiction, Thriller or all of the above.

katherine. Monday, August 13th, 2007

not a big horror movie fan...but totally agree with you how once you spot the bluff...its all over...smile

impworks © Copyright Mark Caldwell 1996 - 2024