One of the greatest movie experiences I've ever had in a theater. The audience was rapt from the start, silent throughout. When Angier said "I don't care about my wife" everybody GASPED. Silence, silence silence until the hand with the missing fingers slowly lowers into the frame at the end (under the stage). Screams and omg's were coming out of people, a post-brunch Manhattan crowd. Film ends, credits roll-nobody moves. Lady in front of me looks to her friend and says, obviously shell shocked, "What just happened"?" Masterpiece.

Remember that Borden is two men--and they both have different personalities. There is the good Borden (Albert) and the bad Borden (Frederick). It was Albert who had the wife and the daughter. Frederick is the one who liked Olivia. It was Albert that survived at the end, and that Cutter helped. And it was Albert who wanted to leave Angier alone--but Frederick didn't listen. It was also Albert who went to the funeral and gave his condolences to Angier, but he honestly didn't know the knot that Frederick used. If you watch the movie carefully, you can tell, for most scenes, which Borden it is.

Both Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale said in interviews that Ricky Jay never gave them any secrets about magic, but rather showed them little bits here and there but never explained how these tricks were done. True masters keep their secrets!

Bale would never have been in something simple...

I almost skipped this because of its length. I'm very glad I didn't.

39:44 The notebook was not handed over to get his brother back. The KEYWORD was. The notebook was handed over thru Olivia.

I love this more and more every time I watch this. By far the most well edited film of Nolan's career

For me personally, the most interesting thing about this movie is that Alfred (the one whom loves Sarah), is just another victim of his brother's and Angier's feud. Freddy (the one whom oves Olivia) is the one who tied the knot that killed Angier's wife, the one who ruined Angier's return as a magician by sabotaging his bird trick, he is the one whom destroyed his brother's marriage by having an affair with Olivia and being a terrible husband, and ultimatly, he was the one who went to Angier's final show to learn how his illusion worked. Alfred suffer the most for his brother's mistakes and arrogance, and Angier didn't even know he was hurting Alfred, cause he was aiming at Freddy all the times he schemed against both of them.

Your analysis : Masterpiece.

Anyone else SHOOK by the fact that this video has a clip of footage from THOMAS FREAKING EDISON in 1900????

I now understand the statement of "criminally underrated"

Phenomenal analysis. Your closing is what made me fall in love with this movie. I want to be surprised again, that natural reaction to being fooled is a huge adrenaline rush.

I saw The Prestige when it first came out and only halfway understood it, possibly because I was 16 at the time and had less attention span for movies. Then, 9 years later, I saw it again after my first year as a graduate film student and became obsessed with it. This film is truly Nolan's masterpiece since his others, though brilliant and unique, have a slight feel of commercialism to them (besides Following). I am always interested in new interpretations of it, and this one breaks it down so well that it feels as if watching the movie without watching it. My favorite part was the Den and Ned breakdown, which I learned a lot from. Keep up the good work; this analysis was both informative and exciting to watch.

I never noticed the parallel between the multitude of caged birds vs. the next shot showing the multitude of caged hugh jackman ..So excellent 👌🏻🔥

Damn. The Prestige is one of my all time favorite films. But I never put together the points you made about it being a commentary on film making. Fantastic analysis. Bravo!

Only 492 likes?!? This analysis is brilliant! Thank you for the amazing explanation and in-depth break-down.

F A N T A S T I C! The best analysis of this movie I have seen. 💕 Love the movie, didn’t know it was Nolan’s. After watching Interstellar 4 times and calling it “my favorite movie” I can honestly say this one is by far “my new favorite”.

I keep looking for inconsistencies and plot holes... and left empty handed. The film is immaculate and impervious to scrutiny. It's replay value doesn't diminish, and performances are of the highest caliber. A masterpiece.

I could watch this movie over and over again and still never get tired of how amazing it is :)

One of the best analysis videos I’ve ever seen. Great work!

My third time watching this. Incredible. The Prestige is one of my favorite films of all time. Amazing work guys. These Analysis and Explanation videos are sublime. Seriously you need to keep doing them! I know you analysed The Dark Knight but I'd love to see you analyse Batman Begins.

This is the analysis I was looking for, yet more than I could've ever expected. After re-watching the prestige, you've gifted us with another masterful piece layered with insight and clarity. I had to skip the part on Den&Ned to save another mystery for my 3rd watching of the film. But will definitely be back to re-watch all 2hrs of your review because there are lines that need a second round of appreciation. If this was made 3 years ago, I can't even imagine the quality of the work you are producing now mate, fantastic work thank you

One of my favorite movies for many reasons. Your explaination is brilliant and full of the richness this film deserves. Thank you.

I saw this 1st time around somehow and ended up watching it again and enjoying even more! Miss these deep dives. Keep them coming!

8:55 He murders the first duplicate yes, but once he performs the actually trick in public....he kills himself. The duplicate is the one that gets teleported a few feet away. The first Angier to drown in the tank was the real Angier. Therefore after the first demonstration of the trick it is the duplicate that lives on....which makes sense because Angier becomes more and more less human with his actions. Someone back me up on this. I frickin LOVE this movie! lol

This analysis is a masterpiece. Great work!

My kind of content! I've missed you guys ❤

Really an outstanding review. This guy is actually smart. An increasing rarity in these days....

Absolutely fantastic. Watched the Prestige last night for the first time… don’t know why.. and you just nailed it 99.9%. Intelligent and incisive and brilliant. Spot on on Nolan and his intentions and the ‘sparkle’ versus ‘real’ film making. Only one caveat from me. I think the machine could not have worked and this is the final Prestige. We are told everything is a trick and yet expected to believe electricity can create a clone? It’s a double. Just like Borden’s trick. Every night the double does not die but Angiers pretends he does by moving a great casket, every night, knowing Borden is watching. He kills the double at the end, not even his clone but another man, and we see that at the end with the ‘clone’ in the water. Between the court case and the end the body would have decomposed. Surely? It’s the final trick on the audience. He made us all believe Tesla’s machine worked. It couldn’t have. It’s all a trick. Fab video and have just subscribed.

Amazing, comprehensive while keeping to the core of the movie's messages. Thank you so much.

Your analysis is art. Beautiful. Well done!

love the depth you took to make this video. really appreciate the work you did

They also reflect the relationship between Tesla and Edison as it’s seen in the popular imagination.

Excellent vid-analysis, I really appreciate the length & depth of it. Cheers!

This was so good! I went too your channel to see if you had done other analysis of movies I like, but sadly I dislike all the other movies you choose to cover. My lose, this break down was truly a gem to find

This was terrific! I almost knew that it was a great film but you helped articulate why.

Alfred= Albert+Fred , because we see olivia calls borden, freddy at one point.

I just glad someone at last acknowledged that the diaries should not be trusted. Borden writes his to fool Angiers, but I have an idea that Angiers diary is reasonably truthful up until the moment he reads about Borden's deception. From thereon, I don't believe a word of it. Interestingly, the story of the Tesla device being able to make clones of things only comes about after Angiers figures out Borden's lie....but no one seems to question that. Everyone seems to accept Robert's version of events. In fact, if you suggest that Angier's story is bull, people go nuts!! Thanks for the insights. Happy to read a thoughtful interpretation of this film for once.

And just like the movie I need to watch this video over and over again. Special features is right here

This is a brilliant analysis! I watched this film for the first time yesterday and I’m annoyed at myself for missing out on this masterpiece!

Outstanding video! Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts and insights on this incredible movie - I've watched it so many times and still there things to learn and discover around every corner.

Wow! Really appreciate your display of understanding art. You are a very talented man.

Excellent analysis. But -- and someone else has probably already pointed this out -- the "Ned"/"Den" thing was redundant. The Borden twins already had names, Albert and Frederick, forming the illusion of the single character "Alfred." What is less clear in every analysis of The Prestige is: which twin was married to Sarah? And which was most intimately involved with Olivia after she defected from Angier to Borden? Some analyses assert each twin had unique and consistent characteristics, with the twin portraying "Fallon" to be the "nicer" twin. But so far I haven't seen an analysis with film clips illustrating these concisely and clearly.

I though it said 18 mil ... but then saw 18k and was like 'WTF'

The prestige has one of the highest grades I've given a movie. It took a while for me to love the movie, but even after the first viewing I knew it was one of the best made movies I'd seen

Bravo! I'm jealous. This channel is philosophical, deep and thrilling

This has been a truly excellent vetting of the finer points of the film. My compliments!

Of Nolan's filmography the Batman trilogy might be more quotable, Inception more mind bending, Interstellar more visually stunning and Dunkirk a better historical piece but goddamn I just can't help picking The Prestige as my absolute favorite of them all. The level of craft of this film is frightening, it feels like a never ending well to go back to rewatch.

Possibly the most overlooked underlying possibility of this story: Alfred Borden and Bernard Fallon are not brothers/twins. One of them is a clone. The audience is being given this truth in the very first images of the movie.......the hats(copies) and the birds. We observe Borden, after a performance of the bird trick, discarding into a garbage can, what used to be a living bird, *seeming to exhibit indifference to life, while in contrast, Angier explicitly says 'I don't want to kill doves.' Angier is disgusted by Borden's seeming inhumanity over his wife's death in failing to recall which knot he'd tied, when in truth, Borden is genuinely saddened by Piper's drowning as Fallon was working on stage that night, hence Borden truly does not know which knot was tied. There are so many switches that take place and mirrored reflections in so many layers of this movie, it is just amazing. An obvious example is Angier's repeated death, by drowning, mirroring his wife's drowning, and Fallon's hanging, mirroring Sarah's. When Angier meets with Mr. Alley(Tesla's assistant), what Angier wants(a transporter machine), he identifies as what Tesla had built for another magician. That 'other magician' was Borden. When Borden long ago used a machine Tesla had built for him created a clone, his respect for human life and dedication to his ability to create magic for people led him to decide to sacrifice enjoying his life wholly, as a single person, to live in duality(live with his clone, not killing him). Angier, chose the other path.... exterminating a human on each night of his trick, not willing to share the spotlight(applause) with a clone of himself. That is what makes the early dialog around the birds diversionary, misrepresenting the mens' true natures, and why Borden, with such ease, recognized the China man's life-long deception, living perpetually in an act of appearing to be decerped/weak, sacrificing the ability to just live life normally outside of his act. Unless I'd missed it, Cutter and Angier are the two that theorized that Borden an Fallon are twins/brothers. ....That is not said by Fallon/Borden. Watch this movie again, with this theory in mind, and your experience will be different than it has ever been, beginning with the very first seconds of the film.

And I mean this with the most honest words I've ever spoken online; this type of video, with the narrator's voice, I live for... best series of videos that exist on KZfaq.

I knew Nolan was going to be something great when Memento was released. Of his impressive catalogue of films The Prestige is still my favorite film maybe cause my own connection and love with films, illusionist's and Tesla, played by the late great Bowie, another personal favorite of mine. Nolan always tells his story in a very non conventional way narrativlly and chronologically but The Prestige is probably his most conventional film. I do think Nolan is today's best filmmaker and most can see and appreciate all his work and talent. My only criticism is at times he can make what needs to be at times something very straightforward and simple into a complex jump in time and narrative too complicated for the audience. Also, sometimes simple dialogue between two characters feels like plot advancement instead of any emotionial dialogue between characters. Dunkirk shows these small gripes more so and I know Nolan wanted the film to be about the actual real historical event he's recreating not any one character like most films of a historic event do, especially war films. I good example of what Nolan sometimes lacks in is what Tarantino does perfectly in the opening scene in Inglorious Bastards, two men talking for 20 minutes while slowly building tension and emotion. That said, Tarantino is a bit overhyped as a filmmaker at times and I just had rewatched Dunkirk with my father in law who served in the Navy during war time and was disappointed with the film after my very high praise for it. Anyways, great analysis on this phenomenal film.

that one look exchanged between “ned” and Julia before she died was so intriguing to me I want an entire Julia centered movie to explain it.

Watched it in one go. Excellent work

Great in-depth exploration of the movie, my only critique is the part where you explain the plot and the timeline gets convoluted on screen. Great video!

I've missed you guys.

I rewatched this a few weeks ago; it holds up very well and has not lost its effect in 15 years

I'm curious why you gave Bordens the names Ned and Den, when the film itself gives them names: Alfred and Freddy.

That was fantastic!

Subbing for this video alone. Hell of a deep dive

This was superb.

Amazing narrative, didn't waste any minute, new subscriber here

It's basically a twist on the Jeckyl/Hyde;Hyde/Jekyl. With greed and a desire to outdo each other,with magic as a backdrop. All entwined with Tesla/Eddison,battling away in a side plot. The book takes the 'Frankenstein route'. But is much darker than the film. A gothic whodunit. With knobs on.

Simply brilliant.

If I was a teacher, I'd give this book report a "Christmas Story" an A++...

This can also be a clever way of Nolan making us watch this movie twice and say “boom. I got your money and attention twice” and flexing his intelligence

BORDEN : NED/ROB.

I mean, honestly, this film is the greatest magic trick I've ever seen.. And this video essay shows that a film is a medium that can has great depths to it shown effectively and cleverly from the lens of the director in the way he or she wants the audience to see. Sometimes the audience must leave their ego aside and completely have faith on the director , see what's in store for them, then recollect their ego and analyze the movie once it ends. The director is the soul key to a great film/trick/illusion which affects how the audience experiences it.

Anyone who doesn't think the machine was real, was not paying attention and didn't get the point of the movie.

Seriously Incredible Analysis, you've done a mans job...

Excellent video

I’m still working on the message beneath the art. This video, along with two others, are helping me feel closer. Along the way, all three video reveal to me major events that I totally missed when I watched the film. I’m hoping to see it again with family and friends - not alone as this time - so I can look deeper and, if they want to, discuss it to test what I’m seeing and might still be missing. A master Icee (including the acting within it).

I could listen to this forever. Absolutely lovely. I need help with the explanation yknow? Thanks

And somehow the death of the wife didn't embarrass a family? What motivates the twin in this story? My theory is that it was the twin whose wife died. Angier and/or Caldlow are really a projection of the twin's desire for revenge. The movie is a dark story of pure rage. This has been done in Life of Pi where the tiger is a projection of the protagonist's hunger and need to eat masking the truth of cannibalism. Even the reveals at the end are similar in that we would rather not know the real story. The trick in this movie is that the story is kept hidden while the reveal is honest.

No, thank you! And you have a great day and night!

Epic- I just adore these video essays

Amazing video, of one of Nolans finest and under-rated films

your analysis is perfect, you are right in every point but also dont forget the loss factor ,however when angier lost his wife ,things subverted for him 360 degrees this shuttered his heart thats why he become like that revenging for his dead wife and that was his first pledge i suppose , after he started to see borden success he was jealous and started to immitate that great trick of the transported man therefore this also lead him even to kill and do whatever it takes to do it like borden and thus angier got darker and darker

Thanks, i saw it in 1 take. And also ⏪️ and⏩️ while watching 😅. Top👍🏿👍🏿🙋🏿‍♀️

Bordon duplicated himself one time and we can see that the duplicate is less human. Angier duplicated himself so many times that the final Angier is a total mess

nicely done!

thank you man!

Nolan's finest work imo.

Great video with one common mistake: you keep referring to *CALDLOW* as Angiers. Angiers is Lord Caldlow. That’s the entire final trick of both characters: Cutter uncovers Caldlow; Caldlow uncovers both Bordens.

So in the end. .It's up to you,what you wanna believe.

I want to like this video multiple times 🤗

What if at the end Borden duplicates himself so that he can continue to have a "brother" I wonder how that would have been received.

what a speech!

I love The Prestige, but not for a single moment did I ever consider Angier the bad guy... he just broke when his wife died. IMO the only bad guy in this film is one of the Bordens. Everything bad that happens is because one of the Bordens always behaves like an asshole.

Tbh I understand how the similarity between filmmaking & metaphor but all masterpieces are their heart are human & emotional at their base. Take away the metaphors of filmmaking & apply it to the persona & soul of a person will inform what it’s really about

Why does something so good get so less attention. This must have taken a ton of time. Sidenote: love for Angier no matter what he did

This was.. Magical

YAYY finally

What do you think about the theory that Alley was Tesla, and Tesla (as played by Bowie) was an actor hired to be Tesla's front man. It's not central to the plot, but would be yet another way the real thing is hiding in plain sight.

I love your analysis and saw it all in one take. But i am still obsessed with 2 questions. I have seen almost 5 analysis of this movie and have learned more and more about it, but still havent answered my 2 questions. 1.Why kill your clones? Not knowing which one will be in the tank or the prestige? 2. How did the Bordens know about Tesla's machine? Why where they at the science exhibit? Did they use the machine once?

Hello. Could you please tell what device tou you use or had you used for making videos like this? I'm an aspiring student of cinema, arts, culture, literature. I want to creat videos like this. Your observation will be valuable to me. I'm from Bangladesh.

I think the three act structure is holding story's back from their unlimited protential but I enjoyed your eassy. God bless 😇

So my question was Angier wealthy Lord Caldwell when he was married, did he deceive his wife too?

I have to disagree with your theory that Angier tries to kill himself after the death of his wife at 9:55 of your video. Angier wasn’t killing himself, he was seeing how long he could hold his breath, feeling firsthand how his wife might have felt as she drowned. I love your narrative, I’m always open to different interpretations of movies I love, no matter how they may differ from my own, but (and I feel this has to be said) Angiers did NOT try to kill himself. He wanted to experience what his wife felt in the last few seconds if her life. So tortured was his soul that he felt the need to experience her agony and her confusion in the last minutes. He was leaning into a sink full of water. There was no way he could drown this way. Gravity would have pulled him from the sink if he even reached unconsciousness. From the very first time I watched this movie I never felt he was trying to kill himself. Between the time his wife died and his being told that drowning “was agony” we see a man whose entire belief system has slowly been eroded. He went from a loving man enjoying life and learning a new trade to a selfish, obsessed and unsympathetic monster - culminating, ironically, in him killing himself in the most agonizing way almost 100 times, and then having to realize what he has done in the last few seconds of his life. Angier was not trying to kill himself. The most poignant quote regarding his wife’s death was Cutter at first trying to console Angier. He told him drowning was like “going home”, only to later tell Angier he was lying - drowning was agony. Angier having chosen this easy route to destroying his clones, thinking it painless and quick. Cutter’s comment condemned Angier, an obsessed and selfish sociopath, to literally killing himself over and over and over, in the most painful and agonizing way.

I see the twins as Albert and Frederick, combined to be Alfred. The one who was into ScarJo was Frederick because he had her calling him Freddie.

34:46 I know you're talking about the movie but Nikola Tesla didn't invent Alternating Current and it's not "superior" to Direct Current, the man who invents a simple, efficient and cheap way to step the voltage of Direct Current up and down will be a very rich man because it would make Alternating Current obsolete over night since you wouldn't have to content with issues like inductive losses and reactive power. The reason why we use AC is simply because of its relative ease of transmission.