Citizen Kane. The Sixth Sense. The Usual Suspects. The Shawshank Redemption. Ender’s Game. What do these films and books have in common? They have all successfully provided fascinating mysteries and so-called “twist” endings that have excited and delighted audiences and readers since their respective releases. Who doesn’t remember the thrill of discovering the meaning of Charles Foster Kane’s last word (rosebud) in Citizen Kane? How about the revelation of Keyser Soze in The Usual Suspects? M. Night Shamalyan provided many clues to the mystery in The Sixth Sense, but audiences still thrill at the revelation at the end. How did Andy Dufresne escape from Shawshank? How real were the battle simulations in Ender’s Game? No matter how many times I see a certain film or read a certain book, I can tell whether the author or creator is a master of his craft by how easily he is able to manipulate his audience. Mysteries do that, and I have been fortunate enough to take part in yet another such journey. The author is Christopher Priest, and the novel is The Prestige.
I first learned of the novel when doing an internet search on a forthcoming film from Christopher Nolan. My friend Aaron Fraley told me of a new film coming out and directed me to the trailer on the internet (on Apple’s Quicktime movie trailer site). I am a huge fan of the director Christopher Nolan. Although I was underwhelmed by his sophomore effort (Insomnia), I loved Memento and Batman Begins. The trailer for The Prestige blew me away. It was full of atmosphere, mystery, and suspense that bordered on horror. The cast was also intriguing: Hugh Jackman, Christian Bale, Michael Caine, and Scarlett Johansson. After viewing the trailer, I immediately went to the internet movie database (www.imdb.com) to get some more information on the film. Upon arriving at the site, I noticed that it was based on a novel that was published over 10 years ago. I immediately procured a copy of the novel and started reading it on Tuesday, August 8.
I finished it on Wednesday, August 9.
The Prestige was the veritable “book that you cannot put down.” The book chronicles the rivalry of 2 fictional 19th century magicians, Alfred Borden and Rupert Angier, the levels to which the rivalry rose and the depths to which each (along with their heirs) sunk in order to win. There is science, magic, murder, intrigue, love, death, wealth, poverty, and, above all, mystery. Late last night, when I reached the climax of the novel where everything was made known, I uttered aloud an “OH MY GOD” even though I live alone and was READING A BOOK! The climax uncovered the author’s masterful manipulation of the reader (me) throughout the first part of the novel. It did not end there, and in this, the author was even more deliciously devious. My discovery of this mystery with 80 pages left to read lulled me into a false sense of complacency whereby I did not expect the rapid- fire succession of surprises that were yet to come. The novel itself proved to be a most wondrous magic trick. I could barely fall asleep after completing it. I kept turning over the narrative in my mind and marveled at how the author had so easily manipulated me. Moreover, I was amazed by how much I enjoyed the experience. I cannot recommend this book enough. If you are looking for an incredibly fun read that will keep you guessing until the end, The Prestige is the novel for you. The only problem with discussing the novel is that there is no way to tell you about the relevant plot points of the story without giving the whole thing away. I would not have wanted anyone to take away the fun of the journey; therefore, I will extend to you the courtesy of secrecy.
Having discussed The Prestige, I can now turn my attention to discussing a few more films of the summer. First up is Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest. In their infinite wisdom (yeah, right), Disney brought back the entire team from the first film and signed them for 2 more (PoC: At World’s End will debut next May). This means that Jerry Bruckheimer, Gore Verbinski, Keira Knightley, Orlando Bloom, and last but NOT least, Johnny Depp all returned. I’ll be honest: except for Johnny Depp, I could have done without the rest. As with any sequel, when the cast gets larger, the screen time afforded the rest must go down. Here, we are introduced to Davey Jones, Bootstrap Bill Turner, the crew of the damned on the Flying Dutchman, the evil new head of the British east India Company on the Island, the voodoo priestess…do you sense a pattern here? The first film succeeded because of Johnny Depp and in spite of Orlando Bloom. Granted, the ladies might enjoy Bloom as eye candy and I personally think that Keira Knightley is a looker, but the root of the success of the first film was Geoffrey Rush as Barbarossa and Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow. Depp gets greatly reduced screen time in order to give service to the rest, and the film suffers as a result. Throwing special effects at the screen does not help matters, and I left the theater feeling rather cheated at the short shrift afforded Depp. Oh well…the film was not as bad as Superman Returns, but it could have been better. The great surprise was the return of Jack Davenport’s character of Norrington (
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