Are You Watching Closely? How The Prestige Portrays Obsession, Bitterness, and Forgiveness

Recently I had the enjoyment of watching Christopher Nolan's action film The Prestige for the first time. The story follows that of two rival magicians in the early 20th century and the chaos they create in their lives and the lives of those around them. This movie wasn't like any other film I'd ever seen before, and it wasn't just because of the brilliance of the script, story, the sets, and characters, but because of the powerful and complex themes.

The uninformed viewer (like me) goes into this film expecting a hero, a protagonist to love and root for, perhaps a young and talented magician who will climb the magical ladder to fame and notoriety. But anyone who's familiar with Christopher Nolan knows that it can't possibly be that simple. There is no outright hero in The Prestige; instead there are two twisted pawns being used to illustrate a powerful point.

Our story follows two talented magicians who both work as colleagues in the same magic show. One is an aristocrat, Robert Angier (Hugh Jackman) happy with life and married to one of the stars of the show. One is a poor and lonely working-class man, Alfred Borden (Christian Bale), struggling to get by. Both are brilliant thinkers, dedicated to the practice of wowing an audience with a quick slight of hand and a dramatic bow. Despite their contrasting personalities and situations in life, this is the single thing that binds their friendship together.

But when a horrible accident occurs in a show one night, leaving Angier a widower and the show closed, the once-happy aristocrat's life turns upside down. His wife is gone forever, the company he loves has closed, and the man most likely responsible is the cold and cynical Borden, who, despite all the warning signs, claims he doesn't know how the accident went down.

The kind-hearted Angier is suddenly faced with the greatest pain of his life and an enormous choice: to forgive Borden despite it all, or to hold on to his anger as they both begin to set out on their solo careers as magicians. Blinded by his pain, Angier decides that the only thing that can heal him is revenge.

What follows is a fiery rivalry. What was once a "simple" plan of revenge on Angier's part becomes infinitely more complicated as Borden decides to respond by foiling Angier's debut show as a performer. More blows of violence follow, concocted by the tricky minds of magicians. Each trick is less subtle and more threatening than the last. Secrets, bitterness, and revenge become the recipe for disaster as both men build their entire lives and careers on outsmarting and stealing the illusionary tricks of the other. The feelings in Angier's heart that began as understandable anger fueled by genuine pain slowly becomes two men's obsession.

When Angier approaches the genius inventor Nikola Tesla to ask for help in defeating Borden, Tesla tells him,

"Go home. Forget this thing. I can recognize an obsession. No good will come of it."

Angier responds with, "If you understand an obsession, then you know you won't change my mind."

The movie is fascinating and horrifying all at the same time because the viewer knows that if Angier and Borden could only forgive one another and walk away, they could find freedom. Instead of spending their intellect on destroying one another, they could become the two most incredible magicians in the western world. Instead of ripping their families and loved ones apart, they could finally find the relationships and love they claim to be fighting one another for.

It's their obsession---their toxic and bitter obsession---that keeps them from the things they once desired above all.

Hugh Jackman (Le Miserables, The Greatest Showman, Kate & Leopold, Wolverine) plays a heartbroken Angier to perfection.

When people hurt you, it isn't easy to deal with. When they laugh at you, gossip behind your back, make that passive aggressive suggestion or come outright and say the hurtful thing to your face, trying to forgive is so much harder than it sounds. Old words echo in your memory and old feelings of pain and rejection linger. Oftentimes they even threaten to poison new opportunities and relationships because we just can't forget what we went through before.

But if we don't let go and surrender the pain to the Great Judge, our Heavenly Father, unforgiveness indubitably becomes an obsession.

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A great illustration of what true forgiveness looks like is in Andy Andrew's real life story The Island of the Saints (newly renamed from the original title The Heartmender). We're introduced to a woman named Helen during the second World War who lost her husband to the Nazis while he was training British pilots overseas. As she's grieving, a German soldier named Josef from an enemy U-boat washes up on the Alabama shore by her house, wounded and cast away by his own commander. Most importantly, he was recently made a widower due to his wife and daughter being murdered by British pilots.

Josef's people had killed the Helen's husband. The people Helen's husband trained to fight killed Josef's family. They had every reason to despise one another.

Up until now Helen openly admitted that she had obsessed over the Germans. Her hatred and anger towards them defiled every area of her life; her friendships, her job, her mental health; everything but her pain was thrown to the curb as she stewed over the injustice done to her. But through the pain and horror of death Helen instead decided to nurture Josef back to health. As the months passed and he recovered, they both talked through the confusion of grief. Together they fought past the bitterness they had held on to for so long. Although their pain was connected to one another's in shocking ways, they forgave, and even fell in love. Not soon after, Josef asked Helen to be his wife. She accepted.

This is a true story.

In his book, Andy Andrew writes,

"We begin to forgive by choosing to forgive...by deciding, not by feeling. Our feelings don't lead us to forgive. Most times, our feelings lead us the other way. That's why a person has to decide to forgive first. Our feelings always follow along behind our decisions."

The greatest takeaway from Andrew's book was that in the end, unforgiveness isn't hurting anyone but you and the people closest to you.

To paraphrase one of Andrews' other points, do you think the people who have wronged you lie awake in bed at night bothered by the fact that they hurt you? Probably not. Then why are you wasting nights in bed thinking about them? They don't deserve such thought, such time, such attention, such wastes of emotion and feeling.

Choose to forgive. Get over it already. Put the past in the past and move into the future. Be free from your anger. The person you are hurting is you.

Hebrews 12:15 states,

"See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no "root of bitterness" springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled."

Don't be the reason you and the people you love become defiled. Christ has opened the gates to Eternity and runs to meet you with love and laughter. Will you soil the perfect joy and purpose He offers you with something as wasteful as unforgiveness? Will you turn from the Father's embrace with a whiny "but he said" "but she did" "but they thought"? Will you toss aside the meaning of Christ's identity for you because of your past?

All of us must closely watch our hearts to guard against this dark poison of bitterness.

“Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

-Matthew 5:11-12

But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers,what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same?

-Matthew 5:45-47

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The end of the Christopher Nolan film The Prestige isn't a happy one. Yet it is such an important one. I'm grateful to directors like Christopher Nolan for portraying true and honest depictions of the consequences of unforgiveness. The Prestige is full of meaning within the faithful depiction of two lives of meaninglessness. It's an ending full of more loss. More pain. More regret. More bitterness.

When Borden illustrates one of his most simple magic tricks for a little boy, he asks him an important question that went on to become The Prestige's iconic line:

"Are you watching closely?"

Today I want to ask you the same question. Are you looking into your heart for unforgiveness or are you harboring it deep inside? Is your past what controls your future?

Are you watching closely?

The Prestige is worth the watch. You'll be hard put to find a better film.

To forgive is to set a prisoner free...and discover the prisoner was you." -Andy Andrews