Honesty: the magic trick at the heart of The Prestige

• Published in: Den of Geek
• Main Author: Buckland, Guy
• Format: Magazine Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Den of Geek World Limited 26.01.2018
• Subjects: Audiences; Caine, Michael; Magic & magicians; Motion picture directors & producers; Mysteries

[...]you could argue that you only truly understand the characters, their motivations and the emotional journeys they take, when you know all the secrets the film has been hiding in plain sight. The film enjoys playing with metaphor – as does, I believe, the adapted novel by Christopher Priest (I haven’t read it, so these thoughts are based purely on the film) – and the birdcage illusion is the most prominent example, given the frequency of its appearance and the way it mirrors at least two crucial plot points. [...]of whether the ‘Borden has an identical twin’ revelation was a surprise to you at the film’s climax or not, you have to admire the audacity of the writer/director spelling out a major twist in the first act. Granted, the significance of the multiple top hats strewn in the snow in the movie’s opening seconds would be impossible to fathom upon a first viewing, but when David Bowie’s Tesla starts experimenting with that particular item midway through, dots will well and truly have been connected by those who retained this arresting image.