The Pledge, the Turn and The Prestige

“The first part of a magic trick is to show your audience an object... otherwise known as the Pledge. Then you make it disappear, in magical parlance known as the Turn. But that does not interest people and they don’t clap just as yet. The trick really is to bring the object back. That is when the audience goes mad with ecstasy. This part of a magic trick is known as the Prestige.”

Well, I must admit that these are not exactly the words used by Michael Caine when the movie begins, but this I must say is how I sum up this movie when the whole show comes to an end.

At one point of my life, I was heavily into the X-Men and least to add to it, into Hugh Jackman. He was just not the Wolverine for me, he was a showman. How else could you explain the weird horn shaped hairdo and the no-start, no-end beard – and yet be called the sexiest man alive? I always remember telling people that it takes a Hugh Jackman to pull off a Wolverine. Not because he is someone every man on this planet would want to look like, but because he can pull it off. For Christ’s sake, he pulled off everything right in the X-Men Origins: Wolverine. That movie was a crap duster, but somehow, as always, he made it work.

And it was around the same time that I also came to know of this movie, called The Prestige, in which Hugh Jackman played one of the principal characters. Then came our Indian saga, Ghajini, and it was at that time that I came to know about Memento, and consequently, Christopher Nolan. I had seen Batman Begins, but heck, at that time it was all about Batman. I loved that movie, but still, I was more interested in Bruce Wayne starting off as the Batman. And then I managed to see Memento and I was completely blown away. I could never believe that someone could write a script like that and carry it off with such conviction. Truth be told, Ghajini helped.

And of course, I always had a special affection for Christian Bale and Michael Caine. He had after all played my most favourite superhero, Batman and Alfred was the kind of guide that I always wanted in my life. Someone who could always tell me “I told you so”, but yet when the time actually came to tell me that, he’d say, “Today, I don’t want to tell you that!”

And slowly, the pledge was made – everything that was needed to start off finally came into play and I managed to watch The Prestige.

Now to cut the long story short, the Turn was amazing. It was a bloody visual spectacle. And it is by no means a very simple story to show. There is just not one turn in this movie, there are many. The characters, the presenters, the whole goddamned show, it is a whole cascade of turns. And that is why I need to mention that no other director but Christopher Nolan could do justice to this movie. Because he knows how to juggle a storyline, juggle it so well that it all fits into place at the end. His non-linear story progression is a must when making a complex movie like The Prestige. And it is only through these means that the audience can realise the pledge at the end of the movie. Otherwise, it is all a waste.

And what a prestige it was! When it finally came way in the end, it just jolted you out of your senses. The magic trick that Christopher Nolan had planned was now complete. All the while, as you were wondering what happens where and which piece of the puzzle appears where, it just seems to darned simple at the end. And the whole historical acumen with which this movie was made, it was completely unbelievable.

And where would this movie be without Hugh Jackman, Christian Bale and Michael Caine. Each one of these actors were absolutely mesmerising in their efforts. And the counteracted their characters with precision – particularly in the case of Jackman and Bale. One was the showman who was just a magician, and the other was the wizard who could not present his case. One was a Lord, playing under a different name to uphold his family’s honour, the other a simple working class commoner. It was such a wonderful feeling to see such performances on celluloid, such honestly in performances, at a time when everything that we see is ‘abracadabra’. To be honest actors playing magicians is by itself a task, but to play them so truthfully and yet deceive, that is the prestige.

At any rate, I do not think that we shall ever yet see another movie like this in a long time, not even if the whole combination repeats itself. Movies like these are made once in a lifetime, and though I will eagerly away Nolan’s next movie, hopefully a Batman one, I know that he will never be able to make what he did. To say that watching this movie was a magical experience, would just be an understatement.

Abracadabra!