What is the significance of this film and its relationship to others?

Christopher Nolan and his brother are great storytellers, creating original and fanciful worlds in which magician’s square off, heroes grow from despair, and dreams become reality. However, while their love of cinema can be seen through the effort they place into their work, it can also be seen in the content in which they bring to the big screen. The Prestige, like other films of Nolan’s, is a brilliant essay on the magic of movies, and can be seen as another attempt for Nolan to express his opinions to the spectator on his own craft.

The Prestige, like his other films, does not ever reveal this comparison to the mainstream audience. There are no screens or cameras to parallel with the magic being done in the film. Like Inception, the film can stand on its own as a movie of depth and worthy of discussion, but it must be looked at deeper to see the real intentions. In creating a movie that follows magicians while simultaneously creating a mysterious reveal is no coincidence. Like a magician’s act, there are three parts to a film before we are completely satisfied. Let’s take a look at the opening monologue by Michael Caine that will explain this further.

First part of the film is the Pledge. We are given two characters in a realistic world. These characters we believe to be human, and living in a human world, and as far as we know are capable of thinks we as the spectator are only capable of. With the Turn, we kill off one of our main characters, which we perceive to be the protagonist. With the extraordinary comes when he is shown not dead (something we as the spectator were already aware was possible and probable) and he walks away with our (perceived) antagonist’s daughter. But, as Alfred is hung, we haven’t felt satisfied with the ending of the film. His muttering of  “abra kadabra” is our reveal, learning his side of the story, and seeing our protagonist, who has now done enough to be shifted to an antagonist spot in our brains, being killed.

Nolan is not foreign to providing his thoughts on film through film, as Inception, his most recent release, has been critiqued as a parallel to the behind the scenes workings of a film, with all the main characters being a part of film (director, producer, actor, spectator, set designer, etc.) 

Screening Notes: The Prestige

One of my favorite films. Have probably seen it half a dozen times. May zone out watching it, be warned.

I love Christian Bale's pure impressiveness when he sees the old chinese man. I mean, that's the same thing he's been going through for years now, every since he decided he wanted to do that trick, and he knows what its like to have to do so. It's great foreshadowing in the beginning.

I love that upon my first viewing, I was more of a fan of Hugh Jackman's character, but ever since the final's moments of this film I've never EVER thought of him as the protagonist ever again. I've always thought of him as the antagonist, and you know what? It's quite easy to do so, since the character is written so well that he can be perceived correctly either way depending on what you know.

You wanna talk obsessiveness? The fact that these guys write in their journals with the full knowledge that a) their journals will be stolen, and b) that they were never writing their secrets or anything of value to their rival, is astonishing.

The use of the scientist is a pretty cool edition, kinda makes it seem a little more realistic than it did, even though he wasn't doing stuff of this, magnitude. I still enjoy scenes with him, its very very visual.

See, Hugh Jackman, asshole.

The Abra Kadabra moment when he hangs himself, and telling him you'll see me, is epic. He is going to die, but he just knows that Hugh Jackman is gonna see him again and pay for it. He just happens to not be the show, he has to be the man that goes into the box this time, but permanently. It's a sacrifice his own mistakes caused him to make, but he sees it only in a way a magician could.

Great movie. Great great great movie.

Screening Notes: Melancholia

I’m pretty weirded out by this entire opening sequence. She was on the 19^th hole, so it feels INCREDIBLY unrealistic.

Ok, so the planet has hit the Earth. Those were the moments we expect to see at the end of each of the parts. I really hope not in that slow of a montage again though…

I like the father, I enjoy this entire reception in fact. I reminds me a lot of Margaret At the Wedding. Even the real awkward parts. I enjoy this kind of filming and this kind of dialogue at wedding functions.

At this point its pretty obvious that the change in filming style is in relation to how close the planet is.

I still haven’t figured out certain people’s characters. Keifer Sutherland is especially confusing me. So is the kid, and whose kid he actually is.

I can’t tell if Justine or Claire is supposed to be in mourning or melancholic. I feel like I already know, since we saw Justine acting so calm during situations. I also can’t for the life of me figure out when the horrible thing is that they are talking about.

Ok, the “whole” family is grieving. That makes more sense.

Ha, at that picture.

Alright, again, I don’t know why (and I’m starting to think that will be a trend of this movie) but they are really pushing the “18 holes” on a golf course. So the 19^th clearly means something.

This mother is the last person she should be talking to right now.

The mother SUCKS. This new tagline guy, is a pretty funny person that has to now follow her around. She is also completely unable to make any attempt of enjoying her own wedding.

Ah yes, the old sky sequence to really tie everything together…

I wonder if it was a deliberate choice to make all unnamed party guests just act like absolutely nothing is the matter, or if they have prior knowledge of her depression and are just trying to be supportive.

I think it was almost hard not to predict some sort of hook up between Mr. Tagline and the other guy.

This is a really long part one.

Couldn’t have been a longer blackout for the transition from part 1 to part 2.

And now it becomes a tad scientific. It’s strange thinking over our previous class period that we watched something with so much special effect and cgi, since we were saying that it was the death of the cinema

I got really into the last half. Some final notes. I thought it was pretty interesting that Keifer Sutherland killed himself. I also liked the antithesis between Justine’s reaction to this and Claire’s reaction, and how it was opposite to the wedding. I think I actually need to have gone through this sort of depression to really understand where it is coming from, but it seems like it is a good explanation on how life feels under Justine’s mindset.

Screening Notes

The initial blast was in complete slow motion, shown four or five times.

The actual event leading up to it however, shows the act of war, the minute to minute activity, to be completely menial and chore like, making something out of the ordinary happening completely unprep-ed. The conversation (Owen talking about being dead, James talking about mortar’s coming through the roof) continues to discuss that unprepared ness for what is going to happen.

So many roof eyes. The idea of looking “up” besides across. Always being out of position in war, since the enemy only has to be a short distance away and holding a phone.

With the car bomb.

I love the scene when they reach the British (Austrailian?) men, and again, with the spit and rubbing, its such menial tasks, but under this pressure it becomes something so much more stressful. Specialist can’t do it. James has to come down and show him, but doesn’t do it himself. It’s a scene that shows why the Specialist is so worried about dying, he’s got no natural instincts of war. I mean, I wouldn’t have known why the bullets were jammed, or that the way to clean them was to spit and rub.

And again, with scoping, even after killing the men, they watch, and they (James and Sanborn) although have been elite officials up until this point, can’t help but close their eyes, get distracted, etc, ask for juice. The whole thing is a very rigorous and specific task. To learn how to do exactly this specific thing must not be hard, but to learn and remember every single part of the job is almost impossible, and that’s how mistakes are made, which seem to be made almost everytime. James is a freak, but also happens to retain more war knowledge than social knowledge, making him better for the jobs.