In the movie “The Prestige,” the two magicians’ obsession led them to do whatever the cost takes to outcompete each other. Consequently, their rivalry brought massive loss and pain. And still, despite experiencing sacrifices at the beginning, they pushed forward with no regard. I clearly remember the answer of Robert Angier to Olivia’s question while arguing: “What about your wife?“ “I don’t care about my wife. I care about the tricks”.
Robert’s purpose of life became making an awe-inspiring performance, “seeing the face of the people wondering”, and the prestige. Tesla warned him while building the machine. He left a note near the box saying, “My only instruction is — destroy it!”. Even Angier’s employer, John Cutter, quoted “An obsession is a young man’s game”, refusing to travel to America to just learn the trick of “The Transported Man”. In my opinion, the “young” here means unwise, meaning the obsession is for unwise ones. Alfred also faked the keyword “Tesla” on a note, so that his secret can’t be reached by Robert — what a true rival.
Indeed, Christopher Nolan’s movies don’t go forward in the timeline. The 2 characters reading each other’s notes and the movie narrating those moments, with the starting scene actually being the end. I took the time to recall the moments in the movie now. At the end, when Robert and Alfred revealed their secrets, I again felt that I had to watch it again — Nolan’s masterpiece requires greater attention. I did so. And some moments I overlooked at 1st started to make sense.
For instance, the whole movie’s plot was shown in a single catch — when a magician “hid” the bird in a cage and brought it back, the boy cried “He killed it”; Alfred showed the bird, but the child desperately asked “But where is his brother?”. Yes, the prestige requires a sacrifice. Both magicians were obsessed with higher prestige, with inevitable sacrifices.
Watching the film, I understood that every human desire comes with its cost. The more reels scrolled, the more time and attention wasted. The more you eat fast food, the more you become obese. The more you put worldly things as your priority, the more you lose the simple yet valuable ones. Alfred saw his wife committing suicide. Fallon had to cut off his finger to be a duplicate of Fred, making their show greater. Robert had to drown every time he made his copy to get the attention of the people. Both interfered with each other, making the rivalry the meaning of their lives.