Sunday, July 20, 2008

Staff Recommendation - The Prestige

The Prestige
[DVD Prestige]

Marvelously dark period drama with heavy doses of fantasy and mystery. Two turn-of-the-century Victorian stage magicians begin a rivalry and feudd that involves one-upsmanship, thievery, manipulations of loved ones, sabotage, and ultimately murder. This film is exceptionally atmospheric -- filmed, where possible, with natural lighting. The set designs are gorgeous. And the acting, on the parts of Christian Bale and Hugh Jackman, is wonderful. The script, based on an award-winning novel by Christopher Priest, is by the same writer/director who brought us Memento, and this summer's Batman: The Dark Knight, so be prepared for lots of twists and turns. This is NOT, however, a movie for kids...it has a very dark tone, and by the end you realize that both magicians are willing to sacrifice their humanity and become monsters to outdo the other. Nevertheless, a highly recommendable movie. -- recommended by Scott C. - Bennett Martin Public Library/Reference

[ official Christopher Priest web site ] [ official The Prestige on DVD web site ]

Have you seen this one? Or read the original book? What did you think?

Ten new reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide web site. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide blog over the course of the entire month.

No comments: