Alright, The Prestige has been out long enough. Let's talk ending SPOILERS

Posted by Jazz Inmate (A) on September 12, 2007 at 02:20:47

What was your interpretation of the ending? For those of you who haven't seen it, stop reading right now. To recap the ending for those who have seen it, Borden shoots Angier after Borden's twin brother goes to the gallows for the staged murder of Angier. The film ends as we see the many victims of Angier's "trick" drowned in their boxes and we hear Michael Caine's voiceover challenging the audience by saying we don't really want to solve the trick.

Each of Angier's final 100 performances resulted in the death of an Angier look-alike during a magic trick that used an electric device invented by Tesla. This device was sold to Angier with the implication that it would clone him, as Tesla made it appear it could clone hats and a black cat. Indeed, a brief scene shows Angier testing the device on himself. It certainly appeared to work, as an Angier look-alike steps out of a wardrobe and is quickly shot while pleading "wait, wait, I'm not..."

As Angier is mortally wounded at the end, he and Borden share a final conversation. Borden reveals the truth about his twin brother, which explains not just his magic tricks but the painful developments in his personal life. But Angier never reveals the secret of his trick leading most viewers to believe it is indeed a cloning device. In his final words, Angier talks about the sacrifices he made and claims he never knew whether he or the look-alike would drown. Borden replies that Angier made no sacrifice and that Angier went halfway around the world, spent a fortune and did "terrible things for nothing".

The movie consistently had a logical explanation for each magic trick. So what is your interpretation of the Tesla trick and why? It seems obvious to me that the Tesla device was just a fancy light show, and the "cloned" hats and cat were staged. Tesla made it clear he needed financing at that point and that Angier was his only financier. Tesla had to make his device seem like it was doing magic. I believe Angier, realizing he had wasted resources on a cheap trick, then travelled far to find many look-alikes to make his trick work. Earlier in the film, Angier learns his lesson to never give a body-double the power they wield in a trick--thus his motivation to quickly rub them out...and we all know his motivation for staging his own death was to defeat Borden once and for all.

To me, this body double theory is the only possible explanation for the ending, yet every analysis I've read indicates that the Tesla device was actually cloning Angier! That's so stupid. Didn't anyone hear Michael Caine warn them about being too gullible to solve the trick? The ending certainly shows many water-filled boxes, each with a drowned Angier look-alike inside.

It's a captivating story, no matter how you interpret it, but I think the interpretation that Tesla invented a cloning device is just silly.
-------------

"I have found that if you love life, life will love you back." -Arthur Rubinstein (1887-1982)

This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors:

Topic - Alright, The Prestige has been out long enough. Let's talk ending SPOILERS - Jazz Inmate 02:20:47 09/12/07 (19)

Ok, I watched this for a second time today - Jazz Inmate 23:06:29 09/16/07 (0)

Gosh, well... - dave c 14:30:20 09/12/07 (1)

RE: Gosh, well... - Jazz Inmate 14:44:40 09/12/07 (0)

Why... - ArdRi 08:32:33 09/12/07 (15)

RE: Why... - Jazz Inmate 09:26:29 09/12/07 (14)

WAY more implausible that he found dozens if not hundreds of exact look-alikes - sjb 09:34:36 09/12/07 (7)

He needed exactly 100, for each of his final 100 shows - Jazz Inmate 10:22:18 09/12/07 (6)

RE: He needed exactly 100, for each of his final 100 shows - geiss 09:17:41 09/13/07 (5)

RE: He needed exactly 100, for each of his final 100 shows - Jazz Inmate 09:37:05 09/13/07 (4)

In the book it was clones... sort of... - sjb 11:21:22 09/13/07 (2)

...but the book is supposed to be just a series of journal entries - Jazz Inmate 13:32:28 09/13/07 (0)

That's a much different ending. You're right though. NT - Jazz Inmate 12:58:13 09/13/07 (0)

"My interpretation is that Algier's first test of the device was not shown... - sjb 11:16:37 09/13/07 (0)

of limited plausibility but does conform to the story - ArdRi 09:30:22 09/12/07 (5)

RE: of limited plausibility but does conform to the story - Jazz Inmate 09:38:00 09/12/07 (4)

What if it wasn't a ... - ArdRi 09:41:15 09/12/07 (3)

RE: What if it wasn't a ... - Jazz Inmate 10:27:16 09/12/07 (2)

Or Tesla knew Mankind wasn't ready for this kind of technology... - oscar 16:05:58 09/12/07 (1)

Well, he offered to build a death ray machine for the US War Dept and Europe - Jazz Inmate 17:22:09 09/12/07 (0)

Alright, The Prestige has been out long enough. Let's talk ending SPOILERS

Post a Message!