Capo
Administrator
Posts: 7,847
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Post by Capo on Dec 29, 2006 0:54:24 GMT
The Prestige Christopher Nolan 2006 USA / UK In Victorian London, two rising magicians strike up a rivalry when one of them invents a new trick, and the other wishes to find out how it is done. Outstanding: a film told for the most part in flashback, with one character reading another character's journal... and within that narrative, the other character reads the principle character's journal. On top of this, parallel to this dual-perspective, we've a third character reliving the fatal night which begins the film. It's spellbinding stuff, narratively exciting and completely authentic. Nolan is growing vastly in confidence and skill, and one would hope that he continues to be prolific, ambitious and vastly intelligent. His direction of actors is admirable - all the performances are notable, but Bale, at the very top of his game, gives further evidence of being the finest actor currently working. Nolan also has a fine sense of pacing and volume, knowing when to cut and what to - it's incredibly complicated stuff made to look effortless, much like the magic tricks themselves.
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Boz
Published writer
Posts: 1,451
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Post by Boz on Jan 21, 2007 21:53:50 GMT
The Prestige (2006/Nolan)One of the better films of the year thus far, although the remaining two months look daunting. Jackman and Bale are excellent, once you get over their somewhat awkward accents, and the surprise appearance from David Bowie was fantastic. Perhaps too convoluted at times, although I'm sure this turns into a sense beautiful complexity upon further rewatches. The problem with the story here was that although I didn't always understand how they got there, I always seemed to know where things were going to end up. What I'm trying to say while the twists themselves weren't shocking revelations, it was still fun to watch the Nolans work their way there. Omar's right about the period detail here, in a notably different approach than that taken by The Illusionist's Neil Burger. Where Burger seemingly opted to acknowledge the fact that he was making a period piece film, playing around with different cinematographic lighting schemes and whatnot, Nolan seemed to go for dead-on realism. At this point, I'm not completely sure which I preferred. I was surprised to find that I've actually seen all of Nolan's films from Following onwards. While I find his body of work thus far somewhat uneven, from the potential 4-star film, Memento, to the seemingly vastly overrated Batman Begins, I'm personally impressed with his films, the ideas he brings to the table, his cinematic techniques, and just in general, his potential to become a truly legendary directing talent of this generation or perhaps the next. I'm sure mostly all here will be going to see this film, but I'll give another recommendation for it anyway.
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Boz
Published writer
Posts: 1,451
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Post by Boz on Jan 21, 2007 21:54:07 GMT
The Prestige(2006/Christopher Nolan) [First Viewing] Two rival magicians in turn-of-the-twentieth century England set out to discover each other's secrets.Nolan's best film. Complex and thought provoking, dark and detailed, this film is flawless. The two lead performances by Christian Bale and Hugh Jackman perfectly capture the obsession that these men have at each other. The twists and turns are really well written, and the cast is excellent. What separates this from similar films is that Nolan has gone the extra step to make everything look authentic and convincing. He is at the top of his game with his skill behind the camera and in the writer's seat.
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Boz
Published writer
Posts: 1,451
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Post by Boz on Jan 21, 2007 22:27:25 GMT
The Prestige(2006/Christopher Nolan) [Second Viewing] Two rival magicians struggle to discover each other's secrets in turn-of-the-century England.Extremely well done film on obsession, full of layers of meaning and craftsmanship, all the way down from Nolan's skill behind the camera, which is better than ever, to the extraordinary performances from the two male leads.
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