Director Christopher Nolan, who made an impression with every work he signed and whom we love even more with the Batman series, made a movie called Prestige in 2006 with The Prestige Turkish. The story of the Prestige movie, in which we watched the enchanting actors such as Christian Bale, Hugh Jackman and Scarlett Johansson in the lead roles, tells the struggle of two magicians who are rivals to each other. So it’s a pretty simple story, right?
That’s why the movie Prestige was loved so much when it was released because in a story that looks very simple when told in a single sentence, it actually tells extremely layered events that contain many surprises. The fact that he tells all this in the dark London of the 19th century makes the events much more mysterious. Let’s take a closer look behind the scenes of the movie Prestige, which has as interesting details as the movie itself.
Information about Prestige is as interesting as the movie itself:
- David Bowie almost wasn’t in the movie.
- It took years to write the script for the movie Prestige.
- Rebecca Hall nearly screwed things up.
- The Prestige set was designed in Nolan’s garage.
- A real magician also starred in the movie.
- Nolan literally bent time at The Prestige.
- Scarlett Johansson incompetent or very successful?
- The movie was almost to be directed by Sam Mendes.
David Bowie almost wasn’t in the movie:
The role of Nikola Tesla, played by British singer David Bowie and which we all adore, was written with Bowie in mind from the very first moment it came to mind. When it was offered to him, he refused, thinking it would be boring. Christopher Nolan stepped in immediately and met with Bowie face-to-face. He told her that the influence he had in real life would feed into the Tesla character. Understanding the depth of the character and his connection with himself, Bowie accepted the offer, which was very good.
It took years to write the script for the movie Prestige:
It is not known much, but actually the movie The Prestige is a book adaptation. Written by Christopher Priest and published in 1995, the novel of the same name was adapted for the cinema by scripting by Christopher Nolan and Jonathan Nolan. Christopher Nolan began writing the screenplay immediately after purchasing the film rights to the novel. But at that time troubles began in the editing of the movie Insomnia, and Christopher Nolan handed over the job to his brother, Jonathan Nolan. When his work was finished, he became involved in scriptwriting again. All these events took five years, and at the end of five years, a prestige script was written.
Let’s not go without talking about a small detail about the scenario of the movie Prestige. Like all of Nolan’s other films, The Prestige was written like a three-act play. These also represent illusions in the story. This was one of the reasons Nolan had a hard time writing the script, because turning a one-piece literary novel into a three-part feature film isn’t for everyone.
Rebecca Hall nearly screwed things up:
Sarah, one of the most influential side characters of the movie Prestige, is played by the beloved actress Rebecca Hall. One of his most successful scenes is ‘I know what you are.’ she is the scene she says. The interesting thing is that there is no such script. Hall immediately regretted saying the line and immediately apologized to Nolan because it was kind of a spoiler for the movie’s finale. But Nolan is a master of the craft, after a few seconds of thought, he added it to the film, saying it was a great improvisation.
The Prestige set was designed in Nolan’s garage:
Christopher Nolan is a strange man, we more or less know that. While he was writing the script, he also started to visualize the movie, after all, he was going to shoot the movie. So he hired production designer Nathan Crowley and invited him to his home. Nolan was writing, giving them to Crowley as he wrote. A true master, Crowley was also designing the scenes with items in Nolan’s garage. So much so that three days before the shooting of the film began, Nolan had almost all the details of the film’s set in small scale.
A real magician also starred in the movie:
One of the most important characters that enriches the story of the movie Prestige is the character of Milton, played by Ricky Jay. Although Milton is a terrible magician in the movie, Ricky Jay, who plays him, is a famous and successful magician in real life. Ricky Jay not only played Milton in the movie, but also coached Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale in magic.
Nolan literally bent time at The Prestige:
If you’ve seen Christopher Nolan movies, you know, he likes to bend time. Going back and forth in time is a technique the director loves. The Prestige movie also got its share from this technique and we went back and forth in plenty of time. What we say a lot is not just a word, there are exactly 146 time jump scenes in the movie Prestige. When we calculate these according to the movie duration, we see that there is a time jump every minute in the movie. This is one of the factors that increase the tempo.
Is Scarlett Johansson incompetent or very successful?
Olivia Wenscombe, played by Scarlett Johansson, is one of the most important characters in the movie. Careful ears will notice, he has a British accent, but that accent is blatantly similar to an American impersonating a British accent. So, can we say that Johansson didn’t have a British accent and had a terrible acting?
Actually, we can’t say because according to a fan theory, the character of Olivia Wenscombe is an American who is trying to stand out with her British accent in show business. So actually Scarlett Johansson gives a great acting performance. Considering that other players are already working with a voice coach, the idea that he can’t do it doesn’t make much sense.
The movie was almost to be directed by Sam Mendes:
Sam Mendes, who was awarded 8 Oscar nominations and 5 Oscar awards for his first film American Beauty, had set his mind on Prestige for his second film. Both Nolan and Mendes sent offers to the author of the book to buy the movie rights. Nolan had sent a copy of Follow along with the offer. The author was so impressed with the movie that he sold the rights to the movie to Nolan. Maybe the reason Sam Mendes shot James Bond movies so well in the following years is the sadness he experienced during this period, who knows.
We talked about the extraordinary information, many of which you have heard for the first time, about The Prestige, which is considered one of the most successful films of Christopher Nolan. Do you like Prestige movie? You can share your thoughts in the comments.
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