THE PRESTIGE

Alex, Dillan, Jonathan,Brandon, Josh

ARE YOU WATCHING CLOSELY?

Industrial RevolutionTesla vs. Edison (Peaks of career)

Where the people want to be amazed through magic (science).

Angier, rich American background.Borden, poor and from the streets.

Different views on magic.

BACKGROUND

Borden and Angier are assistants for a magician. They are used as the audience to be volunteers. The first show, the Fallon messes up on the knot and they argue that the Langston double knot is better than the

slip knot. Cutter is the igenieurBorden and Angier go to watch the Chinese Magician.

On the second show, Borden uses the Langston double and Julia, the assistant is unable to get out of it, causing Julia to drown to death.At the funeral, Angier asks Borden which knot he uses and Fallon

replies that he doesn’t know.Borden then goes to work by himself and is called ‘The Professor’ with Fallon as his engineer. He meets Sarah and they fall in love and marry. At the same time, Angier starts his magician career with Cutter as his ingenuieur. He calls himself the Great Danton, the name Julia made up

for him.

STORY CHRONOLOGICAL

Angier sabotages Borden’s bullet catch trick and ends up shooting off Borden’s left ring and pinky fingers.

Borden in turn sabotages Angier’s disappearing bird act and ends up hurting an audience member.

Angier spies on Borden and sees the new trick, ‘The Transported Man’. With a stunt double, Angier manages to duplicate it and calls it the

New Transported Man.However, Angier still sends Olivia, his assistant, to Borden to spy on

him and learn Borden’s secret. Olivia falls in love with Borden but gives Borden’s journal to Angier by

Borden’s request. The journal is encrypted so Angier kidnaps Fallon in order to get the

key word to decipher it.

STORY

The key word is TESLA. Borden uses that word in order to send Angier into a wild goose chase because the scientist Tesla has nothing to do with

Borden’s trick. Angier goes to Colorado Springs to talk with Tesla. He funds Tesla’s work

while reading the journal. Soon, Tesla builds a cloning machine. He tries it out for the first time and ends up killing the first clone because

it actually worked.During Angier’s journey to Colorado, Borden has trouble at home and

Sarah ends up hanging herself because she knows that Borden is not the same person everyday.

When Angier comes back with the ‘Real Transported Man’. He only does 100 shows.

Borden is unable to figure out the engineering of the trick and gets frustrated. Borden then goes backstage one day, and finds Angier drowning

inside the Chinese Water Torture Tank. He tries to get him out but fails.

STORY

Borden goes to trial for Angier’s murder. He then goes to jail. Lord Caldlow’s assistant visits Borden in jail and gives Borden Angier’s journal. He offers Jess’ future in return for

Borden’s tricks.The next visit, he sees Lord Caldlow and realizes that

Angier is still alive under Caldlow’s name. He then visits Fallon and tells him to live on for the both of them.

After Borden’s execution, Angier takes the cloning machine to the cellar and Cutter finds out that Caldlow is Angier.Borden then meets Angier in the cellar and kills him and

burns down the whole place. Borden then goes back to meet up with Jess an Cutter.

STORY

STRUCTURE

Pledge Turn Prestige

The whole movie was broken up into three different sections. The movie itself is a giant magic trick. We don’t want to believe that the magic trick is real, because we’re not really looking.

INNOCENT TILL PROVEN GUILTY?

Reliability. Can we believe what they say in the journal?Who’s the protagonist? Who’s the antagonist?

1 hour 45 minutes audience is shown that Borden is innocent of the murder.

CHANGE OF KNOWLEDGE

The movie is never told in an objective point of view. Each and every detail we learn is through the eye of a character in the film. Eventually we

know some details about Borden that Angier does not know and also some details about

Angier that Borden does not know.Narration from either Borden or Angier gives details away slowly to the viewer, never until

the end when we are in present day do we learn much detail at one given time.

NARRATION/ POINT OF VIEW

WHO CAN WE TRUST?

Can we trust either diary? In the TURN of the movie (the second part of 3 parts) we learn that both journals were meant to be delivered. Borden tricks Angier into thinking the journal was stolen, and Angier (who is dead in Borden’s mind) explains how his plan is proving successful in the murder of Borden.

Fallon motivation-Olivia Borden motivation- Love for magic, the sacrifice for a good

trickAngier motivation-Revenge turns into obsession

MOTIVATION

Because the film was a replication of the Victorian Era, almost every single shot in

the film is shot from an eye level of a character

The journals also play a key role in motivation. The directors limit our

knowledge through “restricted narration”

The line “are you watching closely” generally signified the coming of an

important event.

MOTIVATION

“The secret impresses no one, the trick you use it for is everything.”

“I don’t care about my wife, I care about his secret.”

“Sacrifice is the price of a good trick.”“Obsession is a young mans game”

“No one cares about the man in the box, they care about the one who comes out on the

other side.”

QUOTES

“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.”“You went halfway around the world. You spent a fortune. You did terrible things. Really terrible things Robert. And

all for nothing.” “You never understood, why we did this. The audience

knows the truth: the world is simple. It's miserable, solid all the way through. But if you could fool them, even for a

second, then you can make them wonder, and then you... then you got to see something really special... you really don't know?... it was... it was the look on their faces…”

QUOTES

Olivia: “You married her. You had a child with her.”Borden: Yes. Part of me did. But the other part... the other part didn't. The part that found you, the part that's sitting

here right now.“The truly extraordinary is not permitted in science and

industry. Perhaps you'll find more luck in your field, where people are happy to be mystified.”

“They're magicians, your honor. Men who live by dressing up plain and simple truths to shock, to amaze.”

QUOTES

Our group found it a bit much to add the entire script to the PowerPoint. Almost every line in this movie has a greater

and deeper meaning. So you want to hear more quotes you can watch the movie again.

But our favorite quote would have to be

“where's the bloody key, where's the bloody key”(amazing accent right there)

QUOTES

Black hatRubber BallTricks twice

“Are you watching closely?”Birds in cage

Man’s reach exceeds his grasp

MOTIFS

Chinese Man- BordenRubber Ball- Borden

Bird in the cage- Angier Tesla vs. Edison- Borden vs. Angier

Black Top Hat-AngierJulia and Sarah (both die)

The whole movie symbolizes the trick. (Pledge, turn, prestige)

SYMBOLS

AngierBordenFallonCutterTeslaOliviaSarah

Many many more…

CHARACTERS

In the beginning in the movie, he was innocent. At the end, he was able to take a

finger from his rival, taking Borden’s daughter, and killing himself every time he

had a show. He slowly kills himself. This shows SIGNIFICANTLY how obsession can

change a man and also the power of rivalry.

ANGIER’S CHANGE

Tesla was an important character even though it may have seemed like he wasn’t. His dialogue in the film DIRECTLY

states the theme.“Exact science, Mr Angier, is not an exact science.”

“The truly extraordinary is not permitted in science and industry. Perhaps you'll find more luck in your field, where

people are happy to be mystified.“Men’s reach exceeds his grasp is a lie, Men's grasp

exceeds his nerve”“Go home Mr. Angier I can recognize obsession when I see

it”“Society tolerates only one change at a time.”

Tesla’s rivalry with Edison is a parallel to Angier’s rivalry with Borden

TESLA

Borden and fallon, grow up in a poor environment. Their love for magic opposes Angier's view on magic. The two share half a life

each.Borden is initially portrayed as the Antagonist but

WERE YOU WATCHING CLOSELY? :OThroughout the movie we will be given hints and signs that

borden is actually two people, this is how he performs the original transported man.

(1:27:40) They both realize the need for sacrifice to produce a good trick

and they both truly “live the act”This is the main reason Borden is able to understand how the old

chinese man is able to do the fish bowl trick.

BORDEN/FALLON

How do we know which one is Borden, and which one is Fallon?

Is Borden is prison? Or is Fallon in prison?

WHO IS WHO?

If you were “watching closely,” you would have realized who was in jail at 1 hour 53 mins.”

Borden vs. Angier; Edison vs. TeslaBoth wives die

Journals (Cypher) Trick each other for Journal

Each and every trick shown was shown at least twice, once by Borden and Once by Angier.

The second time each trick was performed, it was always sabotaged by the other. (Men can only

accept one idea at a time)

PARALLELISM

When Angier dies in the water tank.The full scene backstage of the Angier

water tank.When Julia dies from the water tank.

The prestige of the movie.The revealing of Caldlow.Diaries (Borden) (Angier)

KEY MOMENTS

Angier realizes that he was supposed to get the diary.

Borden realizes he was supposed to get the diary.

Who’s diary can we trust? Can we trust either?

Finally the reveling of Borden’s magic trick, how he does it in the end. He explains the process in

full.

MORE KEY MOMENTS

What is the significance of the final scene?

The whole message comes together. Borden explains his trick and how he used a double, his twin brother.

Angier states that cutter knew all along but he though it was too simple. What does that tell us?

That we are being explained that we are being told a magic trick, but we don’t really want to believe it. Angier was looking for something more, something

unnatural.

FINAL KEY MOMENT

Obsession is a young man’s game.No one cares about the man in the box, they only

care about the one that comes out. Its about Living the act.

The secret impresses no one, the trick you use it for is everything.

RevengeDeceit

SacrificeLifelessness

JealousyRivalry

THEME

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QUESTIONS?