The Prestige

Just got back from watching The Prestige today with Andy, Jo Vie, and Vick Kee, after our classes ended. Apart from a bad case of diarrhoea in which I don’t like to elaborate but suspect that the butter in the polo bun of Old Town Kopitiam SS15 for breakfast to be the culprit, it was a very uplifting movie that succeeds in lifting my mood alright, simply because it’s one of the best movies I’ve seen this year, not the best due to V for Vendetta which I cannot decide which I liked better.

The entire plot, which I will not reveal in this entry due to its sublimity and utter creativity, is very engaging. We need directors, script writers, and inspired novelists to keep churning out quality work such as this, because it makes you think, it makes you wonder, it makes your brain work.

And I think the hardest thing to do is to actually incorporate all the elements of what makes a good movie: transition of scenes, acting, etc, to tie in with an incredibly great plot, which this movie did very successfully. I’ve noticed how excellent movies such as The Prestige and V for Vendetta seem to be based in London.

Set against the backdrop of the late 19th century in London, The Prestige tells the tale of a friendship between two budding magicians that turned into rivalry, that turned into revenge and a battle. I was misleaded from the trailer that made me expect to see real magic to happen (hint enough for the plot? :)) but nevertheless it was executed very well.

Why the name The Prestige you wonder? This is because a magician’s tricks consist of three acts (as paraphrased/quoted from the movie and trailer):

The first act is called “The Pledge”; the magician shows you something ordinary, but of course… it probably isn’t. The second act is called “The Turn”; the magician makes his ordinary something do something extraordinary. Now if you’re looking for the secret… you won’t find it, that’s why there’s a third act called, “The Prestige”; this is the part where you bring something back.

I liked as well how there are historical tie-ins, if you know a little history well enough. I loved the entire movie to bits, its plot twists, its everything.

And, a clich? this is, but The Prestige is a definite must-watch.