Where to watch The Prestige (2006)
The Prestige is available to stream in AU on HBO Max and SBS On Demand. It can also be rented or bought from AppleTV and Amazon.
Two stage magicians become locked in a bitter rivalry after a tragic accident, each pursuing the perfect illusion while obsession, deceit, and jealousy push them toward increasingly dangerous choices. Set in Victorian-era London, their competition demands sacrifice and keeps the truth just out of reach.
Cast: Christian Bale, Hugh Jackman, Michael Caine, Piper Perabo, Rebecca Hall, Scarlett Johansson, Samantha Mahurin, David Bowie, Andy Serkis, Daniel Davis, Jim Piddock, Christopher Neame
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Trivia & production notes
- Christopher Nolan read The Prestige novel while in London to publicize Memento in October 2000 and immediately shared the story with his brother Jonathan during a walk through Highgate.
- The Nolan brothers spent five years intermittently writing the screenplay together, deliberately structuring it around three dramatic acts corresponding to the film's three magic elements: the pledge, the turn, and the prestige.
- Author Christopher Priest approved the adaptation, calling it an extraordinary and brilliant script, despite two major changes from the novel: the removal of a spiritualism subplot and replacing the modern-day frame story with Borden awaiting execution.
- Production designer Nathan Crowley began designing sets in Christopher Nolan's garage using scale models, drawings, and images before any shooting commenced.
- The production crew searched Los Angeles for approximately 70 locations that resembled fin de siècle London, and a portion of the Universal back lot was transformed into Victorian London rather than constructing elaborate sets.
- Jonathan Nolan traveled to Colorado Springs to research Nikola Tesla and based the electric-bulb scene on actual experiments Tesla had conducted; the scene was later shot in the parking lot of Mount Wilson Observatory.
- The Prestige contains the first IMAX 70mm film camera shot used in a narrative feature film, when a visual effect sequence featuring Christian Bale's duplicated character was filmed so Nolan could test whether IMAX footage could be reduced to 35mm and used in effects.
- David Julyan composed the score after having previously collaborated with Christopher Nolan on Following, Memento, and Insomnia, and the soundtrack's three sections mirror the film's narrative structure.
- Thom Yorke of Radiohead recorded the song Analyse for the film's credits.
- Cinematographer Wally Pfister used soft earth tones with white and black backgrounds to bring the actors' faces to the foreground, while Nolan employed handheld cameras and natural light instead of artificial lighting to maintain a quick production pace despite it being a period piece.
Adapted from the Wikipedia article The Prestige, available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Rewritten for StreamShack; errors are ours — tell us about them.
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