The Prestige (George Adamson)

Narrative - In the Beginning of the Film, We see a shot filled with top-hats which is commonly associated with magicians, so the audience straight away knows what the film is going to be about. The first words of Dialogue we hear are “Are you watching closely” by  who I presume to be Alfred Borden (Christian bale) we then see Cutter (Michael Caine) showing a little girl a magic trick, the audience Identifies “are you watching closely” and Cutter showing a magic trick to be aimed at them during this, Cutter explains the process of a magic trick to the Little girl and the audience in three parts. The pledge, the turn and the prestige. Whilst this is being said it is used as a voice over showing Robert Angier (Hugh Jackman) performing his “transported man” trick and Alfred Borden (Christian Bale) spectating this. Angier takes up the opportunity to inspect the “Transported man” apparatus and makes his way under-stage where he witnesses Angier drown, the audience is left with mystery of why Angier died and whether Borden killed him. After this, the scene changes to a court room concession of Alfred Borden’s Trial where Cutter continues his dialogue as if everything that he had just said was spoken in the courtroom.

Cutter explains the process of a trick

Characters - The first main character we see is Cutter who at the start is narrating but he seen as the storyteller because he is talking to a little girl the way a grandparent would might tell their grandchild a story. We learn that Cutter knew both Borden and Angier from the courtroom scene where is aware of a strong rivalry between both of them and testifies against Borden. The second main character we see is Alfred Borden who is watching Angier perform his “transported man” trick at a theatre. Borden is being accused of Angier’s murder however the audience still feels sympathy for Borden as we learn that the girl Cutter was showing a magic trick to was Borden’s daughter and that he would be separated. The Final main character we see is Robert Angier who is known as ‘The Great Danton’ The Magician is seen performing ‘The Transported man’ however the trick goes wrong and  he drowns. However the mystery remains whether Borden killed him and what motives Borden would have had to kill him.

Robert Angier (The Great Danton).

Mise-en-scene - One very noticeable mise-en-scene element is the costumes. The Costumes are period costumes. Costumes also help indicate the class of the characters. For example we see that Robert Angier dressed smartly indicating he is successful however we see Alfred Borden dressed in shabby clothing indicating the difference in class. Another element of Mise-en-scene we see is the lighting mostly of the lighting is natural lighting which appears in pockets in the background of most of the shots leaving the characters lightly lit in the forefront. This lighting helps to emphasis the texture of the film making it quite mysterious in a similar to the conventions of film-noir. Sets are made to look realistic and of the period that they are set in. For example the Courtroom contrasts with how a courtroom would look like today, likewise with a prison in todays world. Props are also made to look realistic however the ‘Transported man’ apparatus would not be something the audience would usually see this heightens the sense of mysterious around what is going to happen in the film. 

Alfred Borden.

Robert Angier and 'The Transported man' apparatus.

How this sequence meets my expectations of a Thriller? - All of these themes help to meet the expectations of a Thriller because they all help generate a feeling of mystery (Mystery which is one of the most important conventions in the genre) of what is the transported man? Did Borden kill Angier and why? Mystery which is one of the most important conventions in the genre. The Narrative is an elliptical narrative which means it begins with the end and then goes back and eventually ends up back the beginning this is often used in Thriller films such as Donnie Darko (2001, Richard Kelly).