Just watched the Prestige again and got me thinking... (SPOILERS)

[Idioteque...]

Michael Caine finishes the movie with his monologue and we pan into the tank. Now I was thinking could it possibly be that Angier killed himself sometime during the trick and that was a clone of Angier that Borden shot? Or I could be overthinking it but the Tesla & Caine's character did mention how it would only make Angier miserable so would that have led him to commit suicide?

[progers13]

Originally Posted by Idioteque...

Michael Caine finishes the movie with his monologue and we pan into the tank. Now I was thinking could it possibly be that Angier killed himself sometime during the trick and that was a clone of Angier that Borden shot? Or I could be overthinking it but the Tesla & Caine's character did mention how it would only make Angier miserable so would that have led him to commit suicide?

Um...all of those tanks had Angier in it. That was kinda the trick. The Tesla machine created clones of whatever was put into it (remember the hats in the field and the black cats?). So each time he did the trick it created a clone of him. The tanks were used under the stage so that only one Angier would be there to pull off the trick (the Prestige). This is why he only used blind stage hands and why he didn't want Michael Caine's character too involved in the trick. He even says at one point that it terrified him that he never knew which would be the man to survive or the man in the box. Remember when Angier first cloned himself, he shot the "clone" with a pistol.
We are never told which was which, and are led to believe Angier never knew either - this is why he used the tanks to conceal the evidence.

Remember also when he booked the theater that there would only be 100 shows - no more or no less. Christian Bale's character (Borden) was seen pondering what was the significance of the 100 shows. Angier did that trick for the sake of setting up Borden. When Borden finally wandered downstage, Angier knew it and didn't come out of the rafters, leading the world to think Borden killed him. Angier let him take the fall as a murderer and emerged later as the Lord (I forget the name).

Angier was motivated / consumed by Borden's life, success, and the death of his own wife (which he blamed on Borden). Initially he was trying to make a better "Transported Man" trick than the one Borden did. But once he learned what the Tesla machine actually did, he saw it as an opportunity. This was his ultimate revenge.

Anyway, excellent movie. Definitely had me sitting around for a great while to comprehend it.

[Fighter]

Excellent film...Big fan of 'The Illusionist' as well.

[SDBlu]

Originally Posted by jstasa51

Excellent film...Big fan of 'The Illusionist' as well.

+1

I liked The Illusionist as well

[radagast]

Originally Posted by MarcosG

+1

I liked The Illusionist as well

I liked both movies as well. I even have an idea for a sequel to the Prestige.

[Idioteque...]

I knew that it was all clones but I was wondering if the original Angier had killed himself or did he emerge as Lord Cutler. I feel there's something more to the end and I just feel bothered that Borden shoots Angier and then leaves. I wish there was more of a resolution between the two rather than Angier being portrayed as antagonistic at the end even though he was consumed in his own obsession.

[progers13]

Originally Posted by Idioteque...

I knew that it was all clones but I was wondering if the original Angier had killed himself or did he emerge as Lord Cutler. I feel there's something more to the end and I just feel bothered that Borden shoots Angier and then leaves. I wish there was more of a resolution between the two rather than Angier being portrayed as antagonistic at the end even though he was consumed in his own obsession.

I think that scene with Borden and Angier at the end could have been handled better. Both characters did their fair share of revenge to the other, but it always seemed that Borden was painted in a bad light while Angier was supposed to be the "good" guy. You're right - that all got turned on its ear in the end. We saw the end result of that obsession.

[McGarnigal]

Ending would be pointless if he was talking to a clone..

[Idioteque...]

Originally Posted by progers13

I think that scene with Borden and Angier at the end could have been handled better. Both characters did their fair share of revenge to the other, but it always seemed that Borden was painted in a bad light while Angier was supposed to be the "good" guy. You're right - that all got turned on its ear in the end. We saw the end result of that obsession.

Yeah, that's the main flaw of the movie. I felt the movie would be much better if both characters were considered bad and good at the same time. They got the bad parts right but what about the good guy parts?

Originally Posted by Kirsty_Mc

They were not clones, they were copies.

The difference being that a clone is a genetically identical copy without the memories aor exact life experiences of the original. The copy knows everything the original does...

[Show spoiler]this is why the other copy had to die

.

[Show spoiler]However, in the movie during the trick, it was the original that was drowned in the tank, it was the copy that survived. Every time the trick was performed he knew he was going to die

.

Okay thanks for getting all technical about it lol but what you said was what I was thinking but then again, Angier was always looking to bow for the act so it's just so confusing.

[lobo81865]

Originally Posted by jstasa51

Excellent film...Big fan of 'The Illusionist' as well.

+1. I prefer "The Illusionist" between the two of them. I wish they would hurry up, and release a U.S. version on Blu.

[Petra_Kalbrain]

Originally Posted by Idioteque...

Michael Caine finishes the movie with his monologue and we pan into the tank. Now I was thinking could it possibly be that Angier killed himself sometime during the trick and that was a clone of Angier that Borden shot? Or I could be overthinking it but the Tesla & Caine's character did mention how it would only make Angier miserable so would that have led him to commit suicide?

Everytime Angier performed the "illusion" he was effectively killing himself knowing that his clone, being an exact duplicate would live on to do the same since it would be just as committed to his own cause. Since his clone was the exact same, it became a philosophical question of whether or not he was really going to be killing himself. In his mind, he wasn't really killing himself.

So, the original Angier was most definitely killed upon the first time he performed the "illusion" with the "no duplicate Angiers allowed" safety measure (the tank) in place.

[Sussudio]

I don't know how much of Greg's theory I agree with, but I will say as I continue to read his posts (and of those who support it), I find the ideas very fascinating and it's made me want to watch the film again to look for alternate interpretations . Kudos for holding your own, Greg...I never thought this thread would turn into such a bloodbath