Just watched this today. I liked it but there were some flaws in it.
SPOILERS BELOW
I already heard the twist ending part on hugh jackmans role, but I thought Christian Bales twist was so painfully obvious, when they never for a second would focus on his helpers face. I knew they were either twins or clones
One thing I kind of missed though was why Alfred killed Angios wife in the beginning, like he just randomly felt like being a dick?
Just watched this five times consecutively. I'm now convinced that Borden never met Tesla
Tesla is in dire financial straits, sees how gullible Angier is, and decides to con him out of some money. Tesla and his manservant manipulate Angier in a long con. They take his money and give him a meaningless light show with the Tesla coil. When Angier gets suspicious, they use a cat to lead Angier to the collection of hates in the field - all placed there by Tesla & co to trick Angier into believing that the machine duplicated them. After Tesla gets all the money he can out of Angier, he gives him the (useless) machine.
Angier realises he was conned and decides to try the same swindle on Borden. If Angier could con Borden into thinking an illusion was real magic, that proves Angier's superiority. He plots extensively, having lifelike dummies in tanks created, the "hats" of the routine, in the hopes that Borden would follow the trail as he did and draw the same conclusion.
When Borden is in gaol, Angier tries again to convince him by manufacturing a diary to support the story. Borden never buys it; he's too canny, and through the diary he sees how Angier was working the con.
When Borden's twin shoots him, Angier finally realizes the simplicity of Borden's trick. Angier considers trying to continue the con (imagining a story of him shooting a duplicate) but realizes he is dying and has lost, so he reveals (this is key) how his goal was always to make the audience believe in the magic and try and forget that it was only an illusion.
The whole movie was structured like a magic trick.
Such a great movie. My favorite Nolan.
I'm not sure about that, I mean the machine definitely worked, and we saw his trick on stage and the clone get killed in the box.
The only parts I had to question in the movie was why was the wife murdered, and which twin was the one that did it.
This is copypasta
This. Besides Insomnia and Batman Begins, this is a real good effort by Nolan. I wish he would return to these smaller, tightly structured movies over the bloated loud blockbusters he constantly makes now. Of course films like The Prestige might be below him now since he's about to make 20 million + 20% of Dunkirk's profits.
I completely agree. You've got fantastic taste, user.
How did Borden get convicted of murdering Angier? There was no other evidence other than that he was there at the time. Was their justice system really that shitty?
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>The only parts I had to question in the movie was why was the wife murdered, and which twin was the one that did it.
The one that didn't write the diary.
He had a history of sabotaging Angier's tricks, which Cutter probably testified to.
did you catch why he killed the wife though
I thought the wife killed herself.
bales wife killed her self, jackmans wife was murdered by one of the twins when he tied her knot wrong
Oh, it was on purpose?
The murder? Yeah, you could see the look on bales face and the wifes face that there was something wrong. He definitly did it on purpose I just never understood why. Its not like he couldve been jealous of Angio at that point, so i dont get why he would have done something so drastic.
Are we supposed to just accept he'd get convicted on that alone? I find it hard to believe he would be executed without them proving how he could have moved a giant water tank without anyone noticing, but I guess I can live with it
One other thing that kinda bothered me in the movie was when they introduced David Bowies character.
Like I wish they put down his name in the beginning titles to kind of prepare you for it because when I first see him, all i think is "oh shit thats david bowie" I know it kinda sounds dumb but it kind of took me out of the movie when I start thinking of the actors themselves. He played good in the role, i just kinda wish they brought it up in the beginning.
I know obviously its okay to good in some movies cause they want the "oh shit thats (insert big name celeb) moment." But i feel like in the case in this movie it kinda worked in the wrong way in that it took me out of the movie.
They outright state this in the movie.
The real irony in the end is that Angier, the showman, had found "true" magic in science, whereas Borden, the technician, had been playing the simple illusion all along.
She wanted him to tie the knot that way.
It had nothing to do with any of that at all. They talk about it pretty openly in the movie.
Angier's wife believed she could handle the knot. Borden thought the knot was more practical because it had no risk of being found out as being fraudulent. Borden didn't tie the knot to kill her, he tied it because he thought it was the right way to do it. Angier didn't think it mattered, what mattered was the show.
The story flips in the end, where it's Borden who's all about the show, and Angier with the unhealthy obsession with making the trick "real." Angier is the one who, for the sake of ensuring there's no chance of it being fake, literally kills himself every night. Borden plays the simpler trick, but plays up the show.
I think many people overthink this movie.
>Angier is the birdcage trick
>Borden is the fishbowl trick
Angier killing his duplicate for every trick is the same as the bird in the cage dying in every trick.
Borden living his entire life as a lie (a half-life), is the same as the Chinese man pretending to have a limp so he can do the fishbowl trick.
I know they had some sortve conversation about the knot after one of the acts, but you still see she looks worried and caught off guard when she sees the knot he did. So she definitely wasn't prepared for it, so I think it was pretty much a straight up murder
Daily reminder nothing that was in the journals is to be trusted, especially this trip to America that nobody but Angiers witnessed.
Daily reminder the box was a trick.
Daily reminder the entire movie was a trick, tricking the audience into believing in a magic box that can clone people. The movie made you believe in the impossible. And you wanted to be fooled.
Borden only saw one "clone" in person. And it was already established Angiers had a double- the actor. Everything else is smoke and mirrors. It's a simple trick.