 The Prestige movie poster |
| http://forbiddenplanet.co.uk/blog/2007/best-of-the-year-mark-chadbourns-faves/ |
Christopher Nolan’s creation of The
Prestige, is more than just a movie about magicians, it is a mystery like
no other. Two new up and comer magicians, Christian Bale as Alfred Borden and
actor Hugh Jackman as Robert Angier, begin their journey working together as
stage hands, however after one tragic night everything changes. Scene six, the
strong knot (23 minutes), is the most important scene in the movie. This is
when there is an intense twist in the plot causing the beginning of a great rivalry.
The
scene begins normal as the beautiful stage hand Julia McCullough (played by
actress Piper Perabo) selects from the audience Borden and Angier to come on
stage and perform their ever famous dunk tank trick. It isn’t until Borden is
tying Julia’s hands that the scene makes a sudden change. The director made it vitally
important to the viewers the slight pause and hesitation that Borden displays
as he pauses his knot tying, looks up at Julia with deep concern, then after
exchanging a glance he begins to tie a different knot around her wrist. The
trick continues as normal until you notice that unlike the last time when the
film flashes to a clip of the audience, instead of drowning out the sound of
the stop watch it continues. When it has become aware there is a concern,
manager Cutter (played by Michael Caine) tries smashing the tank open. I
noticed that the clicking of the stop watch is still being exaggerated but it
is now also joined by the exaggeration of the banging on the glass, Julia’s
last gasps for breathe, and the cracking of the glass. During this part of the
scene, it seems to be drawn out for suspense and the director also uses several
different cuts to different filming angles.
All together this scene makes up a very vital part of the movie and is produced with a lot of attention to the filming in order to build the intensity of the moment.
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