The first words in the narration instruct you to look closely as the composition finds a pile of top hats of identical make. But this, for me, was an unheralded instruction. As Michael Caine so clearly establishes in his simple explanation of virtually every single magic trick in the film, the “magic” is really façile—you’re not really looking for the secret; you want to be fooled.
And fooled I was, so unexpectedly so that I watched this again immediately (which I do rarely). The gimmick here is less ephemeral than it is in Memento, but one of the pleasures of viewing The Prestige in a mini-marathon* is admiring the nuances of the performances, how Hugh Jackman coyly downs a pint with a pair of eyes that don’t seem capable of focusing in the same direction, or Christian Bale’s disinterest in showmanship, how he barely engages his audience and then performs with immaculate poise. Effectively, once its magic is ruined, the film remains unspoiled.
Tom’s thoughts | Jit’s thoughts
(*And if any of you weigh as quantitatively as I do Mike D’Angelo’s film ratings, I point you to this.)
by Rumsey Taylor | Source: DVD
06 Mar 2007 1:55 PM | Comments (2)
Yeah, I looked at your man’s list of statistics. I make it a point never to trust anyone who watches that many movies. And besides, he thought that the best American film of last year, Twelve and Holding, was a worse film than both Cars and The Black Dahlia, so I feel pretty comfortable ignoring the guy.
As for the The Prestige… smoke and mirrors, and not in a good way.
I make it a point not to trust anyone who watches that many movies and makes sure you know they have watched that many movies by constantly reminding you of that fact. After reading his criticism for awhile now, I have to say D’Angelo is fairly unpretentious and rather reasonable most of the time. Besides, I’m sure most (but certainly not all) professional critics have similar viewing habits, since they are paid for their opinions regarding movies. Too bad his scoring system is insanely nerdy.
tom
9 March 2007
4:44 AM
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