Movie magic, literally
Nov. 5th, 2006 03:50 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kenjariOther Kenjari and I caught a matinee of The Prestige yesterday. We both enjoyed it alot. The acting and direction were very good. Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale are always good. And David Bowie (as Tesla) was also quite fine - he even does a respectable Eastern European accent. I've always thought that of the many rock musicians who have tried their hands at acting, Bowie is one of the very few that can actually do it.
It was an interesting experience, though, because we'd also both read the book fairly recently, and while the movie captures the essence of the book, it has some significant departures.
I think the movie gives a different ethical perspective on Borden and Angier's actions and choices, and thus a different interpretation of the central themes of secrecy and deception that the book and movie share. The film portrays both men's versions of The Transported Man as requiring some very morally questionable deeds, namely murder and emotionally damaging deception. In the book, neither man is required to go that far, because the two Bordens are able to live their half-double lives without causing insurmountable pain to either Sarah or Olive, and the doppelgangers generated by Angier's machine are not fully alive or sentient (in fact, they quickly expire on their own). The film seems more interested in looking at the destructive power of secrets and deceptions, while the book is less judgemental and more interested in looking at the way what we choose to show and what we choose to hide or disguise shapes our lives and realities.
I was a little disappointed by Angier's death at the end of the movie, but that's probably because I had retained a much more sympathetic view of him from the book.
The book has very different and much creepier ending. I completely understand why the film didn't use it, because it was very much wrapped up in the book's modern-day framing story. But oh, the last few scenes in the novel would have been great on film.
It was an interesting experience, though, because we'd also both read the book fairly recently, and while the movie captures the essence of the book, it has some significant departures.
I think the movie gives a different ethical perspective on Borden and Angier's actions and choices, and thus a different interpretation of the central themes of secrecy and deception that the book and movie share. The film portrays both men's versions of The Transported Man as requiring some very morally questionable deeds, namely murder and emotionally damaging deception. In the book, neither man is required to go that far, because the two Bordens are able to live their half-double lives without causing insurmountable pain to either Sarah or Olive, and the doppelgangers generated by Angier's machine are not fully alive or sentient (in fact, they quickly expire on their own). The film seems more interested in looking at the destructive power of secrets and deceptions, while the book is less judgemental and more interested in looking at the way what we choose to show and what we choose to hide or disguise shapes our lives and realities.
I was a little disappointed by Angier's death at the end of the movie, but that's probably because I had retained a much more sympathetic view of him from the book.
The book has very different and much creepier ending. I completely understand why the film didn't use it, because it was very much wrapped up in the book's modern-day framing story. But oh, the last few scenes in the novel would have been great on film.
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Date: 2006-11-05 09:17 pm (UTC)Julian and I saw it, and for both of us there was this moment when Borden's wife is looking at his amputated fingers when we were like "oh... oh man, he just... *wince wince cringe*"
Did you get that too? :D
I think it was kind of neat seeing it after having read the book... one of the best tricks in the movie is the way you see all the hats in the first scene, which if you know the conceit makes you go "heh! Cool, thematic, tricky shot!", a subtext which is transformed, by the time that shot resurfaces at the very end, to a sort of prickly horror at what is signified.
I like that the stakes were upped. I like the fingers. I like Angier drowning himself, and how it parallels his obsession and imitation of his wife's death. The things I liked best in the novel-- narrative techniques of obfuscation, uncertainty of narrator and perspective, the communication of reading into one's life and the real effects of a letter-- are very bookish, textish questions that there is no way a film could duplicate, and I can't blame the film for lacking them. I think it was an absolutely excellent adaptation and version of the book, and both are great on their own merits-- I'd be hard pressed to tell people which one to use to spoil the other one with!
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Date: 2006-11-05 09:47 pm (UTC)I have to admit, I didn't quite get the thing with the fingers at first, probably because I get so extremely squicked out by hand/finger injuries that it's hard for my brain to get past the surface horror.
I loved the hat shot, too. I also liked the way the bird trick and then the two cats hissing at each other foreshadows Angier's Transported Man.
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Date: 2006-11-05 11:36 pm (UTC)Your post makes it clear, I wanted to join your appreciation, not argue...
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Date: 2006-11-06 12:01 am (UTC)I'm not sure I could choose which order to read/view in, either. I got a lot out of reading the book first, but
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Date: 2006-11-06 12:12 am (UTC)