The Prestige (2006) Movie Script
[MAN 1] Are you watching closely?
[CHIRPING]
[MAN 2] 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.
[APPLAUSE]
He shows you this object.
Perhaps he asks you to inspect it,
to see that it is indeed real,
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.
[LOUD ZAPPING]
The second act is called "the turn."
[ZAPPING]
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."
[MUFFLED SCREAMING]
[MAN] 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.
Would you please describe
your occupation to the jury, Mr. Cutter.
I'm an ingieur, I design illusions
and construct the apparatus
necessary for performing them.
So, Mr. Cutter, was this
water-filled tank beneath the stage
part of Mr. Angier's illusion?
No. The tank was brought
on for the first trick
and then taken offstage.
Borden must have placed it
under the trap door after the end of it.
How large was this tank?
It's a normal tank
for escape under water,
about 400 or 500 gallons.
How do you think he
was able to move the tank
under the trap door
without anyone noticing?
- He's a magician, ask him.
- [LAUGHING]
[MAN] I ask again,
would 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,
the trick is worthless.
How can we know
that the tank wasn't simply
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 going to 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.
[MEN SHOUTING]
I told him the only way
Borden's going to 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, an
accomplished amateur magician and...
[BORDEN] How much?
- He is interested...
- How much for my tricks?
Five thousand pounds.
Talk to Fallon, my ingieur.
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 won't forgive myself
for selling my greatest trick.
Even for your daughter?
If you are for the drop, your daughter
is going to need looking after.
Fallon will take care of her.
Perfect, Fallon.
A man with a past
as obscure as your own.
The courts have motioned she be removed
from his care. She 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.
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.
It might be of interest.
Robert Angier's diary, including
the time he spent in Colorado
learning your trick.
- He never learned it.
- Really?
On his return, 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'd be staying with us.
As long as it takes.
I will need a coach tomorrow
to take me up the mountain.
Well, the peak's closed, sir.
For scientific experimentation.
Yes, I know.
That's why I'm here.
Whoa. Whoa.
[DRIVER] You'll have to walk
the rest, I'm afraid, sir.
[RUMBLING]
[RUMBLING CONTINUES]
- [ELECTRICAL ZAPPING]
- [GROANS]
[DOOR SLAMS]
[MAN] 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 keep interfering 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've brought a lot of money.
I'm sorry, Mr. Angier.
I simply can't help.
I'll be staying
at the hotel, indefinitely.
Hey, what am I holding?
Your watch.
[ANGIER] Borden's journal
entry for April 3, 1897,
describes a show
at the Orpheum Theatre.
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.
[MAN] Which of you brave souls
is willing to bind
this lovely young woman?
[SHOUTING]
[MAN] Me!
- [APPLAUSE]
- [DRUM TAPS]
If you would tie her wrists,
bind her feet...
...around the ankle.
Are either of you two gentlemen sailors?
- No.
- No.
I'm sure you can both tie a strong knot.
[DRUM TAPPING CONTINUES]
[STOPWATCH TICKING]
[DRUM ROLL]
[APPLAUSE]
He's complacent,
he's predictable, he's boring.
Milton has gotten success,
whatever that means,
so now he's scared.
He won't take any risks at all.
He's squandering the goodwill
of his audience with tired,
- second-rate tricks...
- They're all favorites.
Give me something fresh.
He won't even try a bloody bullet catch.
A bullet catch is suicide.
All it takes is some smartass
volunteer to put a button in the barrel.
- Use a plant.
- You can't for every trick.
No seats left for the punters.
All right, no bullet catch, whatever,
but the point is a real magician
tries to invent something new
that other magicians will
scratch their heads over.
Then you sell it to him
for a small fortune.
- What?
- I suppose you have such a trick?
- I sure do.
- Would you care to sell it to me?
No. No one else can do my trick.
- Any trick can be duplicated.
- Wrong.
If Mr. Borden has invented
his masterpiece,
he's prepared to do it.
Milton is a showman,
but Borden is right,
he won't get his hands dirty.
If you want to 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.
- I can't afford that.
I know the bloke run 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 the prize.
- Which is?
- Ten minutes onstage
with my old friend, Mr. Ackerman.
- Really?
- Who's Ackerman?
The top theatrical agent in London.
- I saw you drop the knot again.
- [Woman] I turned my wrists.
Some nights you
just don't get it, do you?
I mean, if that knot slips
and Julia's on the hoist,
she'll break her 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, she can't slip it.
- I can slip a Langford underwater.
- We can practice.
- Borden, he said no.
- Oh, you know knots better than me?
Listen, no more mistakes.
All right. Yeah? Do you?
You want to take over?
- Just leave.
- I didn't think so.
Hey, Cutter, where's he from?
Where are you from? He shifts
props for Virgil at the hall.
- Worried he'll steal your tricks?
- Doesn't deal in methods.
- How do you know?
- Because I hired him
to find out how Virgil
does the orange trick.
- I don't trust him.
- He's a natural magician.
'Course you can't trust him.
I think he's all right.
- You think everyone's all right.
- Even you.
Watch your sightlines. If I can see you
kiss your wife's leg every night,
so can the blokes at the ends
of rows three and four!
[ORIENTAL-SOUNDING GUITAR STRUMMING]
[SNARE DRUM ROLL]
[ANGIER] You're wrong. It can't be.
- Look at the man.
- This is the trick.
This is the performance. Right here.
This is why no one
can detect his method.
Total devotion to his art.
A lot of self-sacrifice.
You know.
It's the only way to escape...
...all this, you know?
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 cripple 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 are pretending.
I don't think changing a name compares.
Not your name. Who you are
and where you're from.
I promised I wouldn't embarrass
my family with my theatrical endeavors.
I thought of a name for you.
- The Great Danton.
- [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.
[APPLAUSE]
- [WHIMPERING] He killed it.
- It's OK.
- He killed it.
- He didn't.
Look, now he'll bring it back.
- No, he killed it.
- No, he didn't.
[APPLAUSE CONTINUES]
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.
Ah.
[CHIRPING]
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 can't allow...
It's the landlord. It's not...
You think that's...
is that enough to keep me out?
[CHUCKLING] I think so.
So I'll see you again?
Milk and sugar?
What's in there?
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,
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.
The most disappointing of all, sir.
It has no trick.
It's real.
[SCOFFS]
This is the tank Angier drowned in?
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 kill 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?
[DRUM TAPS]
If you would tie her wrists,
bind her feet around the ankle.
- Are either of you gentlemen sailors?
- No.
[LAUGHTER]
I'm sure you can both tie a strong knot.
[MILTON CLAPS]
[STOPWATCH TICKING]
[DRUM ROLL]
[GASPS]
Robert!
No, no.
Julia. Julia!
[GASPS]
[CUTTER] I knew an old sailor once.
They 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?!
- Alfred?
- Good news. We got our first booking.
I don't think we've had the pleasure.
- Mr. Fallon is my ingieur.
- Where did you get all...?
- I had to borrow and... don't ask.
- He's a very enterprising soul
is... is Mr. Fallon. So...
- We can't afford to pay him.
- The money will come with the audience.
But what about until then?
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 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.
Oh, come here.
[CHUCKLING] Oh.
Alfred, what is this?
Oh, this is just the trick to work
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 bullet catch.
- A bullet catch.
- Yeah, but it's safe.
I promise. Look.
- Shoot me.
- Shoot you?
Go on, shoot me.
- Right there.
- No, I can't.
No, no, not there.
Shoot me here. Don't...
- [LAUGHS]
- How's that?
That's very good. Tell me how you do it.
No, I can't do that.
- Well, then you can't do it.
- I can't do it?
I'm sorry, but I can't
raise a child on my own.
You don't tell anybody that I told you.
- OK.
- Gunpowder.
Wadding.
Then the bullet.
Ramrod.
Hold out your hand.
The bullet is not even in the
gun when the charge is fired.
Once you know,
it's actually very obvious.
Well, I mean, you still get...
It's dangerous.
- People still get killed doing that.
- How?
You get some smartass who
could put a penny or a button
or, God forbid, Sarah, somebody
could put a bullet down 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, 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.
[BOOING]
[BORDEN] Metal rings,
ladies and gentlemen.
If there are any
ladies and gentlemen here.
- Solid metal.
- [MAN] Seen that already.
[BOOING]
Who threw that?
[BOOING CONTINUES]
This is what you came for, is it?
So...
...who wants to volunteer?
- [MAN] I do!
- [MAN 2] Me!
[SHOUTING]
Me.
Me.
[AUDIENCE SILENT]
Are you man enough, sir?
Yes.
Which knot did you tie, Borden?
Which knot did you tie, Borden?
I don't know.
- [GUNSHOT]
- [GASPS]
[GROANING]
[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.
Sarah, that bloody hurts.
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 doctor back.
[BABY CRIES]
- You've woken her.
- Great.
I'm sorry, I need this to heal
so I can get back to work.
You've got to face things. What tricks
can you perform with this injury?
I can do car pulls.
I can do some prop tricks.
I can still do that. I can do
the trick I've been telling you about.
The one that they're
gonna remember me for.
Come on.
I never thought I'd find an answer
at the bottom of a pint glass.
Hasn't stopped your looking.
Heard about a booking.
Nice little theater.
- Young, up-and-coming magician.
- Who?
- You.
- Me? Booking? Why?
I want to keep on working.
Who's going to hire the ingieur
that killed 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 bullet 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.
[STOMPS ON FLOOR]
- We should see about an assistant.
- I've made some arrangements.
You settled on a name?
Yes, I have.
The Great Danton.
It's a bit old-fashioned, isn't it?
No, it's sophisticated.
The birdcage can't be
our climax. Everybody knows it.
- Not like this.
- I don't want to kill doves.
Then stay off the stage.
You're a magician, not a wizard.
You got to get your hands dirty, if
you're going to achieve the impossible.
In here, Miss Wenscombe.
No point in meeting Mr. Angier
if you don't fit. On the right.
- What's so hard about this?
- Nothing.
You're going... down here.
[INDISTINCT TALKING]
- And this will conceal, right?
- Oh, sure.
- Tighten up on there.
- Yep.
OK.
This ties up here?
- Ties in the back.
- Good.
Breathe as little as possible.
Now, you see?
- That's it.
- OK.
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?
Yep.
- Under?
- Under, yeah.
Come around his foot.
- Careful.
- It's all right.
[GRINDING]
- Your volunteer, put their hand there.
- Yeah?
And another one here.
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.
- Ready? Right.
- One...
- Two...
Three.
That's bloody marvelous, Cutter.
Very nice.
And the best part is...
[CHUCKLING]
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.
I haven't had the chance to compliment
you on your beautiful theater.
It'll be a lot more
beautiful when it's full.
Don't worry.
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 bullet 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?
[CHUCKLING] You got a week, John.
- Thank you, Mr. Merrit.
- [CHUCKLES]
[UP-TEMPO CLASSICAL MUSIC]
Thank you.
- [MUSIC ENDS]
- [APPLAUSE]
Uh... Sir, in the third row there.
Please stand up
and show us your handkerchief.
- [LAUGHTER]
- This isn't mine.
Perhaps you'd return it to the lady
in the aisle of the second row.
I believe she has yours.
[APPLAUSE]
[UP-TEMPO PIANO MUSIC]
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.
Cloth over.
Keep your fingers crossed.
I'll have the champagne ready.
[APPLAUSE]
[ANGIER CHUCKLES]
[ALL GROANING]
- You've seen this one before?
- [MAN] We've seen them all before.
I'll make it a little
harder then, shall I?
Two volunteers, please.
A lady and a gentlemen.
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.
[DRUM ROLL]
Madame, 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.
- [SNAPPING]
- [WOMAN SCREAMS]
- I should've spotted him.
- You had a lot of plates going.
- Don't suppose we can do this again.
- No.
- So, what's the climax 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.
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
the public's imagination.
[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?
God, I miss New York, though.
- Why are you here?
- The lightning lives here.
And not much else.
Our work is secret.
That a cipher?
A rotating transposition
that shifts every day of the diary.
Simple but time-consuming to translate,
even with 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 want to 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 them.
We do our tests when
the townspeople are asleep.
Mr. Tesla doesn't want
to scare anyone.
[ELECTRICAL HUMMING]
Where are the wires?
Exactly.
Where's the generator?
You saw it last week.
- That must be ten 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.
Like to know the future?
The man who's speaking right now
is going to change the world.
Come one, come all.
Immediate seating, no waiting.
[LOUD ELECTRICAL ZAPPING]
Ladies and gentlemen,
[GASPS]
Objections have been raised...
They should be raised.
Does that look safe to you?
Part of Thomas Edison's smear campaign
against Mr. Tesla's
superior alternating current.
[MAN] We have asked Mr. Tesla
to reconsider.
[MAN 2] Which he will not!
But I've been told he refuses
to appear under any such restrictions.
- [GASPS]
- This thing's gonna blow.
Ladies and gentlemen, please.
[BORDEN] Hey.
Hello, Jess.
Have you had a nice day
with mommy? Huh?
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.
So, 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.
Well, you talk about what you want
to do for the rest of the day.
All right, go on, you talk with her.
Are they taking her away?
To the workhouse?
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?
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 whirl or two.
And then I'll be gone.
How'd you get so famous then?
Magic.
- Oi! Borden, get back here!
- [ALL LAUGING]
Thank you.
Shut up!
[LAUGHING CONTINUES]
Where's the bloody key?!
[DISTANT ELECTRICAL HUMMING]
[ANGIER] February 8, 1899.
Today, finally, a breakthrough.
Tesla's agreed to see me.
[ELECTRICAL ZAPPING]
Perfectly safe.
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.
Quite capable of conducting
and, indeed, producing energy.
Have you eaten, Mr. Angier?
[CHUCKLING] I need something impossible.
You're familiar with the phrase,
"MAN's reach exceeds his grasp"?
Is a lie.
Man's grasp exceeds his nerve.
Society only tolerates
one change at a time.
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.
Think of sawing a woman in half.
Have you considered the cost of this?
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 slave.
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've already begun
to build it, Mr. Angier.
I hope you enjoy the mountain air.
This will take some time.
[DEEP INHALE, EXHALE]
Uh... 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?
Uh... research.
Part of a magician's job
is to... watch his competition,
see what illusions...
You're going to do something
to that man, aren't you?
Cutter's hoping you let things lie.
He says if Borden thinks
things are even between you...
Even?
My wife for a couple of his fingers?
He has a family now
and he's performing again.
Borden is out there living
his life just as he intended,
as if nothing had happened
and look at me.
I'm alone and no theater will touch me.
Us.
You're going to need a better disguise.
I need a volunteer.
[WENSCOMBE] 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.
[WENSCOMBE] Was it good?
It was the greatest
magic trick I've ever seen.
- [DOOR OPENS]
- [MINIMAL APPLAUSE]
[ANGIER] Did they applaud
when you saw it?
It was too good. It was too simple.
The audience hardly had time to see it.
- He's a dreadful magician.
- A wonderful magician.
He's a dreadful showman.
He doesn't dress it up,
- how to sell it.
- How does he do it?
- He uses a double.
- No, it's too simple.
This is a complex illusion.
You say that because
you don't know the method.
It's a double that comes out.
It's the only way.
I've seen him perform it three times.
The prestige is the same man.
- No, it's not.
- The same man comes out of the 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, we could use it
as a climax to the show.
Yes.
The man stole my life,
I'm gonna steal his trick.
We got to find someone
who looks like you.
- He doesn't use a double.
- I don't know how Borden does it.
Either... You either wait for him
to retire and buy the secret,
or you listen to how I would do it.
And 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.
Whoo!
Look, look.
What's that?
- It's for you.
- What's this for?
Come.
[SARAH] You...
- I asked you last week...
- You caught me in a wrong mood.
- But you won't ever...
- Sarah,
I'm gonna have
to change my mind, aren't I?
The act is taking off. Soon we'll be in
a bigger theater, things will work out.
I can't believe it. Thank you.
Thank you. It's beautiful.
- Gerry?
- [GASPS] Darling, look at you.
Mr. Cutter, Mr. Angier,
I'd like you to meet Gerald Root.
Mm-hm.
- [WHISPERING INDISTINCTLY]
- [WENSCOMBE GIGGLES]
A pleasure. Pleasure
to meet you fine gentlemen.
Would you like for me
to tell you a little joke? Come here.
Yes. Are you laughing now?
[CHUCKLING]
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.
So you open the door...
...and...
[CHUCKLING]
[EXHALES]
Come on.
- [GROANS]
- [CHUCKLING]
Couldn't you have found a softer one?
Well, it's not for sleeping on.
So, if you come down through there...
...does Root go up through there?
- Yep.
It's going to be amazing.
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?
[ROOT SIGHS]
[WENSCOMBE GIGGLES]
All I have to do is
keep myself stinking 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?
[CLAPPING]
You'd drink, too, if you knew
the world half as well as I do.
Did you think you were unique?
I've been Caesar, I've 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, uh... amusing.
[CHUCKLES]
"My liege,
I did deny no prisoners."
- You look wonderful.
- Oh, thank you.
Root has to keep a low profile.
Anyone sees him, the game's up.
I don't know how you do things.
I'm not sure I wanna know.
Have you thought what we should call it?
There's no point being coy. Borden
calls his trick The Transported man.
[APPLAUSE]
Ladies and gentlemen, much
of what you've seen may be termed
- as illusions or entertaining trifles.
- [RIMSHOT]
[APPLAUSE]
Alas...
[DRUMROLL]
...I cannot claim
this next feat as illusion.
Watch carefully.
You will 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
are not, do not be alarmed.
What you're about to see
is considered safe.
[APPLAUSE, CHEERING]
[APPLAUSE, CHEERING CONTINUES]
To our achievement.
The manager says he's
never seen a reaction like it.
At least he saw it. I spent
the ovation hiding under the stage.
No one cares about
the man who disappears.
They care about the one who comes out.
I care about the man in the box.
Thank you. I don't know,
maybe we could switch before the trick.
I'm the prestige,
and Root's below stage.
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. We worked hard.
We need to celebrate properly.
What's wrong? Is it your wife?
No, it's the trick.
It isn't good enough.
BORDEN's trick is nothing
compared to ours. He has no style.
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.
People are excited by Cutter's
version. Imagine what we'd 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 want to hire you.
- He'll want my secret.
- Why would he trust me?
Because you're
gonna tell him the truth.
Hmm?
Good girl.
[RATTLING]
You must be curious to see what
so much money has bought you.
Fitting you should be here
for her maiden voyage.
Your hat.
You might want to stand back.
[ELECTRIC ZAPPING]
[FIZZLING]
I don't understand.
Perhaps it would be best
if you left us to it.
Is there a problem, Mr. Tesla?
- No. Come back next week.
- Next week?
- Next week, it will be fine.
- Tesla!
Just a little temperamental.
[DOOR CLOSING]
- Interesting workshop.
- Yeah, we make do.
- My name is Olivia...
- I know who you are.
Here to steal the rest of my show?
To give your show what it's missing.
- Yeah, what might that be?
- Me.
[CHUCKLES] I was just
saying that, wasn't I?
- A woman's touch.
- 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?
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 topnotch.
He vanishes,
and then he reappears instantly
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?
It's killing him. He's obsessed
with discovering your methods.
He thinks of nothing else,
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 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. 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
that he can make demands.
Wha...? He's blackmailing us?
I was surprised, to tell you the truth.
It usually takes them
a lot longer to figure it out.
- How much does he want?
- It makes no difference.
- We've got to stop doing the trick.
- Stop the trick? Look at this.
Last week they said you were
the premier stage performer in London.
Not magician, mind you.
Performer of any kind.
- What's your point?
- My point 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 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?
- Sh, sh, sh, sh, sh.
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.
You wouldn't expect him
to rock the boat.
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.
Mmm. Very good.
[GRUNTS]
- [BORDEN] Another one?
- Oh, if you insist.
- [BORDEN] Another.
- I'm not performing tonight.
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,
but I had a similar trick in my act,
and, uh... [WHISPERING] I used a double.
- Mm, 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?
[LAUGHING]
[APPLAUSE]
[GRUNTING]
Ohh! [LAUGHS]
Be very careful giving
someone that power over you.
Huh. Thank you. Um...
Yes, thank you for the warning.
Hmm. Cheers.
I cannot claim
this next feat as illusion.
What you're about to see
is considered safe.
Ahh!
[MOANING]
[CROWD LAUGHING]
[APPLAUSE]
[CHUCKLING]
[LAUGHING, APPLAUSE]
Oh! The Great Danton.
I apologize.
There simply is too much magic...
...for my stage at The Pantages
across the street.
Pardon my intrusion.
And go easy on the poor chap.
He does try so very hard.
[ALL LAUGHING, APPLAUDING]
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 expected 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.
- You sent me.
I sent you to steal his secret,
not to improve his act.
- It's my job.
- Or fall in love!
- I did everything you asked!
- Yes? Yes?
- How does he do it?
- Cutter was right, a double.
- 'Course he said that.
- He didn't say it.
I've seen things, makeup, glasses, wigs.
We don't use for the show.
- I've seen it hidden backstage.
- Misdirection.
He leaves them lying
around to make you think that.
He doesn't know when I'm looking.
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?
The Great Danton is a blind fool.
His notebook.
You stole it?
I borrowed it for tonight.
I thought you could translate
some of it...
I can't. No one can. It's a cipher.
Even with the keyword,
it will take months to decode.
- And without the keyword?
- Perhaps never.
- We'll see.
- We will not see.
If I don't get that back by
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.
It won't bring your wife back.
I don't care about my wife.
I care about his secret.
[SIGHS, GRUNTS]
Look, I'll, um...
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.
[CLAPPING]
- [DRUMROLL]
- [CYMBAL CRASHES]
[ELECTRICAL ZAPPING]
[APPLAUSE]
[ALL] Professor!
Good evening.
[CHATTERING]
I'm walking tonight.
Let him come. I don't care.
[ALL] Professor! Professor!
[MAN YELLS]
[HEART BEATING]
[MAN GAGGING, COUGHING]
- [GUNSHOT]
- Ahh!
- You all right?
- I'm alive.
Saves me cutting you an air hole.
- I'm impressed.
- Why is that?
You're finally getting your hands dirty.
It's what a good trick costs, Angier.
Risk, sacrifice.
The sacrifice, I'm afraid,
is all 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 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 know if your secret's
in your notebook.
The keyword is the method.
Where's my ingieur?
- Alive?
- How fast can you dig?
Fallon, you hear me? Fallon!
- [ANGIER] 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.
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?
It means, Cutter, we have
a journey ahead of us.
- To America.
- Robert?
Listen to me.
Obsession is a young man's game.
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.
[LAUGHS]
Champagne, your finest.
I didn't know we were going
to be joined for dinner.
Absolutely, we are celebrating.
Miss Wenscombe, Mr. Fallon.
- What are we celebrating?
- We've hit upon a new trick.
- Haven't we?
- What trick, Freddie?
Yes, Freddie, what trick?
I am going to bury
myself alive every night,
and then someone will come along
and dig me up. Wonderful.
- I think he's had quite enough...
- No, pour the champagne.
Pour the... Sarah, don't talk to me
like that. I'm not a bloody child.
- Perhaps it would be better...
- Mr. Fallon, escort her home.
- My husband's being a bore.
- Oh, please.
- I see no reason you should suffer.
- Don't ruin this evening.
Good night, Mrs. Borden.
Good night, Freddie.
- Freddie?
- That's my name.
- Not at home.
- I'm not always at home, am I?
Couldn't you have at least
taken off the beard?
Sarah, I just came from
the bloody theater just now.
All right? I'm out in public.
Everybody else loves it.
Why are you being like this?
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.
[SHUDDERS]
I thought I had the place to myself.
Unexpected guests, not very polite.
A lot of questions.
At first, I thought they
worked 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 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 could spot Angier's methods
from the back of the theater.
So, what could you
possibly have to offer me?
You may know his tricks,
but you can't understand why
no one sees yours are better.
You hide this.
I had to look very closely
to spot it
during The Transported man,
but this makes you unique.
It shows you aren't using a double.
You mustn't hide it.
You must 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 can 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 request.
And yes, "Tesla" is merely
the key to my dairy,
not to my trick.
You really think I'd part
with my secret so easily after so much?
Goodbye, Angier.
May you find solace
for your forward ambition
back in your American home.
Tesla!
Tesla! Alley!
Alley!
Tesla never made a machine
like the one I asked for.
- I never said he had.
- You let me believe that he had.
You stole my money because
your funding was cut off.
You've been shooting
sparks in my top hat,
laughing at me all along,
while using my money to stave off ruin.
- I have seen Edison's men.
- Where?
In the hotel, I have a mind
to bring them up here.
That would be unwise, Mr. Angier.
It is true that you are
our last remaining financier,
but we have not stolen your money.
This is my cat.
When I told you I could make you
a machine, I spoke a truth.
Why isn't it 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.
We need to try different material.
It may provoke a different result.
[MEOWING]
Great.
You are responsible for whatever
happens to this animal, doctor.
[MEOWS]
[ELECTRICAL ZAPPING]
[SIGHS]
I hope whatever you were
really doing with my money
was more worthwhile, Mr. Tesla.
[MEOWING]
[CATS SCREECHING]
[SCREECHING CONTINUES]
[HISSING]
Alley!
So the machine was working?
I never checked the calibration,
'cause the hat never moved.
These things never quite
work as you expect them to.
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 are all your hats.
You look so pretty
in this new dress of yours.
- Are we going to the zoo?
- No, Daddy has some errands to run.
- But you promised.
- I promised, did I?
Then go to the zoo, we shall.
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. [HOOTS]
Sarah... what are you doing?
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.
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, uh... Sarah,
she knows.
Uh, at least she knows
that something is not right,
so if you can just do
whatever you can to help me.
Talk to her, just
convince her that I do love her.
What is it, Freddie?
Listen, don't call me that, please.
It's nothing. It's just that
sometimes it seems wrong.
I told you, 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.
[ENGINE SPUTTERS]
We're sorry to see you go, Mr. Angier.
We were sorry to see
Mr. Tesla leave, as well.
He's 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.
But if it went wrong,
I would not want to live
like that for long.
[ELECTRICAL ZAPPING]
[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 murder.
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,
for which we have numerous examples.
It don't matter.
So my tricks.
- All of them.
- Including The Transported man?
- Lord Caldlow will be very pleased.
- No, he won't.
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 want to say goodbye.
[SARAH] We have to go through it now.
We have to go through it now.
Now, listen to me, deny it all you want.
Olivia means nothing.
- Olivia?
- I need an assistant.
- I'll go to her, I'll tell her.
- You'll tell her what?
I know what you really are, Alfred.
- I know.
- Sarah, Sarah, Sarah.
- I can't keep it in.
- You can't talk like this.
- No. No.
- Sarah, shut up! Sarah, shut up!
I don't want to 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?
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... 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]
- [CRASHING]
- [BIRDS SQUAWKING]
[SEAGULLS CALLING]
[BIRDS FLUTTERING]
Who's there?
I'm looking for an old friend.
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. [LAUGHS]
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 want to design a show around it?
I don't want you backstage
I need you in front managing.
Call in any favors
or connections you have left
to get us the right booking.
What sort of booking you after?
The sort that Borden can't ignore.
Oh, what an honor it is
to see you again, sir.
You told me you only wanted to show me
one trick that'd pique my interest.
- It's a very clever trick.
- Pleased to meet you, Mr. Ackerman.
Likewise, I'm sure.
Let's get on, shall we?
Turn it on, gentlemen.
Very pretty.
That's it, Cutter? He simply disappears?
That's not a trick. 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...
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.
You haven't spoken
about her, Freddie, not once.
Why would I talk about her to you, hm?
Because she was a part of
your life and now she's gone.
You know, the day before she killed
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 want to know the truth about me?
The truth is that...
...I never loved Sarah.
I never loved her.
You married her,
you had a child with her.
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.
But I'm afraid I'm booked. The Moscow
Ballet plays through next year.
Then get rid of them. There will be
100 performances, no more, no less.
Five performances a week, no matinees.
That's what you'll
charge for each ticket. Good day.
[APPLAUSE]
[FOOTSTEPS ON STAGE]
Ladies and gentlemen, my first trick of
the evening involves considerable risk.
Anyone in the audience
who would be irrevocably
damaged by seeing a man drown
should leave now.
When I tell you the lady
who taught me this illusion
actually died performing it,
you'll understand the seriousness
of the dangers involved.
- Let's begin.
- [APPLAUSE]
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]
[APPLAUSE]
What you're about to witness
is not magic.
It's purely science.
I'd like to invite you
to come up on stage now
so that you can examine
the machine for yourselves.
[ELECTRICAL ZAPPING]
[CROWD MURMURING, GASPING]
[APPLAUSE]
Man's reach
exceeds his imagination.
[APPLAUSE, CHEERING]
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 call 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]
[BORDEN] Huh.
- [CRUMPLING PAPER]
- We're done.
All right?
Let him have his trick.
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.
[ANGIER] I told you, John.
I don't want you backstage on this one.
[ANGIER] I would like to
invite you onstage now
so that you can examine
the machine for yourselves.
- Hey, where do you think...?
- I'm part of the bloody act, you fool.
[ELECTRIC ZAPPING]
Who was that?
[RUMBLING]
[ZAPPING CONTINUES]
[SILENCE]
- [MUFFLED SCREAMING]
- Hey! Where's the bloody key?!
Where's the bloody key?!
[BORDEN YELLING]
Where's the bloody key?!
He's bloody drowning!
Hold on!
[SCREAMS]
What have you done?
[MAN] Alfred BORDEN, you have been found
guilty of the murder 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 notice 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...
No, it's just there is
one particular item,
this item, in fact,
- I would like to...
- You would like to...
...buy.
- Buy yourself?
- Yeah, I suppose so.
- This is the machine?
- Yes.
Well, 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]
- [MAN] Still here, Borden?
- For now.
You got a visitor. Lord Caldlow.
With a little girl.
Jess?
Hello, my love.
How are you? I've missed you so much.
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.
Don't they know you can't escape
without your 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.
No one cares about the man
in the box, the man who disappears.
You win?
This ain't a bloody competition
anymore. 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 you, don't I, Borden?
And you can't take it
with you, now, can you?
Oh, she'll be looked after.
Goodbye, Professor. Come on, darling.
No, no, no, no, stop, my darling.
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.
Whatever your secret was,
you have to agree,
mine is better.
Don't do this. Don't do this,
Angier. Jess, Jess!
Jess, I'm gonna take you
home soon. I promise.
- For God's sake.
- I promise. Look!
I promise. I love you, Jess.
I love you.
- Come on.
- I love you.
I love you, Jess.
Angier! Angier!
What, do you think
this place can hold me?
ANGIER! They're gonna bloody hang me!
And you can put a stop to this now!
Listen! Listen! That man...
Listen, that man is
the one I'm in for killing!
Listen! If he's alive, I'm not guilty!
- I'm not guilty!
- I don't care!
- Get hold of him.
- Angier!
Run along now.
Sir, there's a gentleman waiting.
- Dear God.
- Hello, Cutter.
You're still alive.
How is it you're still alive?
I saw you on a slab, for God's sake.
- Child.
- Good night, sir.
[ANGIER] Good night, Jess.
I've seen her before.
I saw her in court with...
...Fallon.
- What have you done?
- 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 going to beg you for anything.
You don't have to. I'm gonna
make sure it is 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.
I mean, 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.
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 on 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.
[MAN] 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!
[MAN] Do you have anything to say?
Abracadabra.
[GUNSHOT]
[MOANS]
[ANGIER MOANS]
A brother? A twin?
You were Fallon.
- The whole time?
- No.
We were both Fallon.
We were both Borden.
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.
I don't understand,
how it can be bleeding again?
Wha... 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.
You wouldn't know
anything about that, would you?
[GROANING]
I've... I've made sacrifices.
- No.
- Yes.
It takes nothing
to steal another man's work.
Yeah, it takes everything.
No, no, wait, I'm not...
[GUNSHOT]
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 want to 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?
[BORDEN] Yeah.
You never understood...
...why we did this.
The audience knows the truth.
The world is simple.
It's miserable.
Solid... 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.
[INHALES DEEPLY]
[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.
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.
[CHIRPING]
[MAN 2] 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.
[APPLAUSE]
He shows you this object.
Perhaps he asks you to inspect it,
to see that it is indeed real,
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.
[LOUD ZAPPING]
The second act is called "the turn."
[ZAPPING]
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."
[MUFFLED SCREAMING]
[MAN] 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.
Would you please describe
your occupation to the jury, Mr. Cutter.
I'm an ingieur, I design illusions
and construct the apparatus
necessary for performing them.
So, Mr. Cutter, was this
water-filled tank beneath the stage
part of Mr. Angier's illusion?
No. The tank was brought
on for the first trick
and then taken offstage.
Borden must have placed it
under the trap door after the end of it.
How large was this tank?
It's a normal tank
for escape under water,
about 400 or 500 gallons.
How do you think he
was able to move the tank
under the trap door
without anyone noticing?
- He's a magician, ask him.
- [LAUGHING]
[MAN] I ask again,
would 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,
the trick is worthless.
How can we know
that the tank wasn't simply
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 going to 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.
[MEN SHOUTING]
I told him the only way
Borden's going to 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, an
accomplished amateur magician and...
[BORDEN] How much?
- He is interested...
- How much for my tricks?
Five thousand pounds.
Talk to Fallon, my ingieur.
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 won't forgive myself
for selling my greatest trick.
Even for your daughter?
If you are for the drop, your daughter
is going to need looking after.
Fallon will take care of her.
Perfect, Fallon.
A man with a past
as obscure as your own.
The courts have motioned she be removed
from his care. She 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.
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.
It might be of interest.
Robert Angier's diary, including
the time he spent in Colorado
learning your trick.
- He never learned it.
- Really?
On his return, 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'd be staying with us.
As long as it takes.
I will need a coach tomorrow
to take me up the mountain.
Well, the peak's closed, sir.
For scientific experimentation.
Yes, I know.
That's why I'm here.
Whoa. Whoa.
[DRIVER] You'll have to walk
the rest, I'm afraid, sir.
[RUMBLING]
[RUMBLING CONTINUES]
- [ELECTRICAL ZAPPING]
- [GROANS]
[DOOR SLAMS]
[MAN] 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 keep interfering 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've brought a lot of money.
I'm sorry, Mr. Angier.
I simply can't help.
I'll be staying
at the hotel, indefinitely.
Hey, what am I holding?
Your watch.
[ANGIER] Borden's journal
entry for April 3, 1897,
describes a show
at the Orpheum Theatre.
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.
[MAN] Which of you brave souls
is willing to bind
this lovely young woman?
[SHOUTING]
[MAN] Me!
- [APPLAUSE]
- [DRUM TAPS]
If you would tie her wrists,
bind her feet...
...around the ankle.
Are either of you two gentlemen sailors?
- No.
- No.
I'm sure you can both tie a strong knot.
[DRUM TAPPING CONTINUES]
[STOPWATCH TICKING]
[DRUM ROLL]
[APPLAUSE]
He's complacent,
he's predictable, he's boring.
Milton has gotten success,
whatever that means,
so now he's scared.
He won't take any risks at all.
He's squandering the goodwill
of his audience with tired,
- second-rate tricks...
- They're all favorites.
Give me something fresh.
He won't even try a bloody bullet catch.
A bullet catch is suicide.
All it takes is some smartass
volunteer to put a button in the barrel.
- Use a plant.
- You can't for every trick.
No seats left for the punters.
All right, no bullet catch, whatever,
but the point is a real magician
tries to invent something new
that other magicians will
scratch their heads over.
Then you sell it to him
for a small fortune.
- What?
- I suppose you have such a trick?
- I sure do.
- Would you care to sell it to me?
No. No one else can do my trick.
- Any trick can be duplicated.
- Wrong.
If Mr. Borden has invented
his masterpiece,
he's prepared to do it.
Milton is a showman,
but Borden is right,
he won't get his hands dirty.
If you want to 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.
- I can't afford that.
I know the bloke run 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 the prize.
- Which is?
- Ten minutes onstage
with my old friend, Mr. Ackerman.
- Really?
- Who's Ackerman?
The top theatrical agent in London.
- I saw you drop the knot again.
- [Woman] I turned my wrists.
Some nights you
just don't get it, do you?
I mean, if that knot slips
and Julia's on the hoist,
she'll break her 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, she can't slip it.
- I can slip a Langford underwater.
- We can practice.
- Borden, he said no.
- Oh, you know knots better than me?
Listen, no more mistakes.
All right. Yeah? Do you?
You want to take over?
- Just leave.
- I didn't think so.
Hey, Cutter, where's he from?
Where are you from? He shifts
props for Virgil at the hall.
- Worried he'll steal your tricks?
- Doesn't deal in methods.
- How do you know?
- Because I hired him
to find out how Virgil
does the orange trick.
- I don't trust him.
- He's a natural magician.
'Course you can't trust him.
I think he's all right.
- You think everyone's all right.
- Even you.
Watch your sightlines. If I can see you
kiss your wife's leg every night,
so can the blokes at the ends
of rows three and four!
[ORIENTAL-SOUNDING GUITAR STRUMMING]
[SNARE DRUM ROLL]
[ANGIER] You're wrong. It can't be.
- Look at the man.
- This is the trick.
This is the performance. Right here.
This is why no one
can detect his method.
Total devotion to his art.
A lot of self-sacrifice.
You know.
It's the only way to escape...
...all this, you know?
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 cripple 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 are pretending.
I don't think changing a name compares.
Not your name. Who you are
and where you're from.
I promised I wouldn't embarrass
my family with my theatrical endeavors.
I thought of a name for you.
- The Great Danton.
- [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.
[APPLAUSE]
- [WHIMPERING] He killed it.
- It's OK.
- He killed it.
- He didn't.
Look, now he'll bring it back.
- No, he killed it.
- No, he didn't.
[APPLAUSE CONTINUES]
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.
Ah.
[CHIRPING]
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 can't allow...
It's the landlord. It's not...
You think that's...
is that enough to keep me out?
[CHUCKLING] I think so.
So I'll see you again?
Milk and sugar?
What's in there?
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,
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.
The most disappointing of all, sir.
It has no trick.
It's real.
[SCOFFS]
This is the tank Angier drowned in?
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 kill 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?
[DRUM TAPS]
If you would tie her wrists,
bind her feet around the ankle.
- Are either of you gentlemen sailors?
- No.
[LAUGHTER]
I'm sure you can both tie a strong knot.
[MILTON CLAPS]
[STOPWATCH TICKING]
[DRUM ROLL]
[GASPS]
Robert!
No, no.
Julia. Julia!
[GASPS]
[CUTTER] I knew an old sailor once.
They 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?!
- Alfred?
- Good news. We got our first booking.
I don't think we've had the pleasure.
- Mr. Fallon is my ingieur.
- Where did you get all...?
- I had to borrow and... don't ask.
- He's a very enterprising soul
is... is Mr. Fallon. So...
- We can't afford to pay him.
- The money will come with the audience.
But what about until then?
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 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.
Oh, come here.
[CHUCKLING] Oh.
Alfred, what is this?
Oh, this is just the trick to work
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 bullet catch.
- A bullet catch.
- Yeah, but it's safe.
I promise. Look.
- Shoot me.
- Shoot you?
Go on, shoot me.
- Right there.
- No, I can't.
No, no, not there.
Shoot me here. Don't...
- [LAUGHS]
- How's that?
That's very good. Tell me how you do it.
No, I can't do that.
- Well, then you can't do it.
- I can't do it?
I'm sorry, but I can't
raise a child on my own.
You don't tell anybody that I told you.
- OK.
- Gunpowder.
Wadding.
Then the bullet.
Ramrod.
Hold out your hand.
The bullet is not even in the
gun when the charge is fired.
Once you know,
it's actually very obvious.
Well, I mean, you still get...
It's dangerous.
- People still get killed doing that.
- How?
You get some smartass who
could put a penny or a button
or, God forbid, Sarah, somebody
could put a bullet down 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, 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.
[BOOING]
[BORDEN] Metal rings,
ladies and gentlemen.
If there are any
ladies and gentlemen here.
- Solid metal.
- [MAN] Seen that already.
[BOOING]
Who threw that?
[BOOING CONTINUES]
This is what you came for, is it?
So...
...who wants to volunteer?
- [MAN] I do!
- [MAN 2] Me!
[SHOUTING]
Me.
Me.
[AUDIENCE SILENT]
Are you man enough, sir?
Yes.
Which knot did you tie, Borden?
Which knot did you tie, Borden?
I don't know.
- [GUNSHOT]
- [GASPS]
[GROANING]
[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.
Sarah, that bloody hurts.
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 doctor back.
[BABY CRIES]
- You've woken her.
- Great.
I'm sorry, I need this to heal
so I can get back to work.
You've got to face things. What tricks
can you perform with this injury?
I can do car pulls.
I can do some prop tricks.
I can still do that. I can do
the trick I've been telling you about.
The one that they're
gonna remember me for.
Come on.
I never thought I'd find an answer
at the bottom of a pint glass.
Hasn't stopped your looking.
Heard about a booking.
Nice little theater.
- Young, up-and-coming magician.
- Who?
- You.
- Me? Booking? Why?
I want to keep on working.
Who's going to hire the ingieur
that killed 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 bullet 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.
[STOMPS ON FLOOR]
- We should see about an assistant.
- I've made some arrangements.
You settled on a name?
Yes, I have.
The Great Danton.
It's a bit old-fashioned, isn't it?
No, it's sophisticated.
The birdcage can't be
our climax. Everybody knows it.
- Not like this.
- I don't want to kill doves.
Then stay off the stage.
You're a magician, not a wizard.
You got to get your hands dirty, if
you're going to achieve the impossible.
In here, Miss Wenscombe.
No point in meeting Mr. Angier
if you don't fit. On the right.
- What's so hard about this?
- Nothing.
You're going... down here.
[INDISTINCT TALKING]
- And this will conceal, right?
- Oh, sure.
- Tighten up on there.
- Yep.
OK.
This ties up here?
- Ties in the back.
- Good.
Breathe as little as possible.
Now, you see?
- That's it.
- OK.
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?
Yep.
- Under?
- Under, yeah.
Come around his foot.
- Careful.
- It's all right.
[GRINDING]
- Your volunteer, put their hand there.
- Yeah?
And another one here.
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.
- Ready? Right.
- One...
- Two...
Three.
That's bloody marvelous, Cutter.
Very nice.
And the best part is...
[CHUCKLING]
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.
I haven't had the chance to compliment
you on your beautiful theater.
It'll be a lot more
beautiful when it's full.
Don't worry.
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 bullet 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?
[CHUCKLING] You got a week, John.
- Thank you, Mr. Merrit.
- [CHUCKLES]
[UP-TEMPO CLASSICAL MUSIC]
Thank you.
- [MUSIC ENDS]
- [APPLAUSE]
Uh... Sir, in the third row there.
Please stand up
and show us your handkerchief.
- [LAUGHTER]
- This isn't mine.
Perhaps you'd return it to the lady
in the aisle of the second row.
I believe she has yours.
[APPLAUSE]
[UP-TEMPO PIANO MUSIC]
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.
Cloth over.
Keep your fingers crossed.
I'll have the champagne ready.
[APPLAUSE]
[ANGIER CHUCKLES]
[ALL GROANING]
- You've seen this one before?
- [MAN] We've seen them all before.
I'll make it a little
harder then, shall I?
Two volunteers, please.
A lady and a gentlemen.
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.
[DRUM ROLL]
Madame, 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.
- [SNAPPING]
- [WOMAN SCREAMS]
- I should've spotted him.
- You had a lot of plates going.
- Don't suppose we can do this again.
- No.
- So, what's the climax 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.
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
the public's imagination.
[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?
God, I miss New York, though.
- Why are you here?
- The lightning lives here.
And not much else.
Our work is secret.
That a cipher?
A rotating transposition
that shifts every day of the diary.
Simple but time-consuming to translate,
even with 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 want to 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 them.
We do our tests when
the townspeople are asleep.
Mr. Tesla doesn't want
to scare anyone.
[ELECTRICAL HUMMING]
Where are the wires?
Exactly.
Where's the generator?
You saw it last week.
- That must be ten 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.
Like to know the future?
The man who's speaking right now
is going to change the world.
Come one, come all.
Immediate seating, no waiting.
[LOUD ELECTRICAL ZAPPING]
Ladies and gentlemen,
[GASPS]
Objections have been raised...
They should be raised.
Does that look safe to you?
Part of Thomas Edison's smear campaign
against Mr. Tesla's
superior alternating current.
[MAN] We have asked Mr. Tesla
to reconsider.
[MAN 2] Which he will not!
But I've been told he refuses
to appear under any such restrictions.
- [GASPS]
- This thing's gonna blow.
Ladies and gentlemen, please.
[BORDEN] Hey.
Hello, Jess.
Have you had a nice day
with mommy? Huh?
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.
So, 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.
Well, you talk about what you want
to do for the rest of the day.
All right, go on, you talk with her.
Are they taking her away?
To the workhouse?
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?
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 whirl or two.
And then I'll be gone.
How'd you get so famous then?
Magic.
- Oi! Borden, get back here!
- [ALL LAUGING]
Thank you.
Shut up!
[LAUGHING CONTINUES]
Where's the bloody key?!
[DISTANT ELECTRICAL HUMMING]
[ANGIER] February 8, 1899.
Today, finally, a breakthrough.
Tesla's agreed to see me.
[ELECTRICAL ZAPPING]
Perfectly safe.
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.
Quite capable of conducting
and, indeed, producing energy.
Have you eaten, Mr. Angier?
[CHUCKLING] I need something impossible.
You're familiar with the phrase,
"MAN's reach exceeds his grasp"?
Is a lie.
Man's grasp exceeds his nerve.
Society only tolerates
one change at a time.
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.
Think of sawing a woman in half.
Have you considered the cost of this?
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 slave.
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've already begun
to build it, Mr. Angier.
I hope you enjoy the mountain air.
This will take some time.
[DEEP INHALE, EXHALE]
Uh... 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?
Uh... research.
Part of a magician's job
is to... watch his competition,
see what illusions...
You're going to do something
to that man, aren't you?
Cutter's hoping you let things lie.
He says if Borden thinks
things are even between you...
Even?
My wife for a couple of his fingers?
He has a family now
and he's performing again.
Borden is out there living
his life just as he intended,
as if nothing had happened
and look at me.
I'm alone and no theater will touch me.
Us.
You're going to need a better disguise.
I need a volunteer.
[WENSCOMBE] 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.
[WENSCOMBE] Was it good?
It was the greatest
magic trick I've ever seen.
- [DOOR OPENS]
- [MINIMAL APPLAUSE]
[ANGIER] Did they applaud
when you saw it?
It was too good. It was too simple.
The audience hardly had time to see it.
- He's a dreadful magician.
- A wonderful magician.
He's a dreadful showman.
He doesn't dress it up,
- how to sell it.
- How does he do it?
- He uses a double.
- No, it's too simple.
This is a complex illusion.
You say that because
you don't know the method.
It's a double that comes out.
It's the only way.
I've seen him perform it three times.
The prestige is the same man.
- No, it's not.
- The same man comes out of the 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, we could use it
as a climax to the show.
Yes.
The man stole my life,
I'm gonna steal his trick.
We got to find someone
who looks like you.
- He doesn't use a double.
- I don't know how Borden does it.
Either... You either wait for him
to retire and buy the secret,
or you listen to how I would do it.
And 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.
Whoo!
Look, look.
What's that?
- It's for you.
- What's this for?
Come.
[SARAH] You...
- I asked you last week...
- You caught me in a wrong mood.
- But you won't ever...
- Sarah,
I'm gonna have
to change my mind, aren't I?
The act is taking off. Soon we'll be in
a bigger theater, things will work out.
I can't believe it. Thank you.
Thank you. It's beautiful.
- Gerry?
- [GASPS] Darling, look at you.
Mr. Cutter, Mr. Angier,
I'd like you to meet Gerald Root.
Mm-hm.
- [WHISPERING INDISTINCTLY]
- [WENSCOMBE GIGGLES]
A pleasure. Pleasure
to meet you fine gentlemen.
Would you like for me
to tell you a little joke? Come here.
Yes. Are you laughing now?
[CHUCKLING]
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.
So you open the door...
...and...
[CHUCKLING]
[EXHALES]
Come on.
- [GROANS]
- [CHUCKLING]
Couldn't you have found a softer one?
Well, it's not for sleeping on.
So, if you come down through there...
...does Root go up through there?
- Yep.
It's going to be amazing.
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?
[ROOT SIGHS]
[WENSCOMBE GIGGLES]
All I have to do is
keep myself stinking 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?
[CLAPPING]
You'd drink, too, if you knew
the world half as well as I do.
Did you think you were unique?
I've been Caesar, I've 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, uh... amusing.
[CHUCKLES]
"My liege,
I did deny no prisoners."
- You look wonderful.
- Oh, thank you.
Root has to keep a low profile.
Anyone sees him, the game's up.
I don't know how you do things.
I'm not sure I wanna know.
Have you thought what we should call it?
There's no point being coy. Borden
calls his trick The Transported man.
[APPLAUSE]
Ladies and gentlemen, much
of what you've seen may be termed
- as illusions or entertaining trifles.
- [RIMSHOT]
[APPLAUSE]
Alas...
[DRUMROLL]
...I cannot claim
this next feat as illusion.
Watch carefully.
You will 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
are not, do not be alarmed.
What you're about to see
is considered safe.
[APPLAUSE, CHEERING]
[APPLAUSE, CHEERING CONTINUES]
To our achievement.
The manager says he's
never seen a reaction like it.
At least he saw it. I spent
the ovation hiding under the stage.
No one cares about
the man who disappears.
They care about the one who comes out.
I care about the man in the box.
Thank you. I don't know,
maybe we could switch before the trick.
I'm the prestige,
and Root's below stage.
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. We worked hard.
We need to celebrate properly.
What's wrong? Is it your wife?
No, it's the trick.
It isn't good enough.
BORDEN's trick is nothing
compared to ours. He has no style.
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.
People are excited by Cutter's
version. Imagine what we'd 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 want to hire you.
- He'll want my secret.
- Why would he trust me?
Because you're
gonna tell him the truth.
Hmm?
Good girl.
[RATTLING]
You must be curious to see what
so much money has bought you.
Fitting you should be here
for her maiden voyage.
Your hat.
You might want to stand back.
[ELECTRIC ZAPPING]
[FIZZLING]
I don't understand.
Perhaps it would be best
if you left us to it.
Is there a problem, Mr. Tesla?
- No. Come back next week.
- Next week?
- Next week, it will be fine.
- Tesla!
Just a little temperamental.
[DOOR CLOSING]
- Interesting workshop.
- Yeah, we make do.
- My name is Olivia...
- I know who you are.
Here to steal the rest of my show?
To give your show what it's missing.
- Yeah, what might that be?
- Me.
[CHUCKLES] I was just
saying that, wasn't I?
- A woman's touch.
- 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?
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 topnotch.
He vanishes,
and then he reappears instantly
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?
It's killing him. He's obsessed
with discovering your methods.
He thinks of nothing else,
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 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. 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
that he can make demands.
Wha...? He's blackmailing us?
I was surprised, to tell you the truth.
It usually takes them
a lot longer to figure it out.
- How much does he want?
- It makes no difference.
- We've got to stop doing the trick.
- Stop the trick? Look at this.
Last week they said you were
the premier stage performer in London.
Not magician, mind you.
Performer of any kind.
- What's your point?
- My point 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 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?
- Sh, sh, sh, sh, sh.
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.
You wouldn't expect him
to rock the boat.
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.
Mmm. Very good.
[GRUNTS]
- [BORDEN] Another one?
- Oh, if you insist.
- [BORDEN] Another.
- I'm not performing tonight.
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,
but I had a similar trick in my act,
and, uh... [WHISPERING] I used a double.
- Mm, 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?
[LAUGHING]
[APPLAUSE]
[GRUNTING]
Ohh! [LAUGHS]
Be very careful giving
someone that power over you.
Huh. Thank you. Um...
Yes, thank you for the warning.
Hmm. Cheers.
I cannot claim
this next feat as illusion.
What you're about to see
is considered safe.
Ahh!
[MOANING]
[CROWD LAUGHING]
[APPLAUSE]
[CHUCKLING]
[LAUGHING, APPLAUSE]
Oh! The Great Danton.
I apologize.
There simply is too much magic...
...for my stage at The Pantages
across the street.
Pardon my intrusion.
And go easy on the poor chap.
He does try so very hard.
[ALL LAUGHING, APPLAUDING]
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 expected 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.
- You sent me.
I sent you to steal his secret,
not to improve his act.
- It's my job.
- Or fall in love!
- I did everything you asked!
- Yes? Yes?
- How does he do it?
- Cutter was right, a double.
- 'Course he said that.
- He didn't say it.
I've seen things, makeup, glasses, wigs.
We don't use for the show.
- I've seen it hidden backstage.
- Misdirection.
He leaves them lying
around to make you think that.
He doesn't know when I'm looking.
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?
The Great Danton is a blind fool.
His notebook.
You stole it?
I borrowed it for tonight.
I thought you could translate
some of it...
I can't. No one can. It's a cipher.
Even with the keyword,
it will take months to decode.
- And without the keyword?
- Perhaps never.
- We'll see.
- We will not see.
If I don't get that back by
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.
It won't bring your wife back.
I don't care about my wife.
I care about his secret.
[SIGHS, GRUNTS]
Look, I'll, um...
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.
[CLAPPING]
- [DRUMROLL]
- [CYMBAL CRASHES]
[ELECTRICAL ZAPPING]
[APPLAUSE]
[ALL] Professor!
Good evening.
[CHATTERING]
I'm walking tonight.
Let him come. I don't care.
[ALL] Professor! Professor!
[MAN YELLS]
[HEART BEATING]
[MAN GAGGING, COUGHING]
- [GUNSHOT]
- Ahh!
- You all right?
- I'm alive.
Saves me cutting you an air hole.
- I'm impressed.
- Why is that?
You're finally getting your hands dirty.
It's what a good trick costs, Angier.
Risk, sacrifice.
The sacrifice, I'm afraid,
is all 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 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 know if your secret's
in your notebook.
The keyword is the method.
Where's my ingieur?
- Alive?
- How fast can you dig?
Fallon, you hear me? Fallon!
- [ANGIER] 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.
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?
It means, Cutter, we have
a journey ahead of us.
- To America.
- Robert?
Listen to me.
Obsession is a young man's game.
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.
[LAUGHS]
Champagne, your finest.
I didn't know we were going
to be joined for dinner.
Absolutely, we are celebrating.
Miss Wenscombe, Mr. Fallon.
- What are we celebrating?
- We've hit upon a new trick.
- Haven't we?
- What trick, Freddie?
Yes, Freddie, what trick?
I am going to bury
myself alive every night,
and then someone will come along
and dig me up. Wonderful.
- I think he's had quite enough...
- No, pour the champagne.
Pour the... Sarah, don't talk to me
like that. I'm not a bloody child.
- Perhaps it would be better...
- Mr. Fallon, escort her home.
- My husband's being a bore.
- Oh, please.
- I see no reason you should suffer.
- Don't ruin this evening.
Good night, Mrs. Borden.
Good night, Freddie.
- Freddie?
- That's my name.
- Not at home.
- I'm not always at home, am I?
Couldn't you have at least
taken off the beard?
Sarah, I just came from
the bloody theater just now.
All right? I'm out in public.
Everybody else loves it.
Why are you being like this?
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.
[SHUDDERS]
I thought I had the place to myself.
Unexpected guests, not very polite.
A lot of questions.
At first, I thought they
worked 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 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 could spot Angier's methods
from the back of the theater.
So, what could you
possibly have to offer me?
You may know his tricks,
but you can't understand why
no one sees yours are better.
You hide this.
I had to look very closely
to spot it
during The Transported man,
but this makes you unique.
It shows you aren't using a double.
You mustn't hide it.
You must 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 can 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 request.
And yes, "Tesla" is merely
the key to my dairy,
not to my trick.
You really think I'd part
with my secret so easily after so much?
Goodbye, Angier.
May you find solace
for your forward ambition
back in your American home.
Tesla!
Tesla! Alley!
Alley!
Tesla never made a machine
like the one I asked for.
- I never said he had.
- You let me believe that he had.
You stole my money because
your funding was cut off.
You've been shooting
sparks in my top hat,
laughing at me all along,
while using my money to stave off ruin.
- I have seen Edison's men.
- Where?
In the hotel, I have a mind
to bring them up here.
That would be unwise, Mr. Angier.
It is true that you are
our last remaining financier,
but we have not stolen your money.
This is my cat.
When I told you I could make you
a machine, I spoke a truth.
Why isn't it 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.
We need to try different material.
It may provoke a different result.
[MEOWING]
Great.
You are responsible for whatever
happens to this animal, doctor.
[MEOWS]
[ELECTRICAL ZAPPING]
[SIGHS]
I hope whatever you were
really doing with my money
was more worthwhile, Mr. Tesla.
[MEOWING]
[CATS SCREECHING]
[SCREECHING CONTINUES]
[HISSING]
Alley!
So the machine was working?
I never checked the calibration,
'cause the hat never moved.
These things never quite
work as you expect them to.
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 are all your hats.
You look so pretty
in this new dress of yours.
- Are we going to the zoo?
- No, Daddy has some errands to run.
- But you promised.
- I promised, did I?
Then go to the zoo, we shall.
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. [HOOTS]
Sarah... what are you doing?
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.
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, uh... Sarah,
she knows.
Uh, at least she knows
that something is not right,
so if you can just do
whatever you can to help me.
Talk to her, just
convince her that I do love her.
What is it, Freddie?
Listen, don't call me that, please.
It's nothing. It's just that
sometimes it seems wrong.
I told you, 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.
[ENGINE SPUTTERS]
We're sorry to see you go, Mr. Angier.
We were sorry to see
Mr. Tesla leave, as well.
He's 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.
But if it went wrong,
I would not want to live
like that for long.
[ELECTRICAL ZAPPING]
[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 murder.
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,
for which we have numerous examples.
It don't matter.
So my tricks.
- All of them.
- Including The Transported man?
- Lord Caldlow will be very pleased.
- No, he won't.
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 want to say goodbye.
[SARAH] We have to go through it now.
We have to go through it now.
Now, listen to me, deny it all you want.
Olivia means nothing.
- Olivia?
- I need an assistant.
- I'll go to her, I'll tell her.
- You'll tell her what?
I know what you really are, Alfred.
- I know.
- Sarah, Sarah, Sarah.
- I can't keep it in.
- You can't talk like this.
- No. No.
- Sarah, shut up! Sarah, shut up!
I don't want to 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?
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... 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]
- [CRASHING]
- [BIRDS SQUAWKING]
[SEAGULLS CALLING]
[BIRDS FLUTTERING]
Who's there?
I'm looking for an old friend.
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. [LAUGHS]
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 want to design a show around it?
I don't want you backstage
I need you in front managing.
Call in any favors
or connections you have left
to get us the right booking.
What sort of booking you after?
The sort that Borden can't ignore.
Oh, what an honor it is
to see you again, sir.
You told me you only wanted to show me
one trick that'd pique my interest.
- It's a very clever trick.
- Pleased to meet you, Mr. Ackerman.
Likewise, I'm sure.
Let's get on, shall we?
Turn it on, gentlemen.
Very pretty.
That's it, Cutter? He simply disappears?
That's not a trick. 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...
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.
You haven't spoken
about her, Freddie, not once.
Why would I talk about her to you, hm?
Because she was a part of
your life and now she's gone.
You know, the day before she killed
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 want to know the truth about me?
The truth is that...
...I never loved Sarah.
I never loved her.
You married her,
you had a child with her.
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.
But I'm afraid I'm booked. The Moscow
Ballet plays through next year.
Then get rid of them. There will be
100 performances, no more, no less.
Five performances a week, no matinees.
That's what you'll
charge for each ticket. Good day.
[APPLAUSE]
[FOOTSTEPS ON STAGE]
Ladies and gentlemen, my first trick of
the evening involves considerable risk.
Anyone in the audience
who would be irrevocably
damaged by seeing a man drown
should leave now.
When I tell you the lady
who taught me this illusion
actually died performing it,
you'll understand the seriousness
of the dangers involved.
- Let's begin.
- [APPLAUSE]
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]
[APPLAUSE]
What you're about to witness
is not magic.
It's purely science.
I'd like to invite you
to come up on stage now
so that you can examine
the machine for yourselves.
[ELECTRICAL ZAPPING]
[CROWD MURMURING, GASPING]
[APPLAUSE]
Man's reach
exceeds his imagination.
[APPLAUSE, CHEERING]
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 call 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]
[BORDEN] Huh.
- [CRUMPLING PAPER]
- We're done.
All right?
Let him have his trick.
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.
[ANGIER] I told you, John.
I don't want you backstage on this one.
[ANGIER] I would like to
invite you onstage now
so that you can examine
the machine for yourselves.
- Hey, where do you think...?
- I'm part of the bloody act, you fool.
[ELECTRIC ZAPPING]
Who was that?
[RUMBLING]
[ZAPPING CONTINUES]
[SILENCE]
- [MUFFLED SCREAMING]
- Hey! Where's the bloody key?!
Where's the bloody key?!
[BORDEN YELLING]
Where's the bloody key?!
He's bloody drowning!
Hold on!
[SCREAMS]
What have you done?
[MAN] Alfred BORDEN, you have been found
guilty of the murder 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 notice 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...
No, it's just there is
one particular item,
this item, in fact,
- I would like to...
- You would like to...
...buy.
- Buy yourself?
- Yeah, I suppose so.
- This is the machine?
- Yes.
Well, 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]
- [MAN] Still here, Borden?
- For now.
You got a visitor. Lord Caldlow.
With a little girl.
Jess?
Hello, my love.
How are you? I've missed you so much.
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.
Don't they know you can't escape
without your 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.
No one cares about the man
in the box, the man who disappears.
You win?
This ain't a bloody competition
anymore. 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 you, don't I, Borden?
And you can't take it
with you, now, can you?
Oh, she'll be looked after.
Goodbye, Professor. Come on, darling.
No, no, no, no, stop, my darling.
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.
Whatever your secret was,
you have to agree,
mine is better.
Don't do this. Don't do this,
Angier. Jess, Jess!
Jess, I'm gonna take you
home soon. I promise.
- For God's sake.
- I promise. Look!
I promise. I love you, Jess.
I love you.
- Come on.
- I love you.
I love you, Jess.
Angier! Angier!
What, do you think
this place can hold me?
ANGIER! They're gonna bloody hang me!
And you can put a stop to this now!
Listen! Listen! That man...
Listen, that man is
the one I'm in for killing!
Listen! If he's alive, I'm not guilty!
- I'm not guilty!
- I don't care!
- Get hold of him.
- Angier!
Run along now.
Sir, there's a gentleman waiting.
- Dear God.
- Hello, Cutter.
You're still alive.
How is it you're still alive?
I saw you on a slab, for God's sake.
- Child.
- Good night, sir.
[ANGIER] Good night, Jess.
I've seen her before.
I saw her in court with...
...Fallon.
- What have you done?
- 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 going to beg you for anything.
You don't have to. I'm gonna
make sure it is 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.
I mean, 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.
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 on 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.
[MAN] 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!
[MAN] Do you have anything to say?
Abracadabra.
[GUNSHOT]
[MOANS]
[ANGIER MOANS]
A brother? A twin?
You were Fallon.
- The whole time?
- No.
We were both Fallon.
We were both Borden.
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.
I don't understand,
how it can be bleeding again?
Wha... 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.
You wouldn't know
anything about that, would you?
[GROANING]
I've... I've made sacrifices.
- No.
- Yes.
It takes nothing
to steal another man's work.
Yeah, it takes everything.
No, no, wait, I'm not...
[GUNSHOT]
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 want to 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?
[BORDEN] Yeah.
You never understood...
...why we did this.
The audience knows the truth.
The world is simple.
It's miserable.
Solid... 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.
[INHALES DEEPLY]
[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.
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.