"BORDEN:" "Are you watching closely?" "CUTTER:" "Every magic trick consists of three parts or acts." "The first part is called the Pledge" "The magician shows you something ordinary... or a man." "He shows you this object perhaps he asks you to inspect it... real." "normal." "it probably isn't." "you fool." "The second act is called the Turn" "The magician takes the ordinary something and makes it do something extraordinary." "but you won't find it... you're not really looking." "You don't really wanna 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." "PROSECUTOR:" "The Prestige." "And did Robert Angier... your employer get to that final part of his trick that night?" "sir." "Something went wrong." " What went wrong?" "I saw someone making their way below stage." "I followed him." "watching Mr. Angier drown." "Mr. Cutter?" "I'm an ingénieur." "I design illusions and construct the apparatus necessary for performing them." "Mr. Cutter... was this water-filled tank beneath the stage part of Mr. Angier's illusion?" "no." "It was" "The tank was brought on for the first trick and then taken off-stage." "Borden must have placed it under the trap door after the interval." "How large was this tank?" "about 4 or 500 gallons." "How do you think Mr. Borden was able to move the tank under the trap door without anyone noticing?" "He's a magician." "Ask him." "DEFENDER:" "I ask again that 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." "then the trick is worthless." "How can we know that the tank wasn't some part of the trick that went wrong?" "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 gonna have to ask you to turn out your pockets." "sir." "The warden saw his show in Manchester last year where he vanished into thin air." "He's convinced he'll try and escape." "I told him the only way that Borden's gonna disappear is if I leave him out there with the other inmates." "Check the locks." "Twice." "My name is Owens." "I'm a solicitor." "accomplished amateur magician and historian" "BORDEN:" "How much?" " Lord Caldlow is interested" " How much for my tricks?" "Five thousand pounds." "my ingénieur." "Money's for him." "I did." "He offered to sell me your tricks." "All except the most valuable one:" "The Transported Man." "I wouldn't forgive myself for selling my greatest trick." "Even for your daughter?" "If the newspapers are right and you are for the drop..." " ...your daughter will need looking after." " Fallon will take care of her." "Bernard Fallon?" "A man with a past almost as obscure as your own." "Courts motioned that the girl be removed from his care." "the girl 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." "And I'm offering your daughter a future." "she will want for nothing." "Ever." "think it over." "And Lord Caldlow would like you to have this as a show of good faith." "He said it might be of interest." "This is Robert Angier's diary." "Including the time he spent in Colorado learning your trick." " He never learned my trick." " Really?" "he mounted a version of The Transported Man that the papers said was better even than your original." "you go dig him up and ask him yourself." "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." "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." "my passion is equal to the task." "MAN:" "Mr. Angier?" "Welcome to Colorado Springs." "sir." "quite a reception." "Mr. Angier." "Your telegram didn't indicate how long you'll be staying with us." "For as long as it takes." "I'll need a coach tomorrow to take me up the mountain." "for scientific experimentation." "I know." "That's why I'm here." "whoa." "sir." "Ah!" "ALLEY:" "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 interfere with our work." " I've come to see Tesla." " Why?" "He made a machine for a colleague of mine some time ago." "I'm afraid." "I brought a lot of money." "Mr. Angier." "I simply can't help you." "I'll be staying at the hotel." "Indefinitely." "what am I holding?" "ANGIER:" "Your watch." "1897 describes a show at the Orpheum Theater." "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." "MILTON:" "Which of you brave souls is willing to bind this lovely young woman?" "MILTON:" "If you would tie her wrists." "Bind her feet around the ankle." "Are either of you two gentlemen sailors?" " No." " No." "MILTON:" "I'm sure you can both tie a strong knot." "he's boring." "whatever that means and now he's scared." "He won't take any risks at all." "he's squandering the goodwill of the audience... second-rate tricks." " They're old favorites." "Favorites?" "Give me something fresh." "He won't even try a bullet catch." "A bullet catch is suicide." "All it takes is some smart-ass volunteer to put a button in the barrel." " Fine." "Use a plant." "ANGIER:" "You can't for every trick." " There'd be no seats left for the punters." " No bullet catch." "But the point is that a real magician tries to invent something new that other magicians are gonna scratch their heads over." "And then you sell it to him for a small fortune." " All right." " Yeah." "I suppose you have such a trick." "I do." " Would you care to sell it to me?" "No." "No one else could do my trick." "right?" " Wrong." "If Mr. Borden has invented his masterpiece it might be only he's prepared to do it." "but Borden is right." "He won't get his hands dirty." "go to the Tenley." "and he really has what it takes." " Chung Ling Soo." " Pricey." "I can't afford that." "I know the bloke on 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 a prize." "BORDEN:" "All right." " Which is?" " Ten minutes on-stage with my old friend Mr. Ackerman." " Really?" " Who's Ackerman?" "The top theatrical agent in London." "I saw you drop the knot again." "do you?" "she'll break a leg." "the Langford double will hold tighter." "The Langford double isn't a wet knot." "It's too dangerous." "she won't slip it." " I can slip a Langford underwater." " She can slip it." "We'll practice." "he said no." "do you?" "no more mistakes." "do you?" "You wanna take over?" " Just leave it." " I didn't think so." "where's he from?" " Where are you from?" " He shifts props for Virgil at the hall." " Don't you worry he'll steal your tricks?" " He 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." "Of course you can't trust him." "I think he's all right." " You think everyone's all right." " Even you." "Watch your sightliness." "If I can see you kissing your wife's leg every night so can the blokes at the ends of row three and four." "it is." " Look at the man." " This is the trick." "This is a performance right here." "This is why no one can detect his method." "Total devotion to his art." "you know?" "you know." "All right." "ANGIER:" "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." "but I couldn't fathom it." "Living my whole life pretending to be someone else." " You're pretending to be someone else." " I don't think changing a name compares." "Not just your name." "Who you are and where you're from." "I promised my family I wouldn't embarrass them with my theatrical endeavors." "I thought of a name for you." "The Great Danton." "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." " He killed it." " What?" "What's wrong?" " He killed it." " I'm sure he didn't." "now he'll bring it back." "he killed it." "No." "Look." "See?" "He's all right." "He's fine." " Look at him." " But where's his brother?" "your son." "he's my nephew." "Oh." "You're the lucky one today." "Are you watching closely?" "Look closer." "Never show anyone." "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." "Mr. Borden." " You're welcome." " Alfred." "It's Alfred." " Alfred." "So I could use a cup of tea." "I'd scandalize the landlord." "I think not." "You think that's--?" "Is that enough to keep me out?" "I think so." "So I'll see you again?" "BORDEN:" "Milk and sugar?" "JUDGE:" "What's in there?" "CUTTER:" "Angier's machine." "Mr. Cutter?" "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." "what happens with these things after the trial?" "They've been sold to a Lord Caldlow." "apparently very interested in the case." "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." "sir it has no trick." "It's real." "JUDGE:" "This is the tank Angier drowned in?" "CUTTER:" "Yes." "This is the place where the performer's hand reaches through to the trick padlock." "A standard magical apparatus for escapes." "with one important difference:" "This isn't a trick lock." "It's been switched for a real one." "What a way to kill someone." "Your Honor." "Showmen." "Men who live by dressing up plain and sometimes brutal truths... to shock." "Even without an audience?" "There was an audience." "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?" "If you would tie her wrists." "Bind her feet around the ankle." "Are either of you two gentlemen sailors?" "No." "I'm sure you can both tie a strong knot." "Robert!" "No!" "No!" "No!" "Julia." "Julia." "Julia!" "Julia!" "CUTTER:" "I knew an old sailor once." "tangled in the sails." "but it took him five minutes to cough." "He said it was like going home." "Borden?" "Angier." "Which knot did you tie?" "I keep asking myself that." " And?" " And..." "I just don't know." "You don't know?" "I'm sorry." "You don't know?" "You don't know?" "SARAH:" "Alfred?" "Good news." "We got our first booking today." " I don't think we've had the pleasure." " Mr. Fallon is my ingénieur." "and don't ask." "is Mr. Fallon." " So" " We can't afford to pay him." "Money will come when we get the audience." "it's barely enough for us." "Don't worry about it." "I'll share half my food with him or something." "You're already going to be doing that with someone else." " No." "You're--?" " Having a baby." "my God." "We should have told Fallon." "That is great." "We're having a baby." "come here." "what's this?" "this is just the trick to wake Ackerman up at the end of my act." "Is it the masterpiece?" "The great trick?" "no." "The world is not ready for that one yet." "spectacular bullet catch." "I promise." "Look." " Shoot me." " Shoot you?" "shoot me." "I can't." "not there." "Shoot me here." "Don't" " How's that?" " That's very good." "I can't do that." "then you can't do it." "Alfred" " I can't do it?" "but I can't raise a child on my own." " You don't tell anybody that I told you." " Okay." "Gunpowder wadding and a bullet." "A ramrod." "Hold out your hand." "The bullet is not even in the gun when the charge is fired." "it's actually very obvious." "you still get-- people still get killed doing that." "you know." "Somebody could get a smart-ass." "He can put a penny or a button... somebody could put a bullet 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?" "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." "ladies and gentlemen." "If there are any ladies or gentlemen here." " Solid metal." "MAN 1:" "Seen that already." "WOMAN 1:" "Leave it out!" "MAN 2:" "Come on." "mate." " Who threw that?" " I did!" "MAN 2:" "Get out your gun." "You're gonna need it." "MAN 2:" "Get a gun." "is it?" "So who wants to volunteer?" "MAN 3:" "Me!" "Me!" "MAN 4:" "Me." "cowboy." "sir?" "Yes." "Borden?" "Borden?" "I don't know." "Ah!" "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." "that bloody hurts." "SARAH:" "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 bloody doctor back." " You've woken her." " Great." "I'm sorry." "I need this to heal so I can go back to work." "face things." "What tricks can you perform with this kind of injury?" "I can do card pulls." "I can do some prop tricks." "I can still do that." "And I can do the trick that I've been telling you about." "The one that they're gonna remember me for." "Come on." "Never thought I'd find an answer at the bottom of a glass." "Hasn't stopped you looking." "Heard about a booking." "up-and-coming magician." " Who?" " You." "You got me a booking?" "Why?" "I wanna keep on working." "And who's gonna hire the ingénieur 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 one." "We'll have to whitewash the windows... but it will do." " We should see about an assistant." " I've made some arrangements." "Have you settled on a name?" "I have." "The Great Danton." "isn't it?" "it's sophisticated." "ANGIER:" "The birdcage can't be our climax." "Everybody knows it." "they don't." " I don't wanna kill doves." "not a wizard." "You gotta get your hands dirty if you're gonna achieve the impossible." "Miss Wenscombe." "No point in you meeting Mr. Angier if you don't fit." "On the right." "What's so hard about this?" "Nothing." "But you're going down here." "CUTTER:" "Hold it." "Hold it there." "This has gotta go around there." "sure." " All right?" " Yeah." "take that one there." " Yep." "Okay." " Pin this under." " And this ties up here?" " That ties at the front." " That's good." "CUTTER:" "Breathe as little as possible." "you see?" "That'll go." "That'll flatten." " I see." "Yeah." " Okay." "but she knows how to present herself." "A pretty assistant is the most effective form of misdirection." "Thank you." "for my final trick I will require the assistance of two volunteers." "if you would oblige me?" "CUTTER:" "Yeah." "Okay." "Bring your hand around." "yeah." "There." "I put it around its foot." "ain't he?" " You get a volunteer to put a hand there." " Yeah." "CUTTER:" "And another one there." "please." "Olivia." "You best not be intending..." "Mr. Angier." " Of course not." "You ready?" "All right." "One..." "Two..." " Three." " Three." "Go." "Cutter." "Very nice." "And the best part is..." "I thought you said I had to get my hands dirty." "Someday perhaps you will." "I just had to know that you can." "Mr. Merrit." "I haven't had the chance to compliment your beautiful theater." "it'll be a lot more beautiful when it's full." "you all say that." "somebody else's will." "Maybe somebody willing to do a bullet catch or a water escape?" "Mr. Merrit." "likely to see one too." "What would that do for your business?" "Mr. Merrit." "Thank you." "Sir?" "In the third row there." "Please stand up and show us your handkerchief." "This isn't mine." "Perhaps you'd be so good as to return it to the lady in the aisle." "I believe she has yours." "Thank you." "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." "but not this next one." "Put a cloth over." " Fingers crossed." " I'll have the champagne ready." " You've seen this one before?" "MAN 1:" "We've seen them all." "shall I?" "please." "A lady and a gentleman 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." "if you'll place one hand on the back of the cage one hand on the front." "one hand on the top." "Ah!" " Should have spotted him." " You had a lot of plates going." " Don't suppose they'll let us do it again." " No." "ANGIER:" "What's the climax of our show?" " Show?" "You don't have a show." "We have a week's engagement." "not butcher birds and break my customers' fingers." "Clear out." "Anything here in the morning gets burned." "John." "I've hired a comedian." "You know I hate comedians." "there's plenty of good theaters." "change the name of the act" "The name stays." "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." "you know?" "That sort of thing captures a public's imagination." "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." "I miss New York though." " So why are you here?" " The lightning lives here." "And not much else." "Our work is secret." "Is that a cipher?" "It's a rotating transposition that shifts every day of the diary." "but time-consuming to translate even when you have 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 wanna 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 to." "We do our tests when the townspeople are asleep." "Mr. Tesla doesn't wanna scare anyone." "Where are the wires?" "Exactly." " Where's the generator?" " You saw it last week." " That must be 10 miles from here." " Fifteen." "And I have to ride all of them before I get to bed." "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." "ladies and gentlemen." "clean power." "Would you like to know the future?" "The man speaking now is going to change the world." "no waiting." "I'm sorry but objections have been raised..." " ...concerning the safety..." " Does that look safe to you?" "Part of Thomas Edison's smear campaign against Mr. Tesla's superior alternating current." "please." "We have asked Mr. Tesla to reconsider..." "ALLEY:" "Which he will not." " ...his presentation." "But I've been told he refuses to appear under any such restrictions." "Clear the hall!" "This thing is gonna blow!" "please!" "Where's the switch?" "This is all perfectly safe." "BORDEN:" "Hey." "you." "Jess." "Have you had a nice day with Mummy?" "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... 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." "What do you think?" "What do you think you'll call her?" "I don't know." "what's hers?" "Maybe Sarah." "That's a lovely name." "That's a lovely name." "You talk about what you wanna do for the rest of the day." "All right?" "Go on." "You talk with her." "They're taking her away?" "To the workhouse?" "you keep talking." "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." "right?" "have they?" "Professor?" "maybe I'm just biding my time." "ask:" "Are you watching closely?" "Maybe a magic word or two." "And then I'll be gone." "eh?" "Magic." "get back here!" "Thank you." "Shut up!" "Get him down!" "Thank you." "Who's got a bloody key?" "1899." "finally a breakthrough." "Tesla's agreed to see me." "It's 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?" "are quite capable of conducting... producing energy." "Mr. Angier?" "I need something impossible." ""Man's reach exceeds his grasp"?" "It's a lie." "Man's grasp exceeds his nerve." "Society only tolerates one change at a time." "The first time I tried to change the world I was hailed as a visionary." "I was asked politely to retire." "enjoying my retirement." "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?" "if people actually believed the things I did on-stage... think of sawing a woman in half." "have you considered the cost of such a machine?" "Price is not an object." "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." "they will choose to destroy me." "then you know you won't change my mind." "So be it." "Will you build it'?" "Mr. Angier." "I hope you enjoy the mountain air." "This will take some time." "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?" "Research." "to see what illusions-- aren't you?" "Cutter's hoping you'll let things lie." "He says if Borden thinks things are even between you two" "Even?" "My wife for a couple of his fingers?" "right?" "And he's performing again." "as if nothing had happened." "all right?" " I'm alone and no theater will touch me." " Us." "You're going to need a better disguise." "Need a volunteer." "OLIVIA:" "What happened?" "Did you hurt him?" "Robert?" "sir." "yes?" "Thank you." "no." "Not normal." "Not a normal rubber ball." "It's magic." "He had a new trick." "OLIVIA:" "Was it good?" "It was the greatest magic trick I've ever seen." "ANGIER:" "Did they applaud when you saw it?" "it was too simple." " The audience hardly had time to see it." " He's a dreadful magician." "he's a wonderful magician." "He's a dreadful showman." "how to sell" " How does he do it?" " Uses a double." "it's too simple." "This is a complex illusion." "You only say that because you don't know the method." "It's a double at the end." "It's the only way." "I've seen him perform the trick three times now." "it's not." "The same man comes out of that second cabinet." "It's the same man." "He wears padded gloves to hide his damaged fingers but if you look closely you can tell." "but I do." "we can use it as a climax to the show." "Yes." "I'm gonna steal his trick." " Find someone who looks like you." " He doesn't use a double." "so either" "You either wait for him to retire and buy the secret or you listen to how I would do it." "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." "BORDEN:" "Whoo!" "Look." "Look." "What's that?" "That is for you." "What's this for?" "Come here." " I asked you last week." "You said you" " You caught me in a wrong mood." "But you went over all the-- aren't I?" "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?" "look at you." "I'd like you to meet Gerald Root." "ROOT:" "Hm." "A pleasure." "Pleasure to meet you fine gentlemen." "Would you like for me to tell you a little joke?" "Come here." "There we are." "Yes?" "Are you laughing now?" "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... he could be your brother." "I need him to be me." "Give me a month." "Come around." "So you open the door and..." "Come on." "Ugh!" "it's not for sleeping on." " So if you come down through there..." " Mm-hm." " ...does Root go up through there?" " Yep." "Robert." "it has to be." "Borden's trick is getting noticed." "The place was packed today." "You went and saw his show again." "Mr. Angier?" "All I have to do is keep myself drunk and no one will be able to tell the difference." "sir." "Mr. Root?" "Jesus." "you would drink too if you knew the world half as well as I do." "Did you think you were unique?" "I have been Caesar." "I played Faust." "How difficult could it possibly be to play the Great Danton?" "for nothing." "I'd rather be him for now." "I find it amusing." "I did deny no prisoners." "thank you." "the game's up." "I don't know how you do these things." "I'm not sure I wanna know." "Have you thought what we should call the trick?" "There's no point in being coy." "Borden calls his trick "The Transported Man." "much of what you've seen tonight may be termed as illusions or entertaining trifles." "Alas I cannot claim this next feat as illusion." "Watch carefully." "You'll 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." "many of you may be familiar with this technique... do not be alarmed what you're about to see is considered safe." "To our achievement." "The manager says he's never seen a reaction like it." "At least he got to see it." "I spent the ovation hiding under the stage." "No one cares about the man who disappears into the box." "They care about the one who comes out." " I care about the man in the box." " Thank you." "I don't know." "Maybe-- Maybe we could switch before the trick." "I could be the Prestige and Root ends up below." "the anticipation of the trick is everything." "We need your showmanship to build up the suspense." "it's over." "He can't introduce this trick." "Of course I can." "I'm the Great Danton." "you bloody fool." "Get out of that wardrobe and makeup." "Anyone could walk in here at any minute." "all." "Robbie." "We worked hard." "We need to celebrate properly." "What's wrong?" "Is it your wife?" "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?" "Olivia." "but imagine what we could 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 wanna hire you." "He'll want my secret." " Why would he trust me?" " Because you're gonna tell him the truth." "Hm?" "Good girl." "Mr. Angier." "It's fitting you should be here for maiden voyage." "Your hat." "You might wanna stand back." "I don't understand." "Perhaps it would be best if you left us to it." "no." " Come back next week." " Next week?" "it'll be fine." " Tesla." "She's just a little temperamental sometimes." "we make do." " My name is Olivia Wenscombe" " I know who you are." "You here to steal my show?" "I'm here to give it what it's missing." " Yeah?" "What might that be?" " Me." "Bernard?" "Woman's touch." "OLIVIA:" "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..." "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 top-notch." "He vanishes and then he reappears on the other side of the stage... very drunk." "It's astonishing." "How does he do it?" "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." "and I've had enough." "There is no future with him." "but I've actually come to offer you his." "is it?" "sir." "you're late and more drunk than usual." "get down below stairs right away." " No." "Mr. Cutter." "We have a problem." "Borden is performing right across the street." "Yeah?" "We have a bigger problem." "Root." "He's realized he can make demands." "Wha--?" "He's blackmailing us?" "to tell the truth." "It usually takes them longer to figure it out." "it makes no difference." "look at this." "look at last week where they said you were the premier stage performer in London." "mind you." "what's your 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 whatever he wants 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?" "shh." "but don't advertise it because I'll be mobbed with fans." "ANGIER:" "We paid him enough to keep him in beers so you wouldn't expect him to rock the boat." "many of you may be familiar with this technique." "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." "Hm." "Very good." "if you insist." " Another." " I'm not performing tonight." "I'm only doing one show... my people pretty much run things these days." "Get up there!" "Get up!" "The Transported Man I'm not claiming to know your methods or anything... and I used a double." "Oh." "I see." "Very good." "and then it went bad." "was that when I incorporated this bloke into my act he had complete power over me." "you say." "Oh!" "Be very careful giving someone that power over you." "thank you." "thank you for the warning." "Cheers." "I cannot claim this next feat as illusion." "What you're about to see is considered safe." "Ah!" "Oh!" "The Great Danton." "I apologize." "There simply is too much magic for my stage at the Pantages across the street." "MAN 1:" "Bravo!" "MAN 2:" "Bravo!" "Pardon my intrusion." "MAN 3:" "Bravo!" "BORDEN:" "And go easy on the poor chap." "He does try so very hard." "I don't know how Borden found him." "I was careful." "he did." "Do you think it was her?" "You weren't expecting me?" "I was expecting you sooner." "Your message said afternoon." "It takes a bit for me to get around these days." "He's taken everything from me." "now you." "What do you mean?" "You sent me-- not to improve his act." " That's my job." " Or fall in love." " I did everything you asked!" " Yes?" "Yes?" "a double." " Of course Borden said that." " He didn't say anything." "I've seen things." "but I've seen it backstage." "Misdirection." "He leaves things around to make you think he's using a double." "All the time?" "He doesn't know when I look." "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." "don't you?" "But the Great Danton is a blind fool." "His notebook." "You stole it?" "I borrowed it for tonight." "but now" "ANGIER:" "I can't." " You can't?" "it's a cipher." "Even with the keyword it would take months to decode." " And without the keyword?" " Perhaps never." " We'll see." " We will not see." "he'll know I took it." " Leave him." " I can't." "He knows where I live." "Olivia." "All of his secrets are right here in my hands." "Won't bring your wife back." "I care about his secret." "Look I'll go to his workshop and stage a break-in." "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." "BORDEN:" "Good evening." "WOMAN 1:" "Professor." "MAN 1:" "Professor." "uh..." "WOMAN 2:" "Could I get your autograph?" "I'm walking tonight." "Let him come." "I don't care." "MAN 2:" "Professor." "MAN 3:" "Professor." " You all right?" " I'm alive." "Saves me cutting you an air hole." " I'm impressed." " Why's that?" "You're finally getting your hands dirty." "Angier." "Risk." "Sacrifice." "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 seem to talk at all." "You have my notebook." "Useless without the keyword." "Mr. Borden." "Describe it in full." "not the keyword." "I don't even know if your secret's in your notebook." "The keyword is the method." "Where's my ingénieur?" " Alive?" " How fast can you dig?" "Fallon!" "You hear me?" "Fallon!" " How's the arm?" " Still attached." " Did you find your answer?" " Our answer." "I haven't looked yet." "I wanted you to share this." "Robert." "The same way he always has." "The same way as we do." "It's just that you want something more." "shall we?" "What does it mean?" "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." "darling." "your finest." "I didn't know we were going to be joined for dinner." " Absolutely." "We are celebrating." "SARAH:" "Miss Wenscombe." "what are we celebrating?" "Fallon?" "what trick?" "I am going to bury myself alive every night and then someone will come along and dig me up." "Wonderful." "pour-- don't talk to me like that." "I'm not a child." "Mr. Fallon you might escort Miss Wenscombe home." "My husband's being a bore." "please." "Don't ruin this evening." "Freddy." "that's my name." "am I?" "couldn't you have at least taken off the beard?" "I just came from the bloody theater just now." "All right?" "And I'm out in public." "Alfred?" "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." "what?" "What did you lose?" "more secrets." "secrets are my life." "stop." "This isn't you." "Stop performing." "Mr. Brent." "Unexpected guests." "Not very polite." "A lot of questions." "First I thought they might work for the government." " No?" " Worse." "They work for Thomas Edison." "a most curious development." "His assistant came to us with a proposition." "Angier has sent her and told her to admit as much." "Does he enjoy taking his bows under the stage?" "but I've actually come to offer you his." "is it?" "that's what he told me to tell you." "The truth... and he sent me to you like he would send a stagehand to pick up his shirts." "I hate him for that." "I can spot Angier's methods from the back of the theater." "what could you possibly have to offer me?" "but you can't understand why no one can see yours are better." "You hide this." "I had to look very closely to spot it when you perform The Transported Man but this makes you unique." "It shows the audience you aren't using a double." "display it proudly." "I'm sure it takes great skill to perform illusions with one good hand." "it does." "So let people know." "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." "my mistress proves her truthfulness." "you understand." "I've been convinced since she led me to Root." "Angier." "Angier." "She gave you this notebook at my request." "not to my trick." "Did you really think I 'd part with my secret so easily after so much?" "Angier." "May you find solace for your thwarted ambition back in your American home." "Tesla!" "Tesla!" "Alley!" "Alley!" "Tesla never made a machine like the one I asked for." " We never said he had." " But you let me believe that he had." "You stole my money because your funding had been cutoff." "laughing at me all along while using my money to stave off ruin." "I have seen Edison's men." " Where?" "In the hotel." "And I have every mind to bring them up here myself." "Mr. Angier." "It is true that you are our last remaining financier but we have not stolen your money." "my cat." "I spoke a simple truth." "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." "TESLA:" "We need to try different material." "It may provoke a different result." "come on." "doctor." "I hope that whatever you were doing with my money was more worthwhile Mr. Tesla." "Alley!" "So the machine was working." "I never bothered to check the calibration because the hat never moved." "Mr. Angier." "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." "Mr. Angier." "You look so pretty in this new dress of yours." "Are we going to the zoo this afternoon?" "no." "Daddy has some errands to run." "did I?" "Then go to the zoo we shall." "So 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." "Sarah." "What are you doing?" "We each of us have our vices." "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." "BORDEN:" "Is that more shopping?" "She does love the smell of money." "so I thought you could take her." "I can do it tomorrow if not." "she knows." "at least she knows that something's not right so if you can just do whatever you can to help me with her." "Talk to her." "Just convince her that I do love her." "please." "there's sometimes..." " Sometimes it seems wrong." " I've told you before... you're with me." "Leave your family at home where they belong." "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." "Mr. Angier." "We were sorry to see Mr. Tesla leave as well." "He was 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." "I tested the machine taking precautions in case Tesla hadn't ironed out the kinks in its operation." "I would not wanna live like that for long." "Borden." "Borden." "Sitting there in your cell... awaiting your death for my murder." "that's a fake." "it's not." "The provenance of the journal is clear and under no doubt." "of which we had numerous examples." "It don't matter." "So my tricks." " All of them." " Including The Transported Man?" "Lord Caldlow will be very pleased indeed." "he won't." "Because 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 wanna say goodbye." "SARAH:" "We have to go through it 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 I know" " Tell her what?" "Alfred." "I..." "Sarah." " I can't keep it in." " You can't talk like this." "shut up." "shut up!" "I don't wanna hear it anymore!" "You can't talk like this!" "I know." "I know what you really are!" "Alfred I can't live like this." "you think I can live like this?" "You think I bloody enjoy living like this?" "SARAH:" "Stop it and listen!" "No!" "BORDEN:" "We have this beautiful house... we're married." "What is so wrong with your life?" "I can't live like this!" "what do you want from me?" "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." "Who's there?" "I'm looking for an old friend." "ANGIER:" "I heard about a booking." "Nice little theater." "Good up-and-coming magician." "John." "Good rehearsal space." "I like it." "You always had a good eye for publicity." "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 wanna design a show around it." "managing." "I need you to call in favors or connections you have." " Get us the right booking for the run." " What sort of booking you after?" "The sort that Borden can't ignore." "sir." "You said you only wanted to show me one trick." "It piqued my interest." "Mr. Ackerman." "ANGIER:" "Pleased to meet you." "shall we?" "gentlemen." "Very pretty." "Cutter?" "He simply disappears?" "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 I've seen-- ANGIER:" "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." "Freddy." "Not once." "Why would I talk about her to you?" "Because she was a part of your life." "And now she's gone." "she said she wanted to meet me." "That she had something to tell me about you." "I couldn't bring myself to face her." "But what would she have said?" "You wanna know the truth about me?" "Truth is that I never loved Sarah." "I never loved her." "yes." "Part of me." "but the other part didn't." "The part that found you." "The part that's sitting here right now." "I love you." "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." "Professor." "You should go to him." "You two deserve each other." "they'll be playing through next year." "Then get rid of them." "There'll be a hundred performances." "no less." "Five performances a week." "No matinees." "And that's what you'll be charging for each ticket." "Good day." "my first trick of the evening is one that involves considerable risk." "Anyone in the audience who would be irrevocably damaged by seeing a man drown should leave now." "For when I tell you the young lady who taught me this illusion actually died performing it you will understand the seriousness of the dangers involved." "Let's begin." "I have seen the future and it is a strange future indeed." "ladies and gentlemen is on the brink of new and terrifying possibilities." "What you're about to witness is not magic." "It is purely science." "I would like to invite you to come up on-stage now so that you can examine the machine for yourselves." "Man's reach exceeds his imagination." "MAN 1:" "Bravo!" "MAN 2:" "Bravo!" "Bravo!" "Bravo." "Bravo." "One hundred performances." "Why?" "Does his method dictate that?" "Is it a publicity move?" "What is it?" "and they're calling 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 outthink him?" "yeah?" "We're done." "All right?" "Let him have his trick." "I don't need" " I don't need his secret." "So... you leave him alone." "just leave him alone." "We're done." "John I don't want you backstage on this one." "ANGIER:" "I would like to invite you to come up on-stage now so that you can examine the machine for yourselves." "you fool." "Who was that?" "Hey!" "Where's the bloody key?" "Where's the bloody key?" "Where's the bloody key?" "Bloody drowning!" "Hold on!" "Ah!" "What have you done?" "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." "Mr. Owens." "It has fallen to me to dispose of Mr. Angier's equipment." "But I noticed from this manifest that Lord Caldlow has purchased the bulk of the items." "surely you-- no." "It's just there is one particular item... that I would like to" " You would like to...?" " Buy." "I suppose so." " This is the machine?" " Yes." "I'm afraid Lord Caldlow was adamant about purchasing this particular item." "Do you think I could talk to Lord Caldlow in person?" "I'm afraid." "Of course... in the course of your delivery arrangements your paths were to cross..." " ..." "I can't stop you speaking your mind." " Thank you." "Borden?" " For now." "Got a visitor." "Lord Caldlow." "With a little girl." "Jess?" "my love." "How are you?" "I've missed you so much." "And Fallon's missed you too." "We both have." "can I come in there?" "darling." "but everything is gonna be all right." " You must be Lord Caldlow." " Caldlow." "I am." "I always have been." "Alfred." "Don't they know you can't escape without your little 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... are you?" "not anymore." "And I win." "the man who disappears." "You win?" "this is my little girl's life." "And don't you dare put her in the middle of this." "I know how hard it is to have someone so special..." "Borden?" "can you?" "she'll be looked after." "stop." "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." "you have to agree mine is better." "Jess." "I'm gonna take you home soon." "I promise." "Borden." " I promise." "Look." "I promise." "Jess." "I love you." "ANGIER:" "Come on." "Jess." "Angier." "Angier!" "you think this place can hold me?" "Angier!" "They're gonna bloody hang me!" "They're gonna bloody hang me!" "You can put a stop to this now!" " Listen!" "Listen!" "That man--!" "GUARD:" "Just shut up." "that man is the one I'm meant to have killed!" "listen to me!" "I'm not guilty!" "GUARD:" "Guards!" " I'm not guilty!" " I don't care!" "Get hold of him!" "Professor." " Angier!" "Run along now." "Sir." "There's a gentleman waiting." "CUTTER:" "Dear God." "Cutter." "You're" " You're still alive." "Robert?" "for God's sake." "sir." "Jess." "CUTTER:" "I've seen her before." "I saw her in court with Fallon." "she needs looking after." "She needs her father." "and I helped you." "I came here to beg Lord Caldlow to let me destroy that machine." "I am not gonna beg you for anything." "You don't have to." "I'm gonna make sure that machine's never used again." "Lord Caldlow where do you want me to deliver it'?" "My theater." "It belongs with the Prestige materials." "I tried not to involve you." "So we go alone now." "Both of us." "Only I don't have as far to go as you." "No." "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." "I didn't mean to hurt her." "I didn't." "all right?" "You live for both of us." "Goodbye." "Are you watching closely?" "Put it down the end." "Take a minute to consider your achievement." "I once told you about a sailor who described drowning to me." "he said it was like going home." "I was lying." "He said it was agony." "WARDEN:" "Alfred Borden... 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?" "WARDEN:" "Do you have anything to say?" "Abracadabra." "A brother." "A twin." "You were Fallon the whole time." "No." "We were both Fallon." "And we were both Borden." "Were you--?" "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." "too easy." "No." "but not easy." "There's nothing easy about two men sharing one life." "Ah!" "I don't understand how it can be bleeding again." "What about Olivia?" "And your wife?" "We each loved one of them." "I loved Sarah." "He loved Olivia." "which was enough for us." "Just" "But not for them." "that's the price of a good trick." "would you?" "I've made sacrifices." " No." " Yes." "It takes nothing to steal another man's work." "It takes everything." "wait!" "I'm the--!" "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 wanna--?" "Do you wanna see what it cost me?" "did you?" "Look." "Look." "I don't care." "You went halfway around the world." "You spent a fortune." "You did terrible things." "Robert." "And all for nothing." " For nothing?" " Yeah." "You never understood why we did this." "The audience knows the truth." "The world is simple." "It's miserable." "Solid all the way through." "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." "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." "Hey." "CUTTER:" "Now you're looking for the secret." "you're not really looking." "You don't really want to work it out." "You want to be fooled." "\fscx125\fscy125)\cH000000\3cc0c0c0}SubRip by" "\fscx125\fscy125)\cH000000f\3c0000a6}HighCode"