prestige

THE FLICK: You would think magic and magicians would be a much more common subject for Hollywood, with all its inherent showmanship and mystery. However filmmaking itself is a sort of cinematic slight of hand, whether it comes in the form of editing, acting or special effects; it creates an illusion of reality in much the same way a good performer pulls off his master trick. This “double-negative” cancels out the thrill one might have watching a master magician at his craft on the screen, since any filmmaker worth his weight could perform the same feats of skill with a push of a button. The Prestige actually proves my point, after a fashion. At one point in this story of dueling magicians who physically and mentally mutilate one another in the course of their professional competition, much is made of the use of a “double” to pull off a particular trick. For Hugh Jackman’s character, a bitter showman with a flair for the stage, this is an unacceptable compromise. He wants to perform “real” magic, of the sort he claims his rival (played by Christian Bale) is able to conjure during the course of “The Transported Man” illusion. This obsession leads both men into a spiral of madness, destroying careers, relationships and the very fabric of their lives. But it makes for one hell of a show! Director Christopher Nolan hit one out of the park with his rookie film, Momento, a jumbled up film noir that used narrative structure to stunning effect. I was less impressed with Insomnia and Batman Begins, but at least they showed a consistency in style that marked him as a filmmaker of note. The Prestige isn’t the pinnacle of his career, but it’s a great feather in his cap nonetheless. Thanks to comic-book movie icons Jackman and Bale, the movie made gobs of cash without compromising on its rather depressing plot. Because for all its technical wizardry and surprise endings, The Prestige is really a movie about the depths of the human soul...and how easy it is to lose it in the pursuit of perfection. THE FEATURES: As surprisingly successful as the film was in theaters, it’s equally surprising that we’re only getting a single-disc special edition. The five featurettes contained under the banner Director’s Notebook are like a Cliff’s Notes version of the bonus features on might expect. The background info on Telsa (played by rock icon David Bowie) is appreciated since he’s such a enigmatic figure in the film. But I suspect Buena Vista Home Video is going to perform their own feat of magic pretty soon...and pull a 2-disc set out of thin air around six months from now!