And after watching the ending, we know that Borden and Fallon are identical twin brothers, always exchanging identities. Since we cannot clearly define the two brothers, we might as well set up the execution ground called Borden, and the one who survived is called Fallon. The two brothers have very different personalities. Borden is surly and obsessed with magic; Fallon is calm and down-to-earth and pays more attention to family.
Because the film uses the diaries of Borden and Angier as clues, and uses reverse order and a large number of interludes to narrate, the timeline is rather chaotic. So I will first sort out the general plot in the normal chronological order.
1. Borden and Angier are two fledgling young magicians. They followed Cutter to lay hands with the magician Milton (as a support) and performed water tank escape magic. Angier's wife Julia was the leading actress.
2. After a tank show, they talked in the background. Borden thinks that Milton is not creative and dare not take risks and should perform more wonderful magic. Angier thinks that the audience likes Milton's performance, that's enough. Cutter said that Borden’s knot was not tight enough. Borden suggested that the "Blue knot" should be tied. Julia agreed, but both Angier and Cutter objected. Borden said he was brewing a horrifying magic.
3. Borden and Angier watched the fish tank performance of Chinese magician Zhong Linsu under the recommendation of Cutter. Borden realized that a good magician needs to be dedicated to magic, but Angier disagrees.
4. In another water tank escape performance, Borden and Julia made eye contact and switched to the "Blue knot", which caused Julia to drown.
5. At Julia's funeral, Cutter told Angier that it felt like going home from drowning. Fallon came to Julia's funeral. Angier asked him what knot he tied that day. Fallon said he didn't know (to be honest).
6. Angier and Borden broke completely, so Borden left the team to go it alone, and met Sarah, and later married and gave birth to Jess. During the period Fallon joined, the two brothers' mutual disguise was officially started (Fallon got married and had children).
7. Fallon was dismantled by Angier while performing the magic of catching bullets (put a bullet in). Angier asked him again what knot he tied, but Fallon still said that he didn't know. Borden saw the clue, and at the moment Angier fired the gun, Fallon was shot with two fingers broken.
8. In order to perfectly disguise, Borden chopped off two fingers by himself.
9. Angier was dismantled by Borden while performing the dove-turning magic and was terminated by the theater. He was in desperate need of a cool magic trick. Cutter recommended that Angier go to the technology exhibition for inspiration. The science and technology exhibition mainly showed the research results of Tesla's alternating current, which is also the predecessor of replication.
10.Angier discovered Borden at the technology exhibition, and followed along the way, seeing the Borden family happy and jealous.
11.Angier watched Borden's "Shadow Shifting Technique" and thought it was the best magic. Borden became famous by "shadow shifting technique", making a fortune and buying a house.
12. Cutter told Angier that Borden used a stand-in, and Angier and his new assistant Olivia insisted that there was no stand-in. Cutter said that he only knows how to use a substitute, and that Angier has a stronger performance ability and a better packaging effect. Angier compromised.
13. Olivia found an unemployed actor who looked similar to Angier, Gerry, as a stand-in. Angier performed a better "shadow retreat technique" than Borden, but she was worried that she could not accept the applause and cheers of the audience in the audience. So Olivia was sent to act as an undercover agent to investigate the secrets of the so-called "true shadow removal technique".
14. Olivia helped Borden find Gerry, and Borden instigated Gerry to turn against the guest, and then tore down again, causing Angier to fall.
15. Olivia got the Borden diary and gave it to Angier, and told him that she fell in love with Borden. The two had a quarrel, and Angier had gone crazy for the secret of magic.
16. In order to get the key words in the diary, Angier kidnapped Fallon. To save Fallon, Borden fooled Angier with "Tesla". Angier believed it to be true and decided to go to Tesla with Cutter, but Cutter didn't want to go with him.
17. Borden thought he had completely defeated Angier, and to celebrate his escape and fooled Angier, he was very happy, so he took Olivia to dinner, and then quarreled with Sarah.
18.Angier found Tesla, but the result was not satisfied. Tesla claimed that the technology was not yet mature and needed to wait.
19.Angier read in Borden's diary that Borden used "Tesla" to fool himself, and was very angry. He found Tesla again, but failed. Later it was learned that Tesla had sent a copy box.
20. Sarah saw the secrets of Borden and Fallon. She couldn't bear the life full of secrets and lies, so she hanged herself. Borden said that he only loves Olivia. Olivia thought that Borden was ruthless and inhuman, and left Borden. So far, the two brothers have lost their lovers to varying degrees.
21. Angier used the box to start the "real" "shadow evasion" performance again and again, and hired a blind assistant and copied this assistant (indicating that no one has seen his technique, and no one has seen one. With Angier's body). The technique is: every time the original body falls to the water tank under the platform and drowns, then a new Angier (replica) emerges from another place.
22. Borden watched Angier's new "Shadow Shifting Technique" and was very shocked and atmosphere. He became angry at Fallon and asked him why he couldn't see Angier's technique.
23. Angier finds Cutter, asks him to help find a big theater that can attract Borden, do the final performance, but also the biggest conspiracy-frame Borden murder. In order to conceal the secret of the box, Angier prevents Cutter from helping out the backstage.
24. Fallon took the ticket for Angier's performance and said to Borden, "We lost", and persuaded Borden not to provoke him anymore. We don't want Angier's secret, let him change him.
25. Borden still wanted to know Angier's secret, so he didn't listen to Fallon's advice, but went to the scene of Angier's performance and mixed into the backstage. Seeing Angier fall into the water tank, Borden was stunned and tried to rescue Angier to no avail. Angier drowned (actually this is just Angier's normal performance procedure. The only difference is that the copied Angier did not show up, but turned into Carlo. Sir De continues to live). Cutter came and saw this scene, thinking that Borden killed Angier, so he took Borden to court.
26. In the court, the judge asked Cutter to speak out the technique of "shadow evasion", and Cutter agreed to show it to the judge in private (the opening scene of the movie). Cutter thought that the box could be truly "movable" and believed that the box was too harmful and insisted on buying it and destroying it. The judge told him that Sir Callod was very interested in the box.
27. Sir Angier's lawyer found Borden in the prison and wanted to buy the secret of "The Prestige", but Borden refused. The lawyer gave Angier's diary to Borden, hoping that he would consider it again. Borden learned about many of the above events through his diary.
28. Borden read about Angier's magic tricks in his diary and Angier foresaw that he would go to jail for being framed for murder. He was shocked and strange. So he questioned the authenticity of the diary.
29. Angier takes Jess to the prison to see Borden. Borden is willing to give the secret of "The Prestige", but Angier doesn't appreciate it and wants to destroy Borden completely.
30. Borden was sentenced to hanging. Fallon visits Borden, the two final farewell, Borden apologizes for what he has done, saying that he is sorry for Fallon and Sarah, and also expresses regret for not listening to Fallon's advice to provoke Angier.
31. Cutter found Angier to understand everything. Angier asked Cutter to help him transport the box to his theater for storage. Cutter told Angier that the feeling of drowning was extremely painful, and Angier was shocked (because he himself drowned countless times). At the same time, Borden executed his sentence. After Cutter left the theater, Fallon came to the theater, shot Angier, and revealed all the secrets. Then in the theater I saw the reproduction box and countless water tanks containing Angier's corpse.
32. Fallon brought back his daughter Jess from Cutter to continue living.
The above is the general plot. These plots are all explained in the movie. Let's talk about some of the more popular issues below.
1. Regarding the setting of the box and Angier's "Shadow Shifting Technique".
Simply put, the function of the box is to replicate an identical person or thing (exactly the same, including thoughts, feelings, memories, abilities, etc.).
So what is Angier's technique: every time the original body falls into the water tank and drowns, then a new Angier (replica) emerges from another place.
Knowing these two basic points, it is easy for us to know why Angier was so shocked when he learned that "drowning was extremely painful". First, Cutter told him that drowning felt "like going home," Angier believed. So Angier, who couldn't bear to kill a pigeon, dared to drown himself. So we can infer that during the magic show, the original body A fell from the secret door while the machine worked and copied a new Angier, which we called B. So A and B coexist for a period of time, that is, from A falling to A drowning. That is to say, when B appeared, A had not drowned, so there was no feeling of drowning in B's memory, so he always thought that the feeling of drowning was "like going home".
Many people are entangled in the box too science fiction, and even think it is a failure, I do not agree with this statement.
The duplication of the box is only the setting of the movie. The setting is the key point of a work, but it is not the theme of the work. Therefore, we should interpret the thoughts, character emotions, logic, etc. that the works want to express in the set environment, instead of entangled in the setting itself.
2. Why did Borden and Fallon know about Tesla? Have they looked for Tesla? Are they also the relationship between the ontology and the replica?
First of all, Borden and Angier have both visited Tesla's technology exhibition, but the technology was not yet mature at that time. From the above plots of 16, 19, 22, 23, and 28, it can be seen that Borden does not know Angier’s technique at all, so he does not know the secrets of the Tesla machine at all, so we can infer that Borden gave it. The keyword "Tesla" is just to deceive Angier, and this conclusion can be demonstrated from the 19th point above. Furthermore, we can imagine that the Borden brothers must be brothers, not a copying relationship!
3. About Borden and Fallon.
When will the exchange of identities begin? It should have started from going to Sarah's house, but the official work together was before the "receiving the bullet" magic show.
Who made the "Blue knot"? Borden. Because Borden is the one crazy about magic.
Who attended Julia's funeral? Fallon. Because he didn't know what the knot was. In the same way, Fallon was also the one who had two fingers cut off by the bullet.
(Then I think of an interesting inference. Fallon was shot. Borden, who was crazy for magic, would naturally break his finger. Let’s assume that the finger was shot. Borden. Will Fallon break his finger? Will Fallon and Borden Is it so dedicated to the magic? This question is really intriguing. However, I personally think that breaking the finger may be nothing compared to losing his wife.)
In addition, every time Borden (Fallon) plays, there will actually be a small detail. It implies which one is on the stage, as long as you observe carefully, you will be able to find out.
4. Does Cutter know the secret of the box? When did you know?
At the beginning, Cutter didn't know that the box could be used for copying. Angier didn't allow Cutter to enter the background. Once Cutter almost went in and was driven out by Angier. In addition, it can be seen from the dialogue between him and the judge that he thought the box was an artifact that could truly move instantaneously, but he didn't know it could be copied. But when he knew that Angier was still alive, I think he could guess it almost all the time.
There are so many details in the film. Many friends have already listed them. I won't repeat them. I just want to sort out the whole plot carefully. All in all, this good movie is worth watching several times!
View more about The Prestige reviews
