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 mortage troubles. He shows you this carefully. 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 of course 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».
You know the source, of course.
All that we are doing now is waiting for "Prestige" part made by our magic elites :-) I really hope it won't be like in that water tank :-)
As a long time Houdini fan, I was massively disappointed by the revelation that the "best trick" in the film was really just a cheap trick made conveniently possible by a science fiction. Other than that, the acting and cinematography were good.
I also hope the prestiege part isn't like the main trick either. I don't want a GH3 that I have to chop the flash unit off of, nor do I want a fancy new disposable camera.
I still think the best illusionist in media is George Oscar Bluth, Jr more commonly known as G.O.B. from Arrested Development:
Love the movie. As a former professional illusionist, however, I can say most of the 'rules' they made up and many of the tricks (that backpack thing that killed the bird, etc) don't come from the world of magicians. The Illusionist was far more faithful to what sorts of illusions were actually being performed at the turn of the century.
An instant classic. Thanks for the reminder. Looking up the BluRay release to purchase.
great movie
One of Nolans better movies. Now let's see what the druids have cooked up in the cauldron of matrixes...
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