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ARRRRRRRGH
Nov. 5th, 2006 02:36 amSo, I totally just saw The Prestige (which is awesome, P.S.). However, I have a problem: I have no idea how smart Christopher Nolan thinks I am. See, I figured out half the ending about 20 minutes before the end (the other half was a surprise), and then they make what I figured out pretty clear later on. But the last shot of the movie focuses on this thing that I figured out and that was implied in the movie, and the camera makes a dramatic motion and the music goes "dun dun DUN!" So, my dilemma: did Christopher Nolan assume the audience wouldn't figure out this fairly obvious point, and put in the final ::reveals plot twist, dramatic chord!:: to make it clear? Or did he assume that the audience would figure it out, and put in the final shot to make us think there was something else and mess with our heads?
This is really bothering me. I feel it shouldn't be the first option, because that final thing revealed was 1) very obvious, probably intentionally so, after they discussed its existence, and 2) very obvious to me long before it was ever discussed. Now, Christopher Nolan seems like a pretty smart dude, and he makes tricky movies, so I feel that he wouldn't assume that the audience is composed of morons and end on this fairly obvious note. And yet, the other option means, essentially, that he is just going to fuck with everyones' minds, and make you think that maybe there is something more when really there isn't, or if there is, there's no way you can figure it out.
Now, had that been the point of the movie, that would have been fine. Unfortunately, the rest of the movie was about magic tricks (something that can't have failed to escape Christopher Nolan's notice, what with him being the DIRECTOR and all) and the whole point of a magic trick is that you KNOW THERE'S A TRICK TAKING PLACE. With this ending, I feel like there's something wrong, but I don't know what, I don't know how, and I don't know why. To use an appropriate analogy, it's kind of like this: David Copperfield walks onstage. There is a bright flash of light. He is still standing there. Then he walks off stage. When you ask him WTF, he just goes, "a magician never reveals his secrets" and smiles and walks away. Not only do you not know the point of the trick, you don't even know if there was a freaking trick in the first place, and all it does is MAKE YOUR HEAD HURT.
In conclusion: ARRRRRRRRRRRRGH.
Also, everyone should go see The Prestige and tell me what is up with that final shot.
This is really bothering me. I feel it shouldn't be the first option, because that final thing revealed was 1) very obvious, probably intentionally so, after they discussed its existence, and 2) very obvious to me long before it was ever discussed. Now, Christopher Nolan seems like a pretty smart dude, and he makes tricky movies, so I feel that he wouldn't assume that the audience is composed of morons and end on this fairly obvious note. And yet, the other option means, essentially, that he is just going to fuck with everyones' minds, and make you think that maybe there is something more when really there isn't, or if there is, there's no way you can figure it out.
Now, had that been the point of the movie, that would have been fine. Unfortunately, the rest of the movie was about magic tricks (something that can't have failed to escape Christopher Nolan's notice, what with him being the DIRECTOR and all) and the whole point of a magic trick is that you KNOW THERE'S A TRICK TAKING PLACE. With this ending, I feel like there's something wrong, but I don't know what, I don't know how, and I don't know why. To use an appropriate analogy, it's kind of like this: David Copperfield walks onstage. There is a bright flash of light. He is still standing there. Then he walks off stage. When you ask him WTF, he just goes, "a magician never reveals his secrets" and smiles and walks away. Not only do you not know the point of the trick, you don't even know if there was a freaking trick in the first place, and all it does is MAKE YOUR HEAD HURT.
In conclusion: ARRRRRRRRRRRRGH.
Also, everyone should go see The Prestige and tell me what is up with that final shot.