Christian Bale’s performance in The Prestige is fantastic the first time you watch it and unbelievably brilliant the 2nd time you watch it. (SPOILERS)

Yeah, this movie has been talked to death and Nolan is the god of film blah blah blah but Bale’s performance in The Prestige deserves to be discussed and dissected forever as, IMO, one of the single greatest performances in film history.

The first time you watch the film Borden comes across as sort of like a dastardly villain. Pompous, full of himself, knows he WILL win at any costs. It’s kind of a guilty pleasure watching his character be one step ahead of Angier the whole time. You cringe at the treatment he gives his family, you feel for his wife as she struggles to understand his obsessive nature for magic and Angier. He seems so evil and cunning right up until the reveal.

The second time (and every other time) watching the film you see 2 Bordens. You’ve always seen 2 Bordens. You see exactly when the “switch” happens and the twin in love with Olivia is just passively just placating Sarah. You see exactly when the loving Borden to Sarah is forced into things he doesn’t want to get involved with and how painful that is to him. All this in sake of preserving the secret to an illusion.

I know there have been twists that have completely transformed the meaning of a film upon a second viewing but has there ever been an actor’s performance that changes everything?

Submitted March 21, 2019 at 12:55PM by expldplastic https://ift.tt/2HzdssM