Laura_cd and I went to see the filmic narrative brilliance that is
The Prestige last night at 10:30 PM. I didn't go to bed until 3 in the AM--because I was either 1)busy thinking through the
story fragmentation, 2)obsessively analyzing Hugh Jackman's acting prowess or 3)being annoyed I had to go in to teach a Draft Workshop in less than 5 hours. I'd like to think I stayed up because of the first two reasons. (Also, I was making a new
Bones background for my computer, but that's straying off topic.)
ANYWAY!
Laura was very right last night when she said that Christopher Nolan (the director/screenwriter who also brought us
Memento and
Batman Begins) is a narrative genius. I remember talking with a writing mentor back in undergrad about the flawless structure of
Memento: it follows a traditional narrative structure (initiating incident, rise, climax, denouement) but is told
backwards. Give me a break. Who pulls that off nearly flawlessly? Laura and I are convinced that he must have been working in several different storytelling mediums previous to his breaking that independent hit in 2000. (He also had 2 previous movies that I haven't seen, so I can't speak for them myself.)
ANYWAY!
Watching
The Prestige was like watching an instructional workshop. Form mirrored content, and content mirrored form almost seamlessly. I won't say anything to "ruin" it for everyone out there who hasn't contributed to its box office sales, but the film opens with an intro to the structure of a magician's illusion: the pledge, the turn and the prestige (Title alert!):
Every great magic trick consists of three acts. The first act is called "The Pledge"; The magician shows you something ordinary, but of course it probably isn't. The second act is called "The Turn"; The magician makes his ordinary some thing do something extraordinary. Now if you're looking for the secret you won't find it, that's why there's a third act called, "The Prestige"; this is the part with the twists and turns, where lives hang in the balance, and you see something shocking you've never seen before.
And that's what the movie is: a narrative illusion that is both illusive and an allusion to the trick's 3-part structure. (Damn you, turn of phrase!) Oh, and I just want to point out the relationship between reference to "the prestige" and the sleight-of-hand term "prestidigitation".
ANYWAY!
There was no mystery that was too much of a mystery. There was no turn that was a complete surprise. All of the development in
The Prestige was there to tie the fragmented pieces of the narrative together. Because as any good storyteller knows, great suspense doesn't come from withholding information from your audience and dumping a tricky reveal on them at the end of things. It comes from laying the "secret" bare and letting the audience draw their own conclusions. (I just mini-lectured my writing workshop on this fact today, actually.) Therefore, the narrative tension comes from the difference between what the audience "has eyes to see" and what the story's characters may or may not know. (I can't believe I just used "therefore" in a blog post.)
AND SO!
The complete opposite of Chris Nolan's great narrative experimentation and fragmentation for the purpose of tension is M. Night Shyamalan's butchering of the "twist" tradition in storytelling. (Damn you, O. Henry!) Sure, M. Night hit it big with
The Sixth Sense.
Unbreakable was much more character-driven and ultimately (IMO) more re-watchable. (Re-watching
The Sixth Sense for me is like some strange and brutal torture.) But then there was
Signs (which was great in its own right ,but so obvious at times as to poke its watchers in their size-of-flying-saucers eyes). And (drum roll please) the roughly-drafted flick that is
The Village. At this point in his career, I believe M. Night did a fabulous job of getting caught up in the cult of himself--to the point where he was trying to imitate the form that viewers threw money away for in The
Sixth Sense: "I have important social things to say! Aren't these village elders creepy and completely unrealistic? I love it when my characters are so pretentious as to be morons, just like me! Oh, and did you catch me in the cabinet reflection with my perfect I-know-something-you-don't-know line delivery?" In other words, M. Night was caught up in imitating himself. (This is a topic that actually comes up quite deliberately in
The 
Prestige (as can be seen in this poster image). All "best-selling" and/or popular artists and storytellers are prone to the circular problem of trying to live up to the image of yourself that has been created for the public audience. And, as Angier notes in
The Prestige, the audience is the reason that you create the spectacle.)
GAR!
I didn't make it to
Lady In the Water, but I think there is something to be said about not giving some people complete creative control. I mean, there is a time and place--not to mention need--for creative collaboration for some people. (Chris Nolan works closely with his brother Jonathan.) I suppose that aruagably what separates Nolan from M. Night is that in the end, M. Night is writing about himself. That is what he's concerned with: his own form, his own story, his own success. Whereas, when Nolan is allowed to enter into the role of auteur (
Batman Begins can be considered an exception here), his work ends up being about the art, the story, the character. It is about creating that illusion of a narrative that is fragmented yet in some strange way unified in the end of things, but in order to get there Nolan has to make his way through his own pledge, turn and prestige.
(Author's Note: I am primarily crediting Chris Nolan for the film's narrative order, but his brother Jonathan was co-writer on the screenplay for
The Prestige. Also, the film was adapted from the novel by Christopher Priest, which I haven't read. I'm not sure if the narrative in the novel is fragmented in the same way the film's is.)
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The Movie Meme.
Laura_cd also tagged me for the movie meme at the beginning of the week. I figured I would oblige while I was critiquing the latest film we saw together:
1. Popcorn or candy?Popcorn.
2. Name a movie you've been meaning to see forever.
I'm going to be completely honest here:
Elektra,
American History X, and
My Own Private Idaho
3. You are given the power to recall one Oscar: Who loses theirs and to whom?This is a great question for movie buffs to answer. I want Will Smith to get it for
Ali in 2001. Screw you, Denzel,
Training Day, and your 2 Oscars! Let another black man win! (And this answer wouldn't be complete without mentioning my complete spiral into despair that
Brokeback (2005) didn't take home the big one.)
4. Steal one costume from a movie for your wardrobe. Which will it be?
Honestly? One of those cool robes/windbreakers that Harry uses for the first (Dragon) task in
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.
5. Your favorite film franchise is...Back to the Future. Hands down.
6. Invite five movie people over for dinner. Who are they? Why'd you invite them? What do you feed them?
I will feed them from magical plates that materialize everyone's favorite meals in front of them without me having to cook. (I don't have time for that stuff now.)
(1) Christopher Nolan ~ See above post for reasons why, but here's a hint: genius at wielding narrative.
(2) Richard Linklater ~ Has directed
Dazed and Confused,
Waking Life,
BeforeSunrise/Sunset,
School of Rock and A
Scanner Darkly to name a few. He might be secretly in love with Ethan
Hawke. Linklater is considered the man who started the independent film movement with his '91 film
Slacker (which might as well be called: "Screw you, Traditional Film Narrative, it's time you come on over to Austin, TX") I am in constant turmoil with Linklater. Sometimes he hits for me. Sometimes he completely misses, but it's always interesting to watch.
(3) Jill Sprecher ~ Has directed and co-written
13 Conversations About One Thing. I am fascinated by the feminine semiotics of this film.
(4) Agnes Varda ~
The female director of the French New Wave and arguably the best female director in the history of filmmaking.
(5) Gus Van Sant ~ But this presupposes that I've been able to watch
My Own Private Idaho.
Elephant was my directing inspiration for the one short film I've made, but why oh why Mr. Van Sant did you push the form (and your audience) too far and make
Gerry?
7. What is the appropriate punishment for people who answer cell phones in the movie theater?They have to watch those lame "fake movie trailer" turn-off-your-cell-phones promos on a continuous loop for all eternity.
8. Choose a female bodyguard: Ripley from Aliens. Mystique from X-Men. Sarah Connor from Terminator 2. The Bride from Kill Bill. Mace from Strange Days.
I don't think there's any contest. If you are interested in someone who will protect you most successfully, you're going to pick The Bride. But if she wasn't on the list, it would have to be Mystique before she got the "cure" in
X-3 (aka the
X-men film I refuse to believe exists), though I don't trust her as far as I can throw her. Ok, so I haven't seen
Aliens or
Terminator. I know! I'm lacking in my Americana!
9. What's the scariest thing you've ever seen in a movie?Um, anyone who has spoken with me within the last year knows that the answer to this one is
anything Lynch-ian.
10. Your favorite genre (excluding comedy and drama) is?
Um, does Independent count as a genre? What about Animation? Ok fine, I'll go with Teen movies.
11. You are given the power to greenlight movies at a major studio for one year. How do you wield this power?By funding first-time writer/directors whom I deem worthy.
12. Bonnie or Clyde?N/A, because I have not seen this film.
13. Who are you tagging to answer this survey?sbp and
Vacula Labels: christopher nolan, hugh jackman, movie meme, narrative
Occlumency Lessons with Snape.
The kiss! Followed by awkward teenage angst!
Umbridge!
Bellatrix LeStrange!
Flying through London with Harry, Ron, Hermione, Luna, Ginny, Neville, et al.
Harry, Ron and Hermione: the Power of Three. I'm sorry. I can't sit through more than 2 episodes of Charmed either.
