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[smithy161]

I just watched "The Prestige", and wow. Fantastic film. I figured a lot of it out as it went along, but it is still very, very clever. I'm most impressed by Hugh Jackman's character and his development, how he changes so drastically but pretty much invisibly, and then at the end when you realise... But that would be telling. And Christian Bale does

Comments

[phoenix64]

I thought it was an excellent movie, but it also killed the last bit of love I had left for stage magic. I probably should watch it again. Especially since I keep wanting to write a post about how much I was in love with stage magic as a kid and how that's changed as I've gotten older. I should probably also read the book, but I imagine it would have a similar effect on me as the movie did.

David Bowie in a movie makes everything at least a little bit better.

[smithy161]

What part of it killed your love for stage magic - the rivalry? The general psycho-ness of rich-guy (arguably both of them) in the end? I suppose it doesn't paint the business in a very nice light at all.

You're right Bowie was awesome. Eccentric scientist at the heart of the plot was the perfect role for him.

[phoenix64]

What killed it for me was the feeling created by the movie that for the magicians it was less about creating an atmosphere of wonder for the audience and more about simply deceiving them. It felt ugly, that sense of how the magicians felt about the audience.

(That, and the birds. The birds upset me a lot.)

_medley_ has read the book, and she mentioned that in the book there is apparently more to imply the audience's willing role in the deception, which is part of the reason I kind of want to read the book.

[smithy161]

I see what you mean. There was that line at the end, from Hugh Jackman's character, that it was 'all about the look on their faces' but other than that I barely got the impression they cared about the audience beyond fooling them - and having a bigger audience than the other guy.

The birds upset me too. I really warmed to Michael Caine's character when he invented the device that didn't kill them. I literally had to hide at the part with the machine and the cat, because I thought it was going to be zapped to bits or something.

I think I'll have to hunt down the book. I usually like to read the book first, but I didn't realise there was one.