In the
fantastic film the Prestige a plethora of questions arise. A more central
question however is who is actually the victim? Borden? Or Angier? I feel that the director Mr. Nolan did a fantastic job of keeping the viewer guessing. I feel he intentionally makes both Angier and Borden seem like the victim. I think in the end that most people come to realize that Borden was the true victim. Even though, Angier had his wife taken from him by Borden trying to prove himself to Cutter. As the story progresses, I feel Angier becomes less and less the victim and more into the role of the aggressor. I think in the end the competition and the obsession these two men had for each other drove them to lose their loved ones and their fame. When Angier buried Fallon alive I think the whole competition was taken to a whole new level. A level I think both of them regret. This ultimately drove Angier to go to America, develop the machine that allows him to be and show the REAL transported man. This drives Borden to be obsessed with how he does this trick. Leading him to find out the copying that takes place. This causes the demise for Borden because his brother gets sentenced to death. This means Borden's magic career is over. That drives him to the point of desperation to get his daughter back and kill Angier. In the end I feel they are both the victim to each others obsession.
I feel that it is just the opposite, in thew begining you sympathize with Borden, he feels distraught over the question of which knot was tied, and then he gets a family. Angiers seem like an ucky guy. As the film goes on you start to sympathize with Angiers as he is ruined by Borden taking his assistant, and then in America you end up hoping the machine will work. The I think sympathy ends with Borden as you learn about his twin.
ReplyDeleteI feel that if Angier is a victim to anything it is his own obsession. I lost all sympathy for Angier with the line "I don't care about my wife." That line is the turning point when I feel the viewer sees just how consumed he's become. I feel Borden is the victim to Angiers' obsession for the fact that Angiers starts the back and forth with 1) Blowing his fingers off, and 2) Stealing his trick, and 3) Sending in a spy; forcing Borden into playing his game. In the end all my sypathy lies with Borden once again when his brother his about to face the noose and his daughter has fallen into the hands of Angiers. Borden is willing to sacrifce the secrets of his prestige to save his daughter from him. Borden is truly the sole real victim. Angiers is only a victim to himself.
ReplyDeleteYeah but he killed Angiers wife.....FOR NO REASON!!! To try and prove that he is an acceptable magician. (to Lacuna) I feel you also prove the sympathy for Borden. I agree that these men have done their wrong however i feel that we should stop trying to sympathize with either one and just accept they are both the bad guys and both the victims.
ReplyDelete(to Vickie) I feel you shouldn't sympathize with Borden. He was told not to do that knot because they didn't practice it and thus he shouldn't have done it. He is at fault. It's all his fault for Angier's wife's death.
(To Evan) You say he shouldn't of done that knot, but we don't know what knot he tied so you can't really pass judgement for that TonyDinozzo27. And he did't purposely kill his wife, it was an accident. He didn't wake up that morning and was like "Man, I got it! Killing his wife, that'll put me on top!" HE DOESN'T EVEN KNOW WHICH KNOT WAS TIED, NOR DO WE.
ReplyDeleteWe do know what knot he tied. Maybe not directly. But obviously it is a different knot than what he tied the first time since she die in the first act we see. She dies in the second one. So he did do it purposely. SO BOOM!!! (to Brooke)
ReplyDelete*didn't die in the first act we see
ReplyDelete1) He didn't tie the knot to kill her, if he did tie that know it was because he thought it was a more effective (even safer) knot for the trick, as he explained to the old man. And 2) He got in trouble for tying the wrong knot the first time and she didn't die.
ReplyDeleteYou're right he didn't tie the knot to kill her but they didn't 1) practice getting out of that knot 2) and they told him not to do it but he did it anyway. This leads me to wonder why....and i believe it is because he wants to prove he is right....thus trying to prove he is better. And he didn't tie the wrong knot the first time....it slips this shows that the knot didn't work. So he then defaults to making the knot he is told to.
ReplyDeleteThe old guy when talking to him after the first show is yelling at him for tying the wrong knot which leads me to believe he actually went through with tying that knot the first time. Secondly there is a number of factors that could of played into the second show. You can make an educated guess on the knot he tied the second show but there is no way to know a %100 for sure (the directors made sure of that) thus I don't believe we should use that against him.
ReplyDeleteNO!!! He yells at him for trying to tie the wrong knot. HE SPECIFICALLY SAYS YOU LET THE BLOODY KNOT SLIP FOR EVERYONE TO SEE. It is obviously not the same knot though. And since he didn't tie the "death" knot the first show we can clearly infer that he did it the second time. Whether or not it is the same person we don't know but the knots are DIFFERENT.
ReplyDeleteNONE of the characters know for sure what knot is tied. That's a question asked to the very end. WHY. Because it's never answered. Yes, the points you are making are logical conclusions to draw. You still can't know for %100 unless you were to ask the directors themselves. And even they might not have an answer because they never intended there to be one
ReplyDeleteThere is no distinct evidence no but I feel that is irrelevant and all of our thoughts are opinions drawn from logical thought.
ReplyDeleteBut to incriminate someone you need facts and legitimate evidence.
ReplyDeleteNOPE! I am entitled to my opinion and my thoughts. I feel that everything that has been said is justification for Borden to not be the good guy and is just as guilty and wrong as Angier
ReplyDeleteCOOL BRO. You can have your opinion. But even if he did, one mistake doesn't make you a good or bad person. And he obviously felt remorse for it to.
ReplyDeleteNO I AM SAYING IT MAKES HIM JUST AS BAD AS ANGIER. NO HE DIDN'T. IF HE DID THEN HE WOULDN'T HAVE CONTINUED TO FUEL THE FIRE OF ANGER BETWEEN THE TWO
ReplyDeleteLet's agree to disagree.
ReplyDeleteOK I Agree to disagree
ReplyDeleteMaybe we could say that if he tied a different knot, he was finally hanged for it in the end. Does that make things better or worse?
ReplyDeleteI agree with the basic premise, however, that you are supposed to feel bad for Angier in the beginning, feel upset with both of them in the middle, but ultimately sympathize with Borden.
I think that it makes it more acceptable to be more sympathetic for Angier and less or Borden. I feel that they are both equally guilty and in the wrong for all they have done. I don't feel bad for either or them
ReplyDelete