The Prestige is a outstanding thriller, that deals with obsession and sense of one's purpose. The dynamic of Angier and Borden is the heart of the movie, with a belivable rivalry builded from beginning to end.
There is a critiscism of this story, that the sci fi elements are out of place or too fantasious for the plot. But here is where The Prestige shines, the movie is an alegory of filmmaking itself, for exemple the 3 steps of a magic trick (the pledge, the turn and the prestige) are parelles of the 3 acts of a movie or the one who creates the trick don't get the applause of the crowd, he stays out of the stage, exacly as a director of a movie. This constant alegory and paralles between cinema and magic creates an metaphor that the movie itself is a magic trick. So with that in mind you have to figure out what is the "secret" of the movies, the unearthly element, "the turn", the something that elevates the ordinary rivalry between two magician into a unbelivable event and that is the Tesla machine, the sci fi element of the movie. Also there is clues for the dubious nature for the machine as it's never really seen the double outside of Angier perspective, it's an onimous feeling that the machine it's not something to belived in.
Damn, I love this Movie.
Review of The Prestige
