The Prestige

[benos]

I watched it again last night. It was fun because I caught A LOT of subtle stuff I missed the first time.

A major plot detail that didn't seem plausible was that Borden never new what knot he tied. Because it showed him obviously changing the knot mid-stream, after a subtle go-ahead nod from the woman (I can't remember her name).

be

[Duane Thomas]

I like Christian Bale as an actor. How he could slim down for his role in the Machinist and then bulk up for Batman Begins, I'll never know.

I was disappointed in Batman Begins for a lot of reasons, but one of them was that, when I heard Christian Bale had been tapped to play Bruce Wayne, I thought, "Great! I've seen him stripped down in American Psycho and he has the build to wear the suit and look great without rubber muscles." But I found his build in Batman Begins disappointing. It did, in fact, require rubber muscles in the suit to bulk up. I just don't think Christian's body was able fully recover from almost starving himself to death for the The Machinist to look as good as he can look in time for Batman Begins.

[Duane Thomas]

after a subtle go-ahead nod from the woman (I can't remember her name).

Olivia Wenscombe.

[BritinUSA]

A major plot detail that didn't seem plausible was that Borden never new what knot he tied. Because it showed him obviously changing the knot mid-stream, after a subtle go-ahead nod from the woman (I can't remember her name).

Unless the Borden that was asked the question was not the Borden that tied the knot... I think

[Duane Thomas]

That's it.

[benos]

Ahhh, thank you!

But there still seems to be tiny loophole. That would imply that the Borden who tied the knot never told that to the other Borden. Which wouldn't seem likely.

be

[Duane Thomas]

I think the implication was that, for some ungodly reason, the Borden who tied the knot was not the Borden who had trained most extensively on how to do the trick. It's quite possible he got flustered, and afterward couldn't remember himself what he'd done. Or perhaps there was a jealousy factor at work, subconsciously he did murder Olivia, and afterward blocked the knowledge of what he'd done from his conscious mind. Depending on which Borden you believe was answering the question: the one who tied the knot, or the one saying he couldn't remember.

What I found gave me pause was that Olivia didn't realize the knot wasn't what she'd experienced before, and didn't call attention to that fact, she just let herself be bound and put in the tank that way. But I was able to rationalize that by telling myself she did realize it - notice the look on her face as the knot's being tied - but thought she could get out of it anyway, and didn't want to queer the trick by telling the "randomly picked stranger" from the audience, "You tied the wrong knot."

[benos]

I was able to rationalize that by telling myself she did realize it - notice the look on her face as the knot's being tied - but thought she could get out of it anyway, and didn't want to queer the trick by telling the "randomly picked stranger" from the audience, "You tied the wrong knot."

That's what I thought too.

be

[Duane Thomas]

Now that's dedication. Tough girl. Too bad she paid the price for it.