Prestige, The (2006)

[bunniefuu]

BORDEN:
Are you watching closely?

[CHIRPING]

CUTTER: Every 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.

[AUDIENCE CLAPPING]

He shows you this object...

...perhaps he asks you to inspect it...

...to see that it is, indeed, real.

Yeah, unaltered, normal.

But of course, it probably isn't.

- Where do you think you're going?
- I'm part of the bloody act, you fool.

[ELECTRICITY CRACKLING]

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, of course,
you're not really looking.

You don't really wanna 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.

[GARGLING]

PROSECUTOR:
The Prestige. And did Robert Angier...

...the Great Danton, your employer...

...get to that final part
of his trick that night?

- No, sir. Something went wrong.
- What went wrong?

I saw someone
making their way below stage.

I followed him.

It was Borden,
watching Mr. Angier drown.

PROSECUTOR: Would you please describe
your occupation to the jury, Mr. Cutter?

I'm an ingénieur.

I design illusions and construct the
apparatus necessary for performing them.

PROSECUTOR:
So, Mr. Cutter...

...was this water-filled tank
beneath the stage...

...part of Mr. Angier's illusion?

No, no. It was--

The tank was brought on for the first
trick and then taken off-stage.

Borden must have placed it
under the trap door after the interval.

How large was this tank?

Oh, it's a normal tank for escape
underwater, about 4 or 500 gallons.

How do you think Mr. Borden...

...was able to move the tank under
the trap door without anyone noticing?

He's a magician. Ask him.

[CROWD LAUGHING]

DEFENDER:
I ask again that this man explain...

...the mechanics of Mr. Angier's illusion.

The Real Transported Man...

...is one of the most sought-after
illusions in this business.

I have the right to sell it on.

If I reveal the method here,
then the trick is worthless.

How can we know that the tank wasn't
some part of the trick that went wrong?

Mr. Cutter, I see your predicament...

...but Alfred Borden's life
hangs in the balance.

If you were prepared to disclose
the details to me in private...

...I might be able to judge
their relevance to the case.

Might this be
an acceptable compromise?

GUARD: I'm gonna have to ask you
to turn out your pockets.

Not my idea, sir.

The warden saw his show
in Manchester last year...

...where he vanished into thin air.

He's convinced he'll try and escape.

[SHOUTING]

I told him the only way
that Borden's gonna disappear...

...is if I leave him out there
with the other inmates.

Check the locks.

Twice.

My name is Owens.

I'm a solicitor.

I represent Lord Caldlow, accomplished
amateur magician and historian--

BORDEN:
How much?

- Lord Caldlow is interested--
- How much for my tricks?

Five thousand pounds.

Talk with Fallon, my ingénieur.
Money's for him.

Yes, I did.
He offered to sell me your tricks.

All except the most valuable one:
The Transported Man.

Well, I wouldn't forgive myself
for selling my greatest trick.

Even for your daughter?

If the newspapers are right
and you are for the drop...

- ...your daughter will need looking after.
- Fallon will take care of her.

Bernard Fallon? A man with a past
almost as obscure as your own.

Courts motioned that the girl
be removed from his care.

No, the girl will be an orphan.

I know you're no stranger to
the workhouse. It's better than here?

I'm offering you a way
to wrap up your affairs with dignity.

And I'm offering your daughter
a future.

As Lord Caldlow's ward,
she will want for nothing. Ever.

Well, think it over.

And Lord Caldlow would like you
to have this as a show of good faith.

He said it might be of interest.
This is Robert Angier's diary.

Including the time he spent
in Colorado learning your trick.

- He never learned my trick.
- Really?

On his return from Colorado, he mounted
a version of The Transported Man...

...that the papers said
was better even than your original.

If you want Angier's secrets,
you go dig him up and ask him yourself.

I want your secret, Mr. Borden.

Consider your daughter.

ANGIER:
A cipher. An enigma.

A search. A search for answers.

Even if Colorado
is the end of my journey...

...it'll take much longer to unravel
the rest of Borden's secrets.

See, the cipher in his notebook
is unlocked by a single word...

...but it will still take months to translate
his writing and to know his mind.

Well, my passion is equal to the task.

MAN: Mr. Angier?
Welcome to Colorado Springs.

- The whole town has electricity.
- Yes, sir.

Well, quite a reception.

You're our first guest of the season,
Mr. Angier.

Your telegram didn't indicate
how long you'll be staying with us.

For as long as it takes.

I'll need a coach tomorrow
to take me up the mountain.

Well, the peak is closed, sir,
for scientific experimentation.

Yes, I know. That's why I'm here.

Whoa, whoa.

You'll have to walk the rest,
I'm afraid, sir.

Ah!

ALLEY: I'm amazed how many of you
newspaper writers can't read my sign.

Not the welcome I was expecting.

I know you.

You're the Great Danton.
I saw your show in London seven times.

You guessed every object
the audience had in their pockets.

I'm Alley.

Sorry about the fence.
People interfere with our work.

- I've come to see Tesla.
- Why?

He made a machine
for a colleague of mine some time ago.

- Can you get me a meeting with him?
- Impossible, I'm afraid.

I brought a lot of money.

I'm sorry, Mr. Angier.

I simply can't help you.

I'll be staying at the hotel.
Indefinitely.

Hey, what am I holding?

ANGIER:
Your watch.

[LAUGHS]

ANGIER: Borden's journal entry
for April 3rd, 1897...

...describes a show
at the Orpheum Theater.

That was just days
after he first met me.

BORDEN: We were two young men
at the start of a great career.

Two young men devoted to an illusion.

Two young men
who never intended to hurt anyone.

MILTON: Which of you brave souls is
willing to bind this lovely young woman?

[AUDIENCE CLAPPING]

MILTON:
if you would tie her wrists.

Bind her feet around the ankle.

Are either of you
two gentlemen sailors?

- No.
- No.

MILTON: I'm sure you can both
tie a strong knot.

[MILTON CLAPS]

[TICKING]

He's complacent,
he's predictable, he's boring.

I mean, Milton has gotten success,
whatever that means...

...and now he's scared.
He won't take any risks at all.

I mean, he's squandering
the goodwill of the audience...

- ...with tired, second-rate tricks.
- They're old favorites.

Favorites? Give me something fresh.
He won't even try a b*llet catch.

A b*llet catch is suicide.

All it takes is some smart-a*s volunteer
to put a button in the barrel.

- Fine. Use a plant.
ANGIER: You can't for every trick.

- There'd be no seats left for the punters.
- No b*llet catch.

But the point is that a real magician
tries to invent something new...

...that other magicians
are gonna scratch their heads over.

And then you sell it to him
for a small fortune.

- All right.
- Yeah.

I suppose you have such a trick.

- Actually, I do.
- Would you care to sell it to me?

No.
No one else could do my trick.

- Any trick can be duplicated, right?
- Wrong.

If Mr. Borden
has invented his masterpiece...

...it might be only he's
prepared to do it.

Milton is a great showman,
but Borden is right.

He won't get his hands dirty.

If you wanna see what it takes
to make real magic, go to the Tenley.

There's a Chinaman there,
and he really has what it takes.

- Chung Ling Soo.
- Pricey. I can't afford that.

I know the bloke on the door.

You two go and see that show...

...and whichever one of you
can tell me...

...how he does
the goldfish-bowl trick...

...gets a prize.
BORDEN: All right.

- Which is?
- Ten minutes on-stage...

...with my old friend Mr. Ackerman.

- Really?
- Who's Ackerman?

The top theatrical agent in London.

I saw you drop the knot again.

JULIA: I think I turned my wrist.
- Some nights you don't get it, do you?

I mean, if that knot slips and
Julia's on the hoist, she'll break a leg.

It's the wrong knot. Like I said,
the Langford double will hold tighter.

The Langford double isn't a wet knot.
It's too dangerous.

If the rope swells up, she won't slip it.

- I can slip a Langford underwater.
- She can slip it. We'll practice.

Hey, Borden, he said no.

Yeah, well, you know knots
better than me, do you?

Listen, no more mistakes.

All right. Yeah, do you?
You wanna take over?

- Just leave it.
- I didn't think so.

- Hey, Cutter, where's he from?
- Where are you from?

- He shifts props for Virgil at the hall.
- Don't you worry he'll steal your tricks?

- He doesn't deal in methods.
- How do you know?

Because I hired him to find out
how Virgil does the orange trick.

- Well, I don't trust him.
- He's a natural magician.

Of course you can't trust him.

I think he's all right.

- You think everyone's all right.
- Even you.

Watch your sight lines. If I can see you
kissing your wife's leg every night...

...so can the blokes
at the ends of row three and four.

[CLAPPING]

ANGIER: You're wrong. It can't be.
BORDEN: No, it is.

- Look at the man.
- This is the trick.

This is a performance right here.

This is why no one
can detect his method.

Total devotion to his art.

Utter self-sacrifice, you know?

It's the only way to escape all this,
you know.

All right.

ANGIER: I can barely lift this thing
and it's not even filled with water.

Or fish. Look.

I don't know. Hang on a second.

He must be strong as an ox.

He's been pretending
to be a cr*pple for years.

Any time he's in public. Any time
he goes out. It's unthinkable.

Borden saw it at once,
but I couldn't fathom it.

Living my whole life
pretending to be someone else.

- You're pretending to be someone else.
- I don't think changing a name compares.

Not just your name.
Who you are and where you're from.

I promised my family...

...I wouldn't embarrass them
with my theatrical endeavors.

I thought of a name for you.

The Great Danton.

[ANGIER CHUCKLES]

Do you like it?

- But it's sophisticated.
- It's French.

ANGIER: Borden writes as if no one but
he understood the true nature of magic.

But what does he know
of self-sacrifice?

You bloody fool.

[CLAPPING]

- He k*lled it.
- What?

What's wrong?

- He k*lled it.
- I'm sure he didn't.

See? Look, now
he'll bring it back.

[CLAPPING]

No, he k*lled it.

No.

Look. See?
He's all right. He's fine.

- Look at him.
- But where's his brother?

He's a sharp lad, your son.

Oh, he's my nephew.

Oh.

You're the lucky one today.

Are you watching closely?

Look closer.

Never show anyone.

They'll beg you and flatter you for the
secret, but as soon as you give it up...

...you'll be nothing to them.

You understand? Nothing.

The secret impresses no one.

The trick you use it for is everything.

- Well, thank you for lunch, Mr. Borden.
- You're welcome.

- Alfred. It's Alfred.
- Alfred.

So I could use a cup of tea.

I'd scandalize the landlord. I think not.

You think that's--?
Is that enough to keep me out?

[SARAH LAUGHS]

I think so.

So I'll see you again?

BORDEN:
Milk and sugar?

[BOTH LAUGHING]

JUDGE: What's in there?
CUTTER: Angier's machine.

You built this, Mr. Cutter?

Oh, no, sir.
This wasn't built by a magician.

This was built by a wizard.

A man who can actually do
what magicians pretend to do.

Tell me, Your Honor, what happens
with these things after the trial?

They've been sold to a Lord Caldlow.

An avid collector,
apparently very interested in the case.

Yeah, well, don't let him take this.

- Why ever not?
- It's too dangerous.

I'm sure beneath its bells and whistles
it's got a simple and disappointing trick.

Most disappointing of all, sir...

...it has no trick.

It's real.

JUDGE:
This is the tank Angier drowned in?

CUTTER:
Yes.

This is the place where the
performer's hand reaches through...

...to the trick padlock.

A standard magical apparatus
for escapes.

Yeah, with one important difference:

This isn't a trick lock.

It's been switched for a real one.

What a way to k*ll someone.

They're magicians, Your Honor.
Showmen.

Men who live by dressing up plain
and sometimes brutal truths...

...to amaze, to shock.

Even without an audience?

There was an audience.

You see, this water tank...

...was of particular significance
to these two men.

Particularly awful significance.

MILTON: Which of you brave souls is
willing to bind this lovely young woman?

If you would tie her wrists.

Bind her feet around the ankle.

Are either of you two
gentlemen sailors?

No.

I'm sure you can both
tie a strong knot.

[MILTON CLAPPING]

Subtitle | www.movieddl.me

Robert!

No! No! No!

Julia. Julia.

Julia! Julia!

[GASPING]

CUTTER:
I knew an old sailor once.

He told me he went overboard,
tangled in the sails.

They pulled him out,
but it took him five minutes to cough.

He said it was like going home.

What do you want, Borden?

I'm sorry for your loss, Angier.

Which knot did you tie?

I keep asking myself that.

- And?
- And...

I'm sorry, I just don't know.

You don't know?

I'm sorry.

You don't know?

You don't know?

SARAH:
Alfred?

Good news.
We got our first booking today.

- I don't think we've had the pleasure.
- Mr. Fallon is my ingénieur.

- Where did you get all of--?
- Begged, borrowed, and don't ask.

He's a very enterprising soul,
is Mr. Fallon.

- So--
- We can't afford to pay him.

Money will come
when we get the audience.

But what about until then? I mean,
what I earn, it's barely enough for us.

Don't worry about it. I'll share
half my food with him or something.

You're already going to be doing that
with someone else.

- No. You're--?
- Having a baby.

Oh, my God.
We should have told Fallon.

That is great. We're having a baby.

- We're having a baby.
- Oh, come here.

[BOTH LAUGHING]

Alfred, what's this?

Oh, this is just the trick to wake
Ackerman up at the end of my act.

Is it the masterpiece? The great trick?

No, no, no. The world is not ready
for that one yet.

This is just your run-of-the-mill,
daring, spectacular b*llet catch.

- A b*llet catch?
- Yeah, but it's safe, I promise. Look.

- sh**t me.
- sh**t you?

Go on, sh**t me.

- Right there.
- No, I can't.

No, no, not there.
sh**t me here. Don't--

[g*nsh*t]

[LAUGHING]

- How's that?
- That's very good.

- Go on, tell me how you do it.
- No, I can't do that.

- Well, then you can't do it. Alfred--
- I can't do it?

I'm sorry, Alfred,
but I can't raise a child on my own.

- You don't tell anybody that I told you.
- Okay.

Gunpowder...

...wadding...

...and a b*llet.

A ramrod.

Hold out your hand.

The b*llet is not even in the g*n
when the charge is fired.

Once you know,
it's actually very obvious.

Well, I mean, you still get--

It's dangerous. I mean,
people still get k*lled doing that.

- Well, how?
- Well, you know.

Somebody could get a smart-a*s.
He can put a penny or a button...

...or may God forbid, Sarah,
somebody could put a b*llet there.

Don't worry. Don't worry...

...because I'm not gonna let
anything happen.

Everything's gonna be all right...

...because I love you very much.

- Say it again.
- I love you.

- Not today.
- What?

Well, on some days it's not true,
and today you don't mean it.

Maybe today you're more
in love with magic than me.

I like being able to tell the difference.

It makes the days it is true
mean something.

All right.

[CROWD CHATTERING]

BORDEN:
Metal rings, ladies and gentlemen.

If there are any
ladies or gentlemen here.

- Solid metal.
MAN 1 : Seen that already.

WOMAN 1 : Leave it out!
MAN 2: Come on.

[CROWD BOOING]

Get out your g*n, mate.

- Who threw that?
- I did!

[CROWD BOOING]

MAN 2: Get out your g*n.
You're gonna need it.

[BOOING]

MAN 2:
Get a g*n.

It's what you came for, is it?

[CROWD GASPING]

So who wants to volunteer?

MAN 3:
Me! Me!

[CROWD SHOUTING]

MAN 4:
Me.

MAN 5:
Watch it, cowboy.

Are you man enough, sir?

Yes.

Which knot did you tie, Borden?

Which knot did you tie, Borden?

I don't know.

[g*nsh*t]

Ah!

[LAUGHING]

BORDEN: He came in to demand
an answer, and I told him the truth.

That I have fought with myself
over that night.

One half of me swearing blind
that I tied a simple slipknot...

...the other half convinced
that I tied the Langford double.

I can never know for sure.

How can he not know?

ANGIER:
How can he not know?

He must know what he did. He must.

BORDEN:
Sarah, that bloody hurts.

SARAH: I don't understand
how it can be bleeding again.

It's as bad as the day it happened.

- We have to get a doctor back.
- We can't afford the bloody doctor back.

[BABY CRYING]

- You've woken her.
- Great.

I'm sorry. I need this to heal
so I can go back to work.

Alfred, face things. What tricks
can you perform with this kind of injury?

I can do card pulls.
I can do some prop tricks.

I can still do that. And I can do the
trick that I've been telling you about.

The one that they're gonna
remember me for.

Come on.

Never thought I'd find an answer
at the bottom of a glass.

Hasn't stopped you looking.

Heard about a booking.

Nice little theater.
Young, up-and-coming magician.

- Who?
- You.

You got me a booking? Why?

I wanna keep on working.

And who's gonna hire the ingénieur
that k*lled Julia McCullough...

...in front of a sellout crowd
at the Orpheum?

Someone who knows
it wasn't your fault.

Someone who knows Alfred Borden
and his repertoire of exotic knots.

I hear he had a spot of bad luck
catching a b*llet south of the river.

That's a dangerous trick, that one.

We'll have to whitewash the windows...

...confound the more curious members
of the public, but it will do.

[ANGIER STOMPING]

- We should see about an assistant.
- I've made some arrangements.

Have you settled on a name?

Yes, I have. The Great Danton.

It's a bit old-fashioned, isn't it?

No, it's sophisticated.

ANGIER: The birdcage can't be
our cl*max. Everybody knows it.

- Not like this, they don't.
- I don't wanna k*ll doves.

Then stay off the stage.
You're a magician, not a wizard.

You gotta get your hands dirty
if you're gonna achieve the impossible.

In here, Miss Wenscombe.

No point in you meeting Mr. Angier
if you don't fit.

On the right.

What's so hard about this?

Nothing. But you're going down here.

CUTTER: Hold it. Hold it there.
This has gotta go around there.

ANGIER: And this will conceal it?
- Yeah, oh, sure.

- All right?
- Yeah.

CUTTER: Now, take that one there.
- Yep. Okay.

- Pin this under.
- And this ties up here?

- That ties at the front.
- That's good.

CUTTER:
Breathe as little as possible.

Now, you see? That'll go.
That'll flatten.

- I see. Yeah.
- Okay.

She's not experienced,
but she knows how to present herself.

A pretty assistant is the most
effective form of misdirection.

Thank you.

Ladies and gentlemen,
for my final trick...

...I will require the assistance
of two volunteers.

Mr. Merrit, if you would oblige me?

CUTTER:
Yeah. Okay. Bring your hand around.

- Under?
- Under, yeah.

There. I put it around its foot.

ANGIER: Careful.
- He's all right, ain't he?

- You get a volunteer to put a hand there.
- Yeah.

CUTTER:
And another one there.

Mr. Merrit, if you'll place your hands
on either side of the cage, please.

Thank you, Olivia.

You best not be intending...

- ...to hurt this animal, Mr. Angier.
- Of course not.

You ready? All right.

One...

Two...

- Three.
- Three. Go.

Well, that's bloody marvelous,
Cutter.

Very nice.

And the best part is...

[ANGIER LAUGHING]

I thought you said
I had to get my hands dirty.

Someday perhaps you will.
I just had to know that you can.

- Very nice. Very nice, indeed.
- Thank you, Mr. Merrit.

I haven't had the chance
to compliment your beautiful theater.

Well, it'll be a lot more beautiful
when it's full.

- Don't worry.
- Oh, you all say that.

Why should I worry? If your tricks
don't get them in, somebody else's will.

Maybe somebody willing to do
a b*llet catch or a water escape?

Cheap thrills, Mr. Merrit.

People hoping for an accident,
likely to see one too.

What would that do for your business?

- You got a week, John.
- Thank you, Mr. Merrit.

[LAUGHS]

[CLAPPING]

Thank you.

Sir? In the third row there.

Please stand up
and show us your handkerchief.

[AUDIENCE LAUGHS]

This isn't mine.

Perhaps you'd be so good as to return it
to the lady in the aisle.

I believe she has yours.

[CLAPPING]

Thank you.

I'm sorry. I'm so sorry.
I'm making so many mistakes.

I'm so nervous.

The audience doesn't seem
to be responding.

They've seen a lot of tricks before,
but not this next one.

Put a cloth over.

- Fingers crossed.
- I'll have the champagne ready.

[CLAPPING]

[CROWD JEERING]

- You've seen this one before?
MAN 1 : We've seen them all.

I'll make it a little harder then, shall I?

Two volunteers, please. A lady and
a gentleman to hold this cage with me.

I'll perform this feat in a manner
never before seen by yourselves...

...or any other audience
anywhere in the world.

Madam, if you'll place one hand
on the back of the cage...

...one hand on the front.

Sir, one hand on the bottom
of the cage, one hand on the top.

[SNAP]

Ah!

[CRYING]

- Should have spotted him.
- You had a lot of plates going.

- Don't suppose they'll let us do it again.
- No.

ANGIER: What's the cl*max of our show?
- Show? You don't have a show.

We have a week's engagement.

To perform magic, not butcher birds
and break my customers' fingers.

Clear out. Anything here
in the morning gets burned.

- Mr. Merrit--
- It's done, John.

I've hired a comedian.
You know I hate comedians.

CUTTER:
Well, there's plenty of good theaters.

If we can come up with a new trick,
change the name of the act--

The name stays.

Right. Well, then the new trick's
gonna have to be irresistible, then.

I have a couple of methods to try out.

And then we need a new angle
on the presentation.

Oh, and if you need some inspiration...

...there's a technical exposition
at the Albert Hall this week.

Engineers, scientists, you know?

That sort of thing
captures a public's imagination.

[THUNDER RUMBLING]

[THUNDER RUMBLING]

Mind if I join you? Tesla sends me
down here during the storms.

Perfect excuse to come join
the Great Danton for a drink.

Two of them.

Beautiful, isn't it, huh?
God, I miss New York though.

- So why are you here?
- The lightning lives here.

And not much else.
Our work is secret.

Is that a cipher?

It's a rotating transposition
that shifts every day of the diary.

Simple, but time-consuming
to translate...

...even when you have
the five-letter keyword.

Which is?

We magicians have a circle of trust.

You have a circle of trust
with someone whose diary you stole?

Maybe I bought it.

And you're hoping to find
a great secret in there.

I've already found it.
That's why I'm here.

Tesla built one for another magician.

- Why would you want the same thing?
- Call it a professional rivalry.

Mr. Tesla has built unusual machines
for unusual people.

But he would never talk about it.

I understand discretion.
I just want the machine.

Finish your drink.

I wanna show you something.

I think you'll have a special
appreciation for our work.

- I thought it was a secret.
- You're a magician.

Who's gonna believe you?

Not long now.

Our equipment requires
a great deal of current.

Tesla electrified the whole town...

...in exchange for using
the generators when we need to.

We do our tests
when the townspeople are asleep.

Mr. Tesla doesn't wanna scare anyone.

Where are the wires?

Exactly.

- Where's the generator?
- You saw it last week.

- That must be 10 miles from here.
- Fifteen.

And I have to ride all of them
before I get to bed.

I'll send word for you
in a few days, Mr. Angier.

ANGIER:
Magic. Real magic.

MAN: Now appearing only here
at London's Royal Albert Hall.

One of the miracles of our age.

A technological marvel.

You've never seen anything like it
in your lives.

Your eyes will not believe
what they're witnessing.

The miracle of Nikola Tesla,
ladies and gentlemen.

Free, clean power.
Would you like to know the future?

The man speaking now
is going to change the world.

Ladies and gentlemen, come one,
come all. Immediate seating, no waiting.

[ELECTRICITY CRACKLING]

Ladies and gentlemen, I'm sorry...

...but objections have been raised...

- ...concerning the safety...
- Does that look safe to you?

Part of Thomas Edison's
smear campaign...

...against Mr. Tesla's
superior alternating current.

MODERATOR:
Mr. Alley, please.

We have asked Mr. Tesla
to reconsider...

ALLEY: Which he will not.
- ...his presentation.

But I've been told he refuses
to appear under any such restrictions.

Clear the hall!
This thing is gonna blow!

- Clear the hall!
- Ladies and gentlemen, please!

Where's the switch?

This is all perfectly safe.

BORDEN:
Hey.

Hello, you.

Hello, Jess.

Have you had a nice day with Mummy?

Sarah, I love you.

- See? Today it's true.
- Yeah.

Hello.

ANGIER:
I saw happiness.

Happiness that should have been mine.

But I was wrong.

His notebook reveals
that he never had the life that I envied.

The family life
that he craves one minute...

...he rails against the next,
demanding freedom.

His mind...
His mind is a divided one.

His soul is restless.

His wife and child tormented
by his fickle and contradictory nature.

What do you think?
What do you think you'll call her?

I don't know.

Everybody needs a name.
So, what's hers?

Maybe Sarah.

That's a lovely name.
That's a lovely name.

You talk about what you wanna do
for the rest of the day.

All right? Go on. You talk with her.

They're taking her away?

To the workhouse?

Now, you keep talking.

Tell Owens I've reconsidered.
Take it. Go on, take it.

It's for the best.

Let me see.

I'm gonna learn
all the Professor's secrets.

Only if I teach you how to read.

They're just stupid tricks, right?

Haven't helped you
get out of here, have they?

Or can't you undo real locks,
Professor?

Well, maybe I'm just biding my time.

Maybe one day I'll open my hand,
get your attention, ask:

"Are you watching closely?"

Maybe a magic word or two.

And then I'll be gone.

[LAUGHS]

How'd you get so famous, then, eh?

Magic.

[PRISONERS LAUGHING]

Borden, get back here!

Thank you.

Shut up! Get him down!

Thank you.

Who's got a bloody key?

ANGIER:
February 8th, 1899.

Today, finally a breakthrough.

Tesla's agreed to see me.

It's perfectly safe.

[ELECTRICITY CRACKLING]

So this is the Great Danton.

Mr. Alley has effused about your act
to me on any number of occasions.

Hold out other hand.

What's conducting the electricity?

Our bodies, Mr. Angier,
are quite capable of conducting...

...and, indeed, producing energy.

Have you eaten, Mr. Angier?

I need something impossible.

You are familiar with the phrase,
"Man's reach exceeds his grasp"?

It's a lie.

Man's grasp exceeds his nerve.

Society only tolerates
one change at a time.

The first time
I tried to change the world...

...I was hailed as a visionary.

Second time,
I was asked politely to retire.

So here I am, enjoying my retirement.

Nothing is impossible, Mr. Angier.

What you want is simply expensive.

If I were to build for you this machine...

...you would be presenting it
merely as illusion?

Well, if people actually believed
the things I did on-stage...

...they wouldn't clap, they'd scream.
I mean, think of sawing a woman in half.

Mr. Angier, have you considered
the cost of such a machine?

Price is not an object.

Perhaps not,
but have you considered the cost?

I'm not sure I follow.

Go home. Forget this thing.

I can recognize an obsession.

No good will come of it.

Hasn't good come of your obsessions?

At first.
But I have followed them too long.

I am their sl*ve, and one day,
they will choose to destroy me.

If you understand an obsession, then
you know you won't change my mind.

So be it.

Will you build it?

I have already begun to build it,
Mr. Angier.

I hope you enjoy the mountain air.

This will take some time.

I thought you'd gone.

I don't really have anywhere to go.

You've been sleeping here?

Cutter said it'd be all right till we get
another booking. What are you doing?

Research.

Part of a magician's job is to watch
his competition, to see what illusions--

You're going to do something
to that man, aren't you?

Cutter's hoping you'll let things lie.

He says if Borden thinks things
are even between you two--

Even?

My wife for a couple of his fingers?

He has a family now, right?
And he's performing again.

Borden is living his life just as he always
intended, as if nothing had happened.

And look at-- Look at me, all right?

- I'm alone and no theater will touch me.
- Us.

You're going to need a better disguise.

Need a volunteer.

OLIVIA:
What happened?

Did you hurt him?

What happened, Robert?

You, sir.

Just a rubber ball, yes? Thank you.

Just a rubber ball, no.

Not normal. Not a normal rubber ball.

It's magic.

He had a new trick.

OLIVIA:
Was it good?

It was the greatest magic trick
I've ever seen.

[SPARSE CLAPPING]

ANGIER:
Did they applaud when you saw it?

The trick was too good,
it was too simple.

- The audience hardly had time to see it.
- He's a dreadful magician.

No, he's a wonderful magician.
He's a dreadful showman.

He doesn't know how to dress it up,
how to sell--

- How does he do it?
- Uses a double.

No, no, no, it's too simple.
This is a complex illusion.

You only say that because
you don't know the method.

It's a double at the end.
It's the only way.

I've seen him perform the trick
three times now.

- The Prestige is the same man.
- No, it's not.

The same man comes out
of that second cabinet.

It's the same man.

He wears padded gloves
to hide his damaged fingers...

...but if you look closely you can tell.

He doesn't know how to sell it
to an audience, but I do.

Yeah, well, we can use it
as a cl*max to the show.

Yes.

The man stole my life,
I'm gonna steal his trick.

- Find someone who looks like you.
- He doesn't use a double.

Robert, I don't know
how Borden does the trick, so either--

You either wait for him to retire
and buy the secret...

...or you listen to how I would do it.

The only way that I know how to do it
is to find you a bloody good double.

All right.

Take a good look.
Let's get out there and find me.

BORDEN:
Whoo!

Look. Look.

What's that?

That is for you.

What's this for?

Come here.

- I asked you last week. You said you--
- You caught me in a wrong mood.

But you went over all the--

Sarah, I'm allowed
to change my mind, aren't I?

The act is taking off,
soon we'll be in a bigger theater.

Things will work out.

[LAUGHING]

I can't believe it. Thank you.

Thank you. It's beautiful.

Gerry?

Darling, look at you.

Mr. Cutter, Mr. Angier,
I'd like you to meet Gerald Root.

ROOT:
Hm.

[WHISPERING INDISTINCTLY]

[OLIVIA LAUGHS]

A pleasure.
Pleasure to meet you fine gentlemen.

Would you like for me
to tell you a little joke? Come here.

There we are. Yes?

Are you laughing now?

[LAUGHING]

Oh, dear, I have to take a piss.

- He's out of his mind.
- Of course. He's an out-of-work actor.

He's perfect. He needs a little help...

...but when I get done with him,
he could be your brother.

I don't need him to be my brother,
I need him to be me.

Give me a month.

Come around.

So you open the door and...

[ANGIER CHUCKLES]

Come on.

Ugh!

- Couldn't you have found a softer one?
- Well, it's not for sleeping on.

- So if you come down through there...
- Mm-hm.

- ...does Root go up through there?
- Yep.

It's going to be amazing, Robert.

Well, it has to be.
Borden's trick is getting noticed.

The place was packed today.

You went and saw his show again.

Ready to meet yourself, Mr. Angier?

All I have to do is keep myself drunk...

...and no one will be able
to tell the difference.

Have a little faith, sir.

Now, would you favor us
with a performance, Mr. Root?

[ROOT LAUGHS]

Jesus.

[CLAPPING]

Yes, you would drink too if you knew
the world half as well as I do.

Did you think you were unique?

I have been Caesar. I played Faust.

How difficult could it possibly be
to play the Great Danton?

You can go back to being yourself now,
Root, for nothing.

I'd rather be him for now.

I find it amusing.

[CHUCKLES]

My liege, I did deny no prisoners.

- You look wonderful.
ROOT: Oh, thank you.

Root has to keep a low profile.
Anyone sees him, the game's up.

I don't know how you do these things.
I'm not sure I wanna know.

Have you thought
what we should call the trick?

There's no point in being coy.

Borden calls his trick
"The Transported Man."

[AUDIENCE CLAPPING]

Ladies and gentlemen,
much of what you've seen tonight...

...may be termed as illusions
or entertaining trifles.

[CLAPPING]

Alas...

...I cannot claim
this next feat as illusion.

Watch carefully.

You'll see no trickery...

...for no trickery is employed.

Merely a technique familiar
to certain citizens of the Orient...

...and various holy men
of the Himalayas.

Indeed, many of you
may be familiar with this technique...

...but for those of you who aren't,
do not be alarmed...

...what you're about to see
is considered safe.

[CLAPPING]

[CLAPPING AND CHEERING]

[CLAPPING AND CHEERING]

To our achievement.

The manager says
he's never seen a reaction like it.

At least he got to see it. I spent
the ovation hiding under the stage.

No one cares about the man
who disappears into the box.

They care about the one
who comes out.

- I care about the man in the box.
- Thank you.

I don't know. Maybe--
Maybe we could switch before the trick.

I could be the Prestige
and Root ends up below.

No, the anticipation of the trick
is everything.

We need your showmanship
to build up the suspense.

Once Root opens his mouth, it's over.
He can't introduce this trick.

Of course I can. I'm the Great Danton.

Root, you bloody fool.
Get out of that wardrobe and makeup.

Anyone could walk in here
at any minute.

Congratulations, all.

Life is not full of these moments,
Robbie. We worked hard.

We need to celebrate properly.

What's wrong? Is it your wife?

No. No, it's the trick.
It isn't good enough.

Borden's trick is nothing
compared to ours. He has no style.

Well, he doesn't spend the finale
hiding under the stage.

I need to know how he does it.

- Why?
- So I can do it better.

I need you to go and work for him.

Work for him? Are you joking?

You'll be my spy.

We just got our start.
You want me to leave?

That's how we advance.
Think of it, Olivia.

We got people excited, but imagine
what we could do with the real illusion.

We'd have the greatest magic act
anyone's ever seen.

He knows I work for you.

Exactly why he'll wanna hire you.
He'll want my secret.

- Why would he trust me?
- Because you're gonna tell him the truth.

Hm?

Good girl.

You must be curious to see what so
much money has bought you, Mr. Angier.

It's fitting you should be here
for maiden voyage.

Your hat.

You might wanna stand back.

[ELECTRICITY CRACKLING]

I don't understand.

Perhaps it would be best
if you left us to it.

- Is there a problem, Mr. Tesla?
- No, no, no.

- Come back next week.
- Next week?

- Come back-- Next week, it'll be fine.
- Tesla.

She's just a little temperamental
sometimes.

[DOOR CLOSES]

OLIVIA: Interesting workshop.
- Yeah, we make do.

- My name is Olivia Wenscombe--
- I know who you are.

You here to steal my show?

I'm here to give it what it's missing.

- Yeah? What might that be?
- Me.

[LAUGHS]

I was just saying that, wasn't I,
Bernard? Woman's touch.

OLIVIA: I've left Angier.
- All right.

- I want a job.
- Yeah?

- I know you've no reason to trust me--
- Why wouldn't I trust you?

I mean, you're only the mistress of
my enemy. Why wouldn't I trust you?

- Mr. Borden--
- Alfred.

I'm going to tell you the truth.

Now that is a slippery notion
in our line of work...

...isn't it, Miss Wenscombe?

I am here because he sent me here.

He wants me to work for you
and steal your secret.

What does he need my secret for?

His trick is top-notch.

He vanishes and then he reappears
on the other side of the stage...

...mute, overweight and,
unless I'm mistaken, very drunk.

It's astonishing. How does he do it?

And tell me, Olivia, does he enjoy
taking his bows under the stage?

No, it's k*lling him.

He's obsessed
with discovering your methods.

He thinks of nothing else.

He takes no pleasure in our success,
and I've had enough.

There is no future with him.

He sent me here to steal your secrets,
but I've actually come to offer you his.

This is the truth, is it?

Think you'd better get dressed, sir.

Root, you're late
and more drunk than usual.

- Now, get down below stairs right away.
- No.

No, we need to have
a little chat, Mr. Cutter.

We have a problem.

Cutter, Borden is performing
right across the street.

Yeah? We have a bigger problem.

Root. He's realized
he can make demands.

Wha--? He's blackmailing us?

I was surprised, to tell the truth.

It usually takes them longer
to figure it out.

- Well, how much does he want?
- Well, it makes no difference.

- We gotta stop doing the trick.
- Stop the trick? Cutter, look at this.

Well, look at yesterday's,
look at last week...

...where they said you were
the premier stage performer in London.

Not magician, mind you.

- Performer of any kind.
- Well, what's your point?

My point is, Robert,
is you've climbed too high...

...to get away
with professional embarrassment.

We don't do any tricks
we can't control.

Just pay him
whatever he wants for now.

We keep doing the trick until Borden
opens and then we'll phase it out.

All right.

ANGIER: Cutter was always surprised
how fast Root turned bad.

To what do I owe the pleasure
of this rather welcome pint of ale?

- You're the Great Danton, aren't you?
- Shh, shh, shh.

Of course I am, but don't advertise it
because I'll be mobbed with fans.

ANGIER: We paid him enough
to keep him in beers...

...so you wouldn't expect him
to rock the boat.

Indeed, many of you
may be familiar with this technique.

But for those of you who aren't,
do not be alarmed...

...what you're about to see
is considered safe.

And who are you?

I am a humble admirer
and a fellow practitioner.

Hm. Very good.

- Another?
- Oh, if you insist.

- Another.
- I'm not performing tonight.

Well, I'm only doing one show...

...but to be frank, my people
pretty much run things these days.

Get up there!

Get up!

Your illusion, The Transported Man...

...I'm not claiming
to know your methods or anything...

...but I had a similar trick in my act,
and I used a double.

Oh. I see. Very good.

Well, it was, and then it went bad.

What I didn't count on, was that when
I incorporated this bloke into my act...

...he had complete power over me.

Complete power, you say.

[SNAPS FINGERS]

[CLAPPING]

Oh!

Be very careful giving someone
that power over you.

Well, thank you.

Yes, thank you for the warning.

Cheers.

I cannot claim this next feat
as illusion.

What you're about to see
is considered safe.

Ah!

[GRUNTING]

[AUDIENCE LAUGHING]

[AUDIENCE LAUGHING]

Oh!

The Great Danton.

[AUDIENCE LAUGHING
AND CLAPPING]

I apologize.

There simply is too much magic...

...for my stage at the Pantages
across the street.

MAN 1 : Bravo!
MAN 2: Bravo!

Pardon my intrusion.

MAN 3: Bravo!
BORDEN: And go easy on the poor chap.

He does try so very hard.

I don't know how Borden found him.

Kept him under wraps, I was careful.

Yeah, well, he did.

Do you think it was her?

You weren't expecting me?

I was expecting you sooner.
Your message said afternoon.

It takes a bit
for me to get around these days.

He's taken everything from me.

My wife, my career, now you.

What do you mean?
You sent me--

I sent you to steal his secret,
not to improve his act.

- That's my job.
- Or fall in love.

- I did everything you asked!
- Yes? Yes?

- Then how does he do it?
- Cutter was right, a double.

- Of course Borden said that.
- He didn't say anything. I've seen things.

Makeup, glasses, wigs. We don't use it
for the show, but I've seen it backstage.

Misdirection. He leaves things around
to make you think he's using a double.

All the time?
He doesn't know when I look.

All the time, Olivia!

That's who he is! That's what it takes!

He lives his act! Don't you see?

Just because you're sleeping with him
doesn't mean he trusts you.

You think you can see everything,
don't you?

But the Great Danton is a blind fool.
His notebook.

You stole it?

I borrowed it for tonight.

I thought you could translate it,
but now--

ANGIER: I can't.
- You can't?

Olivia, no one can, it's a cipher.

Even with the keyword
it would take months to decode.

- And without the keyword?
- Perhaps never.

- We'll see.
- We will not see.

If I don't get that back to him
tomorrow, he'll know I took it.

- Leave him.
- I can't. He knows where I live.

This is his diary, Olivia.

All of his secrets
are right here in my hands.

Won't bring your wife back.

I don't care about my wife,
I care about his secret.

Look...

...I'll go to his workshop
and stage a break-in.

- He'll know you took it.
- Yes, me. Not you.

Understand?

Robert.

I have fallen in love with him.

Then I know how hard
this has been for you.

Notebook?

Then he's just getting started.

[AUDIENCE CLAPPING]

[DRUM ROLL]

[ELECTRICITY CRACKLING]

[CLAPPING]

[CHATTERING]

BORDEN: Good evening.
WOMAN 1 : Professor.

MAN 1 :
Professor.

BORDEN: I, uh...
WOMAN 2: Could I get your autograph?

I'm walking tonight.
Let him come. I don't care.

MAN 2: Professor.
MAN 3: Professor.

[MAN SHOUTING]

[CRACKING]

[HAMMERING]

[g*nsh*t]

- You all right?
- I'm alive.

Saves me cutting you an air hole.

- I'm impressed.
- Why's that?

You're finally getting your hands dirty.

It's what a good trick costs, Angier.

Risk.

Sacrifice.

The sacrifice, I'm afraid, is gonna be
yours, unless you give me what I want.

- Which is?
- Your secret.

My secret?

Your method for The Transported Man.

Fallon wouldn't tell me.
He doesn't seem to talk at all.

You have my notebook.

Useless without the keyword.

Write down your method, Mr. Borden.

Describe it in full.

I want the whole method,
not the keyword.

I don't even know
if your secret's in your notebook.

The keyword is the method.

Where's my ingénieur?

- Alive?
- How fast can you dig?

Fallon! You hear me? Fallon!

- How's the arm?
- Still attached.

- Did you find your answer?
- Our answer.

Cutter, I haven't looked yet.
I wanted you to share this.

I already know how he does it, Robert.

The same way he always has.
The same way as we do.

It's just that you want
something more.

Well, let's find out then,
shall we?

What does it mean?

[LAUGHS]

It means, Cutter,
we have a journey ahead of us.

- To America.
- Robert?

Listen to me.

Obsession is a young man's game.

- Oh, come on.
- I can't follow you any further in it.

I can't. I'm sorry.

Then the rest is up to me.

I'm sorry.

Good evening. Hello, darling.

Champagne, your finest.

I didn't know we were
going to be joined for dinner.

- Absolutely. We are celebrating.
SARAH: Miss Wenscombe.

Mr. Fallon.
Well, what are we celebrating?

Well, we've hit upon a new trick,
haven't we, Fallon?

- What trick, Freddy?
- Yes, Freddy, what trick?

I am going to bury myself alive
every night...

...and then someone will come along
and dig me up. Wonderful.

- I think my husband's had quite enough.
- Pour the champagne. Come on, pour--

Right. Sarah, don't talk to me like that.
I'm not a child.

- Perhaps it would--
- Perhaps, Mr. Fallon...

...you might escort Miss Wenscombe
home. My husband's being a bore.

- I see no reason why you have to suffer.
- Oh, please. Don't ruin this evening.

Good night, Mrs. Borden.
Good night, Freddy.

- "Freddy"?
- Well, that's my name.

- Not at home.
- Well, I'm not always at home, am I?

Well, couldn't you have at least
taken off the beard?

Sarah, I just came from
the bloody theater just now.

All right? And I'm out in public.

- Everybody else loves it.
- Why are you being like this, Alfred?

I had a terrible ordeal today.

I thought that something
very precious...

...had been lost to me.

So I just wanted to celebrate.
Just a little.

All right, what?

What did you lose?

I see, more secrets.

Sarah, secrets are my life.

- Our life.
- No, Alfred, stop.

This isn't you. Stop performing.

I thought I had the place
to myself, Mr. Brent.

Unexpected guests.
Not very polite. A lot of questions.

First I thought they might work
for the government.

- No?
- Worse.

They work for Thomas Edison.

BORDEN:
Today, a most curious development.

His assistant came to us
with a proposition.

Obviously, Angier has sent her
and told her to admit as much.

Does he enjoy taking
his bows under the stage?

He sent me here to steal your secrets,
but I've actually come to offer you his.

This is the truth, is it?

No, that's what he told me
to tell you. The truth...

...is that I loved him, and I stood by him,
and he sent me to you...

...like he would send a stagehand
to pick up his shirts.

I hate him for that.

I can spot Angier's methods
from the back of the theater.

So, what could you possibly
have to offer me?

You know how he does his tricks,
but you can't understand...

...why no one can see yours
are better. You hide this.

I had to look very closely to spot it when
you perform The Transported Man...

...but this makes you unique.

It shows the audience
you aren't using a double.

You mustn't hide it,
display it proudly.

I'm sure it takes great skill to
perform illusions with one good hand.

Yeah, it does.

So let people know.

You could be so much more than he is,
and I can show you how.

BORDEN:
I think she's telling the truth.

I think we cannot trust her.

But I love her. I need her.

To open myself
to such a relationship...

...to the dangers of such an affair...

...I need assurances of fidelity.
Of love.

But how to be sure?

I know a way.
It's the only way to know her mind.

How could he send you away?

BORDEN:
She must help me rid ourselves of Angier.

Today, my mistress proves
her truthfulness.

Not to me, you understand.

I've been convinced
since she led me to Root.

Today, Olivia proves her love for me
to you, Angier.

Yes, Angier.

She gave you this notebook
at my reąuest.

And, yes, "Tesla" is merely the key
to my diary, not to my trick.

Did you really think I'd part with
my secret so easily after so much?

Goodbye, Angier.

May you find solace for your thwarted
ambition back in your American home.

Tesla!

Tesla! Alley! Alley!

Tesla never made a machine
like the one I asked for.

- We never said he had.
- But you let me believe that he had.

You stole my money because
your funding had been cut off.

You've been sh**ting sparks at my
top hat, laughing at me all along...

...while using my money
to stave off ruin.

- Now, I have seen Edison's men.
- Where?

In the hotel. And I have every mind
to bring them up here myself.

TESLA:
That would be unwise, Mr. Angier.

It is true that you are
our last remaining financier...

...but we have not stolen your money.

Sir, my cat.

TESLA: When I told you I could make
your machine, I spoke a simple truth.

- Then why isn't the machine working?
- Because exact science, Mr. Angier...

...is not an exact science.

The machine simply does not operate
as expected.

It requires further examination.

- So where did my top hat go?
- Nowhere.

We tried the damn thing
a dozen times.

The hat went nowhere.

TESLA:
We need to try different material.

It may provoke a different result.

[CAT MEOWING]

ALLEY:
Copernicus, come on.

You are responsible for whatever
happens to this animal, doctor.

I hope that whatever you were doing
with my money was more worthwhile...

...Mr. Tesla.

[MEOW]

[MEOWING]

[MEOWING]

[GROWLS]

Alley!

So the machine was working.

I never bothered to check the calibration
because the hat never moved.

These things never quite work
as you expect them to, Mr. Angier.

That's one of the principal
beauties of science.

I'll need a couple of weeks to iron out
the problems with the machine.

We'll send word when it's ready.

Don't forget your hat.

- Well, which one is mine?
- They're all your hats, Mr. Angier.

You look so pretty
in this new dress of yours.

Are we going to the zoo
this afternoon?

No, no, no.
Daddy has some errands to run.

- But you promised.
- I promised, did I?

Then go to the zoo we shall.

So Daddy will go run his errands
and I'll be back before you know it...

...so you go get ready.
We'll go see those chimpanzees.

[BORDEN IMITATES CHIMP SOUNDS]

Sarah.

What are you doing?

We each of us have our vices.

Sarah, whatever you may think...

...your only competition for
my affections is our little girl.

I love you. I will always love you
and you alone.

- You mean it today.
- Absolutely.

Which makes it so much harder
when you don't.

BORDEN: Is that more shopping?
She does love the smell of money.

The little lady wants to go to the zoo,
so I thought you could take her.

Yeah? I mean,
I can do it tomorrow if not.

And Sarah, she knows.

She-- I mean, at least she knows
that something's not right...

...so if you can just do whatever
you can to help me with her.

Talk to her. Just convince her
that I do love her.

- What is it, Freddy?
- Just don't call me that, please.

It's nothing. It's just, you know,
there's sometimes...

- Sometimes it seems wrong.
- I've told you before...

...when you're with me,
you're with me.

Leave your family at home
where they belong.

I'm trying.

I'm trying, Olivia.

- I'll get dressed.
- Yeah.

I saw Fallon hanging around again.

There's something
about that man I don't trust.

You trust me? Then trust Fallon.

He protects the things
that I care about.

We're sorry to see you go, Mr. Angier.

We were sorry to see
Mr. Tesla leave as well.

He was very good to Colorado Springs.

Mr. Angier...

...I didn't think it was necessary
to tell Edison's men about the box.

What box?

TESLA: I apologize for leaving
without saying goodbye...

...but I seem to have outstayed
my welcome in Colorado.

The truly extraordinary is not
permitted in science and industry.

Perhaps you'll find more luck
in your field...

...where people are happy
to be mystified.

You will find what
you are looking for in this box.

Alley has written you
a thorough set of instructions.

I add only one suggestion
on using the machine:

Destroy it.

Drop it to the bottom
of the deepest ocean.

Such a thing
will bring you only misery.

ANGIER: Tesla's warning is as unheeded
as he knew it would be.

Today, I tested the machine...

...taking precautions in case Tesla hadn't
ironed out the kinks in its operation.

I mean, if it went wrong,
I would not wanna live like that for long.

[ELECTRICITY CRACKLING]

ANGIER: But here at the Turn,
I must leave you, Borden.

Yes, you, Borden.

Sitting there in your cell...

...reading my diary,
awaiting your death...

...for my m*rder.

Angier's journal, that gesture
of good faith, that's a fake.

I assure you, it's not.

The provenance of the journal
is clear and under no doubt.

And it's written in Angier's own hand,
of which we had numerous examples.

It don't matter.

So my tricks.

- All of them.
- Including The Transported Man?

Well, Lord Caldlow
will be very pleased indeed.

No, he won't.
Because they're not complete.

It's just the Pledge
and the Turn for each.

Without the Prestige for these tricks...

- ...these are worthless.
- Yeah.

You get the rest of it
when you bring my daughter here.

I wanna say goodbye.

SARAH:
We have to go through it now.

Listen, we have to go through it now.
Now, listen to me.

Deny it all you want.

Olivia means nothing.

- Olivia?
- I need an assistant.

No, I'll go to her.

- I'll tell her I know--
- Tell her what?

I know what you really are, Alfred. I...

- I know, and I--
- Sarah, Sarah.

- I can't keep it in.
- You can't talk like this.

Sarah, shut up.

- No, no.
- Sarah, shut up!

I don't wanna hear it anymore!

You can't talk like this!

SARAH: You can't hide it anymore
because I know, Alfred, I know.

I know what you really are!

Alfred...

...I can't live like this.

Oh, well, you think I can live like this?

You think I bloody enjoy
living like this?

SARAH: Stop it and listen! No!
BORDEN: We have this beautiful house...

...lovely little girl, we're married.
What is so wrong with your life?

Alfred, I can't live like this!

Well, what do you want from me?

I want...

I want you to be honest with me.

No tricks...

...no lies...

...and no secrets.

Do you--? Do you love me?

Not today.

No.

[BIRDS CHIRPING]

[BIRDS CHIRPING]

Who's there?

I'm looking for an old friend.

ANGIER:
I heard about a booking.

Nice little theater.
Good up-and-coming magician.

- You're back.
- It's good to see you, John.

Good rehearsal space.

Blind stagehands, I like it.

You always had
a good eye for publicity.

I need your help, John.

It's my last show.
A limited engagement.

Your last show?

A wise man once told me
obsession was a young man's game.

I'm almost done.

There's one thing left.

The Real Transported Man.

You wanna design a show around it.

I don't want you backstage.
I need you front of house, managing.

I need you to call in favors
or connections you have.

- Get us the right booking for the run.
- What sort of booking you after?

The sort that Borden can't ignore.

What an honor it is
to see you again, sir.

You said you only wanted to show me
one trick. It piqued my interest.

- It's a very clever trick, Mr. Ackerman.
ANGIER: Pleased to meet you.

Likewise, I'm sure.
Well, let's get on, shall we?

ANGIER:
Turn it on, gentlemen.

[ELECTRICITY CRACKLING]

Very pretty.

That's it, Cutter?
He simply disappears?

That's not a trick.
Well, he has to come back.

There has to be a--

ANGIER: A Prestige?
- Exactly.

Pardon me.

It's very rare to see...

...real magic.

- It's been many years since I've seen--
ANGIER: Are you interested in helping us?

Yes.

But you'll have to dress it up a little.

Disguise it.

Give them enough reason to doubt it.

OLIVIA: You haven't spoken about her,
Freddy. Not once.

Why would I talk about her to you?

Because she was a part of your life.

And now she's gone.

The day before she k*lled herself,
she said she wanted to meet me.

That she had something
to tell me about you.

I was such a coward,
I couldn't bring myself to face her.

But...

...what would she have said?

You wanna know the truth about me?

Truth is that...

...I never loved Sarah.

I never loved her.

- You married her, had a child with her.
- Yes, yes. Part of me.

Part of me did,
but the other part didn't.

The part that found you.
The part that's sitting here right now.

I love you.

No, Olivia, I love you. That's the truth.

That is the truth that matters.

You could be in some other restaurant
with some other woman right now...

...talking about me that way.

- No.
- Yes.

It's inhuman to be so cold.

He's back. After two years.

He's got a new trick. They're saying
it's the best London's ever seen.

You should see the look
on your face, Professor.

You should go to him.

You two deserve each other.

I'm afraid I'm booked. Moscow Ballet,
they'll be playing through next year.

Then get rid of them.
There'll be a hundred performances.

No more, no less.

Five performances a week.
No matinees.

And that's what you'll be charging
for each ticket. Good day.

[CLAPPING]

Ladies and gentlemen,
my first trick of the evening...

...is one that involves
considerable risk.

Anyone in the audience
who would be irrevocably damaged...

...by seeing a man drown
should leave now.

For when I tell you the young lady
who taught me this illusion...

...actually died performing it...

...you will understand the seriousness
of the dangers involved.

Let's begin.

[CLAPPING]

In my travels, I have seen the future...

...and it is a strange future indeed.

The world, ladies and gentlemen...

...is on the brink of new
and terrifying possibilities.

[TAPS CANE ON FLOOR]

What you're about to witness
is not magic.

It is purely science.

I would like to invite you
to come up on-stage now...

...so that you can examine
the machine for yourselves.

[ELECTRICITY CRACKLING]

[AUDIENCE GASPS AND CLAPS]

Man's reach exceeds his imagination.

MAN 1 :
Bravo!

[CHEERING AND CLAPPING]

MAN 2:
Bravo! Bravo!

Bravo. Bravo.

One hundred performances.
Why? Does his method dictate that?

Is it a publicity move? What is it?

He's a no-talent magician,
and they're calling him...

...the bloody best in England. Why?

Fifty yards in a second. In a second!

And all that we know
is he uses a trap door.

Brilliant. What is going on
under that stage? Huh?

Why can't you out think him?

They do this every night?
After each performance, yeah?

[SIGHS]

We're done.

All right?

Let him have his trick.

I don't need-- I don't need his secret.

So...

...don't go back there,
you leave him alone.

Both of us, just leave him alone.

We're done.

I told you, John...

...I don't want you backstage
on this one.

ANGIER: I would like to invite you
to come up on-stage now...

...so that you can examine
the machine for yourselves.

- Hey, where do you think you're going?
- I'm part of the bloody act, you fool.

[ELECTRICITY CRACKLING]

Who was that?

Hey!

Where's the bloody key?
Where's the bloody key?

Where's the bloody key?
Bloody drowning!

Hold on!

Ah!

What have you done?

JUDGE: Alfred Borden,
you have been found guilty...

...of the m*rder of Robert Angier.

You will be hanged by the neck
until dead.

May the Lord have mercy on your soul.

OWENS:
Mr. Cutter?

Owens.

Oh, thank you for coming, Mr. Owens.

It has fallen to me to dispose
of Mr. Angier's equipment.

But I noticed from this manifest...

...that Lord Caldlow
has purchased the bulk of the items.

Mr. Cutter, if you need to know where
to deliver these items, surely you--

No, no. It's just
there is one particular item...

...this item, in fact,
that I would like to--

- You would like to...?
- Buy.

- Buy yourself?
- Yeah, I suppose so.

- This is the machine?
- Yes.

I'm afraid Lord Caldlow was adamant
about purchasing this particular item.

Do you think I could talk
to Lord Caldlow in person?

Out of the question, I'm afraid.

Of course...

...I suppose if, in the course
of your delivery arrangements...

...your paths were to cross...

- ...I can't stop you speaking your mind.
- Thank you.

[DOOR OPENS]

GUARD: Still here, Borden?
- For now.

Got a visitor.

Lord Caldlow.

With a little girl.

Jess?

Hello, my love.

How are you? I've missed you so much.

And Fallon's missed you too.
We both have.

Daddy, can I come in there?

Not right now. Not right now, darling.

No, but everything is gonna be all right.

- You must be Lord Caldlow.
- Caldlow.

Yes, I am.

I always have been.

They flatter you
with all those chains, Alfred.

Don't they know you can't escape
without your little rubber ball?

I pulled you out.

Out of that tank.

All I wanted to do was prove
that I was a better magician...

...but you couldn't leave me alone.

I don't know what you've done...

...but you're not afraid to get
your hands dirty anymore, are you?

No, not anymore.

And I win.

Because no one cares about the man
in the box, the man who disappears.

You win?

This ain't a bloody competition anymore,
Angier, this is my little girl's life.

And don't you dare put her
in the middle of this.

Oh, I know how hard it is
to have someone so special...

...taken away from me,
don't I, Borden?

And you can't take her with you now,
can you?

Oh, she'll be looked after.

- Goodbye, Professor. Come on, darling.
- No, no, no. Stop, stop, stop. Look.

Here.

That's what you're after.

That's what this is about.

Take it.

- Your secret?
- Yeah.

You always were the better magician.

We both know that.

But whatever your secret was,
I mean, you have to agree...

[RIPPING PAPER]

...mine is better.

Don't do this. Don't do this,
Angier, no. Jess, Jess, Jess.

Jess, I'm gonna take you home soon.
I promise.

- For God's sake, Borden.
- I promise. Look.

I promise.

- I love you, Jess. I love you.
ANGIER: Come on.

- Come on. Come on.
- I love you. I love you, Jess.

Angier. Angier!

What, you think this place
can hold me?

Angier! They're gonna
bloody hang me!

They're gonna bloody hang me!
You can put a stop to this now!

- Listen! Listen! That man--!
GUARD: Just shut up.

Listen, that man is the one
I'm meant to have k*lled!

You blind b*stard, listen to me!

- If he's alive, I'm not guilty!
GUARD: Guards!

- I'm not guilty!
- I don't care! Get hold of him!

ANGIER: Goodbye, Professor.
- Angier!

Run along now.

Sir. There's a gentleman waiting.

CUTTER:
Dear God.

Hello, Cutter.

You're-- You're still alive.

How is it you're still alive, Robert?

I saw you on a slab, for God's sake.

HOUSEKEEPER: Child.
JESS: Good night, sir.

ANGIER:
Good night, Jess.

CUTTER:
I've seen her before.

I saw her in court with Fallon.

- What have you done?
- Well, she needs looking after.

She needs her father.

You're letting him hang,
and I helped you.

I came here to beg Lord Caldlow
to let me destroy that machine.

I am not gonna beg you for anything.

You don't have to. I'm gonna make sure
that machine's never used again.

Then, Lord Caldlow...

...where do you want me to deliver it?

My theater.

It belongs with the Prestige materials.

John, I tried not to involve you.

So...

...we go alone now.

Both of us.

Only I don't have as far to go as you.

No.

You were right, I should have left him
to his damn trick.

I'm sorry.

I'm sorry for a lot of things.

I'm sorry about Sarah.

I didn't mean to hurt her.

I didn't.

You go live your life
in full now, all right?

You live for both of us.

Goodbye.

Are you watching closely?

Put it down the end.

Take a minute to consider
your achievement.

I once told you about a sailor
who described drowning to me.

Yes, he said it was like going home.

I was lying. He said it was agony.

WARDEN:
Alfred Borden...

...this day, in the name of the king
and the High Court of England...

...you will meet your end.

No one cares about
the man in the box.

Cutter?

Cutter?

WARDEN:
Do you have anything to say?

Abracadabra.

[g*nsh*t]

[GRUNTING]

A brother.

A twin.

You were Fallon the whole time.

No.

We were both Fallon.
And we were both Borden.

Were you--? Were you the one
who went into the box...

...or the one who came back out?

We took turns.

The trick is where we would swap.

Cutter knew. Cutter knew.

But I told him
it was too simple, too easy.

No.

Simple maybe, but not easy.

There's nothing easy
about two men sharing one life.

Ah!

I don't understand
how it can be bleeding again.

What about Olivia? And your wife?

We each loved one of them.

I loved Sarah.

He loved Olivia.

We each had half of a full life, really,
which was enough for us.

Just.

But not for them.

See, sacrifice, Robert,
that's the price of a good trick.

But you wouldn't know
anything about that, would you?

I've made sacrifices.

- No.
- Yes.

It takes nothing
to steal another man's work.

It takes everything.

No. No.
No, wait! I'm the--!

[g*nsh*t]

It took courage.

It took courage to climb
into that machine every night...

...not knowing
if I'd be the man in the box...

...or in the Prestige.

Do you wanna--?
Do you wanna see what it cost me?

You didn't see where you are, did you?

Look. Look.

I don't care.

You went halfway around the world.

You spent a fortune.

You did terrible things.

Really terrible things, Robert.

And all for nothing.

- For nothing?
- Yeah.

You never understood why we did this.

The audience knows the truth.

The world is simple. It's miserable.

Solid all the way through.

But if you could fool them,
even for a second...

...then you could make them wonder.

And then you...

Then you got to see something
very special.

You really don't know?

It was-- It was the look on their faces.

[GASPS]

CUTTER: Every magic trick consists
of three parts or acts.

The first part is called the Pledge.

The magician shows you
something ordinary.

The second act is called the Turn.

The magician takes
the ordinary something...

...and makes it into
something extraordinary.

But you wouldn't clap yet...

...because making something
disappear isn't enough.

You have to bring it back.

Hey.

CUTTER:
Now you're looking for the secret.

But you won't find it because,
of course, you're not really looking.

You don't really want to work it out.

You want to be fooled.