If you are beginning to imagine that you are witnessing a live version of the 2006 film ‘The Prestige’ unfold in front of you here in Guyana you should not worry. You are not alone. No, the old adage “truth is stranger than fiction” is not playing tricks on your mind. You are just part of the captive audience sought by two magicians striving for your exclusive, attention or, perhaps support, or ultimately, loyalty.
‘The Prestige’, set in Victorian London and directed by Christopher Nolan, follows the fierce rivalry of two stage magicians trying to outwit each other with the ultimate magic trick. The star-studded cast includes Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale, as Robert Angier and Alfred Borden, respectively, the duelling sleight of hand maestros, and Michael Caine, as John Cutter, an engineer who designs stage magic. The film’s plot is a labyrinth of sub-plots, twists and turns, ultimately leaving the audience grasping at straws to figure out the enigma.
In the opening frames, Cutter, in a bland matter of fact tone dissects the art of magic, “Every great magic trick consists of three parts or acts. The first part is called ‘The Pledge’. The magician shows you something ordinary: a deck of cards, a bird or a man. He shows you this object. Perhaps he asks you to inspect it to see if it is indeed real, unaltered, normal. But of course, it probably isn’t. The second act is called ‘The Turn’. The magician takes the ordinary something and makes it do something extraordinary. Now you’re looking for the secret, but you won’t find it, because you’re not really looking. You don’t really want to know. You want to be fooled. But you wouldn’t clap yet. Because making something disappear isn’t enough; you have to bring it back. That’s why every magic trick, has a third act, the hardest part, the part we call ‘The Prestige’.”
Last week, our magicians were on stage again. The ‘Pledges’ and ‘Turns’ often presented together, in the form of the usual ‘sweet talk’ promises which can’t be seen, occasionally separated, but at the end of the show, we depart with the usual – delusions of grandeur. Lofty announcements are made in a convincing manner; discussions of framework agreements with foreign governments, assurances of adequate foreign exchanges reserves, a multi-billion-dollar stadium to be completed by 2025 – no excuses for not delivering on time, possibility of a new bridge, level five hospital slated, development of industrial and agro-processing hubs. The list is never-ending; tens of thousands of new acres of lands for agriculture, water treatment plants, expansion of highways from two lanes to four lanes, first world training centre, hospitality centre, modernisation of drainage and irrigation systems.
Cutter’s voice of reason intrudes our thoughts, “…you’re not really looking. You don’t really want to know. You want to be fooled.” As we anxiously await the next rabbit that hops out of the top hat, a voice shouts from the audience. A week ago, in the Letter column in this newspaper, a scribe pleaded that the pace of our spending cannot keep abreast with our earnings. He sketched a short synopsis. The prognosis was ugly. Dazzled, we would rather not hear the heckler; our eyes are fixated on the stage. Our focus is only on the glistening skin of the beautiful magician’s assistant, we remain oblivious to the fact that she exists solely as a diversion for the magician to perform his tricks.
In the film, Borden develops a trick called the Transported Man, in which he creates the illusion of instant travel between two wardrobes placed on opposite sides of the stage. Angier becomes obsessed with trying to resolve Borden’s methodology, and pesters Cutter for the solution, who casually informs him, “He uses a double.” Angier refuses to accept Cutter’s logic, blurts out, “No, no, no, no. It’s too simple. This a complex illusion.” Cutter is resolute, “You only say that because you don’t know the method. It’s a double that comes out the other end, I promise you.”
‘The Prestige’ follows a three-act structure, which in this case mirrors the three parts of a magic act. The script explores many themes – competitiveness, obsession, secrecy, deceit, sacrifice and death – against a backdrop of magic as an art form. Its complexity has spawned several analyses and reviews, with varying interpretations of the film and its unexpected conclusion. One simple offering is, “A magic trick is always enjoyable when we don’t have it quite figured out, and this film is no different.”
In reviewing the book, ‘The Prestige’ by Christopher Priest, upon which the film is based, one observer wrote, “A parallel to numerous situations in reality, the magicians’ rivalry is representative if anything else. The dark side of mankind, it emphasizes the here and now, and pushes onward blind to the future.”
The date for our version was announced last week: November or December, 2025. There’s lots of time for more Pledges and Turns. Perhaps a wave or two of the magic wand or some levitation? You want the show to go on, don’t you? You really don’t want to know. Cutter would approve.
