The Prestige
by Christopher Nolan
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Christian Bale, Hugh Jackman, Michael Caine, Piper Perabo, Scarlett JohanssonDirector: Christopher Nolan
Brand: Buena Vista Home Video
Producer: Christopher Nolan
Writer: Christopher Nolan
Producer: Aaron Ryder
Producer: Charles J.D. Schlissel
Producer: Christopher Ball
Writer: Christopher Priest
Writer: Jonathan Nolan
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 5.1; English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1; French (Dubbed), Dolby Digital 2.0; Spanish (Dubbed), Dolby Digital 2.0; Spanish (Published), Dolby Digital 2.0
Format: AC-3, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 2.35:1
Running Time: 130 minutes
Published: 2007-02-01
DVD Release Date: 2007-02-20
Audience Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: Buena Vista Home Entertainment / Touchstone
Movie Reviews of The Prestige
Movie Review: The Masterpiece set in Steampunk ...
Summary: 5 Stars
What can be said so early in the game about one of the greatest films ever made? Are you watching carefully? Did you miss something? Yes ... you heard right.
The Prestige is not the greatest film ever made, but it does belong in that special group of films that breaks the mold, sets a framework to be emulated and creates something within the film that is greater than the film itself. More questions than answers are put to the viewer as the movie progresses and the film has qualities that stay with the viewer long after the film has ended, creating debate. As simple as an order as this may seem to fill, it is not simple by a long shot, as even subjectively, a lot of film, both modern and classic, can be completely forgettable.
Often, during the initial release of a film, it can be grossly overlooked and treated so unfairly that the rancor and the bitterness that precedes it can often overshadow the film for some time, often decades or longer. This has been evinced numerous times in the last 75 years of filmmaking, and more so when a film is made that has all the qualities of a workman-like production. Casablanca was a film that was one of many projects that the director Michael Curtiz was working on at the time and one of a total of one hundred and seventy two productions during his career. It has been often stated that when the film was made, no one thought much about the gravitas, or the film as being special or even close to becoming the classic that it now is.
The Prestige was met on a lot of fronts during its release to a sharp rebuke and then a continuous and growing wave of criticism. It didn't help that The Illusionist was also released during the same period, thus giving the viewer a large dosing of Victorian era magic and prestidigitation. Woody Allen's Scoop also made its presence known but was probably the most forgettable Allen film to date. One wonders if these things are a matter of coincidence or strong wrangling of studio one-upmanship. The kind of rivalry that is all too spelled out in the film and leads each party down a dark road. It makes a viewer wonder how much money was lost by trying to overwhelm an audience rather than growing an interest and feeding an audience slowly, much in the way of J. K. Rowling. Who as we know, hasn't done very well with her book to screen adaptations and the revenue that's been collected.
The Masterpiece set in Steampunk ...
Steampunk is a subversive and somewhat underused term that describes a genre of film, writing, sometimes music and art. Steampunk is usually defined as:
works set in an era or world where steam power is still widely used--usually the 19th century, and often set in Victorian era England--but with prominent elements of either science fiction or fantasy, such as fictional technological inventions like those found in the works of H. G. Wells and Jules Verne, or real technological developments like the computer occurring at an earlier date.
In general, the category includes any recent science fiction that takes place in a recognizable historical period (sometimes an alternate-history version of an actual historical period) where the Industrial Revolution has already begun but electricity is not yet widespread, with an emphasis on steam, or spring-propelled gadgets. It can also be defined as Psuedo-Victorian, neo-Victorian, retro-futurism and multiple other variances.
The first usage of the word was in 1987 by K.W. Jeter while discussing his ideas about `Victorian fantasies' during an exchange with Locus magazine for his 1979 novel Morlock Night and the debate over who was the first author to step into the genre. That discussion aside, Steampunk references can easily be found in earlier works such as The Wild Wild West Television series and a few select novels. Although alternate history and merging timeline tales regarding Sherlock Holmes have been around for the last forty years. K.W. Jeter though is graced with the honor of having coined the phrase and establishing the genre past something vague and indescribably uncanny.
During the late 1990's and well into the next century, film makers began to fully realize the genre and embrace it with both hands. Twenty five films or more can be found in between Mary Shelley's Frankenstein and The Prestige.
Steampunk on film is usually represented with mechanistic devices that appear new to the eye and in perfect working order and placed in a setting that does not seem out-of place or intentionally out-of place. The meat of the sub-genre is that the reader and the viewer both have to believe that the Steampunk elements are perfectly sewn into the fabric of the world being presented. In the film Van Helsing, Steampunk artifacts run headlong into the decrepit world of Gothic Europe where mechanistic objects take an incredibly rugged and utilized look. The Back to The Future series raised the bar on presenting Steampunk in both a used and new environment, especially the third film which is set in the Old American West. The storyline of Back To The Future however, allowed the deviance into a decrepit depiction of the objects as the DeLorean time machine, the flux capacitor and the repetitive models and other home-made devices had already been established. The items that get presented for the first time, like the brass scope on Doc Brown's large-bore rifle, are shown as new. This is a minor distinction for the viewer and may seem tedious to read, but it is an important point and widely argued by the artists and craftspeople that spend their time making said objects. The difference between new and used is as important for effect as moonlight and sunlight. The two are distinct and both have their own place. Overlooking this fact is often done in cinema, does currently go unnoticed by many, but noted by those watching for it. Recent Steampunk attempts include The Golden Compass, which failed miserably at the box-office despite much fan-fare and J.K. Rowlings' film adaptation of The Order of The Phoenix, which continually delves deeper into the genre as each film progresses.
The Prestige shows a world where the exterior is run-down and over-advertised. Flyers, advertisements and printed paper abounds in almost every corner of the film in the outside world, painting a bleak and burgeoning depiction of the Industrial Revolution that was all around them at the time. In some instances, the idea of Steampunk is necessary to cast a more progressive light on a bleak situation, thus upping the dramatic ante.
Typically, period film is often devoid of such intense detail as it comes across as distracting and cluttered. Also, from a film-maker's perspective, often the only thing that is important is where the camera will land and be focused. Unfortunately, too many directors lead set-dressers and prop-masters to believe that extra-ordinary detail is unnecessary. But time, and the workings of the last decade has changed these ideas much.
Thus the Industrial Revolution will undoubtedly be one of the most visual influences upon film that ever was. Future filmmaker's will most likely depend upon it heavily as the information age wanes and something newer emerges. Drawing from established mythology is a habitual practice of the workman like mentality of both apprentice and master craftsmen in all trades.
On some level, The Prestige, for all intent and purpose, does fit the criteria of the later defined sub-genre of Gas-light romance, which is specific in centering on already established figures in history. The inclusion of Nikola Tesla in the film would meet the requirement for such a re-labeling, but the point would be lost as Gas-light romance is newly defined and the protagonists are amalgams of people that once lived and made their fortunes like the fictional Robert Angier and Alfred Borden.
Undoubtedly, as all new ages emerge, they are often met with both wonder and fear as it is the unknown that approaches and the unknown being man's greatest fear.
A strange, but not-so singular case against Roger Ebert ...
The reason for the cold reception of The Prestige can not just be put squarely at the feet of one man, but can be utilized to show a pattern of behavior. Some may read this a think that I'm being unnecessarily harsh on Roger Ebert, but let me explain. While Roger Ebert has enjoyed a very distinguished career in the public eye as a film critic and probably the only critic within the culture that has risen to such a height doing so, thus far, he has an uncanny ability to see past some of the greatest films released on his watch. Dismissing a film so outwardly, barely even mentioning the film within the review, as if the attempt was a complete disappointment and a waste of effort, speaks volumes of the type of disdain Roger Ebert has for the work of a certain type of film ... namely, masterpieces. The reason why this chapter deals squarely with Roger Ebert, is in part that it is wise to deal with the detractors honestly.
In 1984, Roger Ebert gave the same type of treatment to a certain Science-Fiction classic that ended up proving to be seen as the most perfect Science-Fiction film ever made and also one of the best films of all time. Blade Runner was panned by Ebert and he ripped viciously into Ridley Scott being the vanguard for a wave of negativity to quickly follow. Roger Ebert slammed Ridley Scott and the film during the first theatrical release by stating that `Scott cared more about the lush environment of the film than he did of the story', which as we all know - and even Ebert now, in hindsight, has stated that he was unkind and grossly unfair to both Scott and the film. The same exact thing repeats itself with Christopher Nolan and his film The Prestige, where he barley makes a single mention of the film, except in passing but gushes profusely and lovingly at its lesser counterpart The Illusionist and dotes upon the graven image of Edward Norton and his `Van Dyke' beard. While the community at large, often prides itself on promoting themselves as individual thinkers, if Ebert had not been so flippant toward The Prestige, it is easy, and simple, to surmise that the others would have followed suit as is often the case with mainstream reviewing. Ebert's own site has all three versions of his reviews on Blade Runner, which are interesting to read in context to the passage of time.
In Ebert's Review of The Prestige, he talks long and hotly about Harry Houdini and his love of magic. The review of the film just seems like the vehicle in which he makes his rant, thus trying to land a fatal blow upon the neck of Christopher Nolan.
Some readers may now lay this down as they cannot bear the humanizing of their movie-reviewing idol, but the real message of this essay would've quickly been lost upon them. Roger Ebert is not the message here, just a final footnote.
Summary of The Prestige
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