The Prestige: Notes (with spoilers)

It seems that Angier/Caldlow would’ve been much less angry at Borden/Fallon if Borden/Fallon had assured him that, whatever knot Borden/Fallon had tied, Julia had very clearly signaled her approval. Don’t believe me? Fast forward 23 minutes and 40 seconds into the movie and watch Julia nod her approval to Borden/Fallon as he makes a knot choice. Why did Julia really die? To give Angier/Caldlow a reason to be pissed at Borden/Fallon. Why should Angier/Caldlow be pissed at Borden/Fallon? One reason might be that it adds extra spice to their rivalry and makes for a tenser movie.
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When Angier/Caldlow performs The New Transported Man, he reappears almost instantly. However, Angier/Caldlow apparently doesn’t appear to the audience on the night that Borden/Fallon sees one Angier/Caldlow drown. Why wouldn’t non-drowning Angier/Caldlow appear on the balcony almost instantly, as usual, after the performance of The New Transported Man where Borden/Fallon sees him drown? The answer, I think, is easy: if the internal logic of the movie were consistent, he would have to appear as usual. We’re given no reason to believe that he shouldn’t. Therefore, the internal logic of the movie isn’t consistent.
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With so much power at his fingertips, why wouldn’t Tesla use his machine to start a business where he makes perfect copies of people’s documents for them? The Tesla copy would be far superior to a normal copy that is not identical to the original. And what about pants? Imagine making perfect duplicates of your favorite pants. And, guess what? Because people wouldn’t understand the technology, Tesla could charge people slightly more for documents that are inside of pants. It seems the Nolans might’ve overlooked the real movie here.

Obviously, for ethical reasons, neither Tesla nor Angier/Caldlow could use the technology to feed the hungry, shelter the homeless, or medicine the sick. The reason for destroying the machine to prevent such evils is obvious* to me.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 18th, 2009 and is filed under Film.
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