can someone explain the movie the prestige to me?

Question

please i just watched it and i am so confused

Answer 1

So basically, the character of Christian Bale has a twin. The character that Hugh Jackman plays, with that machine that he bought, replicates himself everytime he does that tick. So in order to keep replicating himself, Jackman's character kills the double. But on that specific trick that gets Bale's character in trouble, is the night that he kills his replica then goes into hiding so that Bale's character gets arrested. But Jackman's character doesnt know that Bale has a real twin. Thats why Bale comes back after being hung.. Hope that helps

Answer 2

John Cutter Movie

Answer 3

The machine built by Tesla cloned things (eg the tophats). The magician cloned himself and his assistant was the clone. They switched places every once in a while. One loved the wife, the other loved Scarlett Johansonn's character. "somedays you love me, other days you dont mean it" -The "other"days are the days when the second one is in place. Thats how he pulled off the "impossible" stunt of getting across the stage so quickly.
It is confusing and not a good flick, but it was sweet to see David Bowie.

Answer 4

The movie begins with John Cutter (Michael Caine) explaining the three acts to a magic trick to a yet-unknown little girl. In retrospect, it shows the tragic end that has befallen American magician Robert Angier (Hugh Jackman). Fellow magician, a British cockney-accented and strict naturist Alfred Borden (Christian Bale), is on trial for his apparent murder, to which Cutter testifies, as the water tank and the nature of the two mens' craft relates to the murder case. Borden, in his cell, reads the late Angier's diary, and that begins the story of the rivalry.

Angier and Borden were friends, each having their own type of magic acts, but the knotting that Borden uses to tie up Angier's wife Julia, is questioned as to its safety by Angier and Cutter. Julia insists she can escape the water tank under the double-length knot. Later, when Julia unexpectedly dies as a result of the illusion's malfunction, Angier is quick to point blame at Borden, who claims he cannot remember which knot he tied. This question haunts and torments Angier for the rest of his life.

Borden courts the young Sarah, and develops a bullet catch trick. Angier takes his first revenge over Julia's death by rigging Borden's trick as a disguised volunteer and shooting him with a real bullet. Borden loses two fingers. Meanwhile, Angier takes on a show assistant, Olivia (Scarlett Johannson). Angier knows of Borden's new trick, the Transported Man, and must know how it's done. Cutter says it's as simple as Borden using a double. Angier refuses to believe the obvious and goes on his mad trek for an answer, which etc etc leads him to Colorado Springs to find electrical-currrent inventor Nikola Tesla (David Bowie) to get a machine just like Borden's. While at first Tesla is reluctant to see Angier, his assistant Alley eventually comes for him and brings him to Tesla's mountaintop lab, where he learns of the wonders - and horrors - of the then-groundbreaking electric technology.

Also, throughout the movie, Sarah begins to notice odd things about Borden, who some days loves her, some days doesn't. And the fact that Borden's agent/confidant Fallon never speaks a word of dialogue. Angier sends Olivia to work for Borden, and Olivia develops a relationship with Borden, and Sarah learns of the affair. Borden seems intent on proving to both women that he loves each of them separately of one another. In short, Angier's mad journey is cut short by the realization that Borden's diary never contained the answer he sought.

The tension builds. Angier's duplicated trick, involving the use of magnificently drunk and belligerent double Gerald Root, falls apart by Borden's bribery. Angier develops his final trick, using Tesla's fateful new machine, which actually duplicates a person's physical being in the same way as all those top hats. Angier is forced to kill multiple clones to cover his deeds. He tricks Borden into believing he has 'died', when actually, he framed Borden for the murder of one of his 'clones'. Since no one else knew this, it was assumed Borden had murdered Angier, and the little girl from the beginning was Borden's daughter.

In the end, when Cutter learns of what Angier (living post-death as the mysterious Lord Cordlowe) has done, he assists Borden in freeing the young daughter, and Fallon, who is actually Borden's life-long double (he explains that they were both Borden and both Fallon, because they shared a dual identity from birth), and Borden A (seen at the beginning of the film), loved Sarah, and Borden B (seen first as Fallon) loved Olivia. Sarah, having gone nuts after realizing this, commits suicide.

Borden B sacrifices his life so Borden A can live with the daughter, and Borden A shoots Lord Cordlowe/the real Angier dead, as Angier explains that it wasn't all for nothing: if for one moment, he could show the audience something they've never seen before, to show them an illusion that helped them transcend their reality, that was real magic.

The End.

Answer 5

See the plot and spoiler at the below link.