Rockabye Baby Movie Night: The Prestige

Christopher Nolan + Magicians + Christian Bale/Hugh Jackman x David Bowie = Rockabye Grrl’s perfect movie. Okay, maybe not “perfect,” but darn near close. The Prestige was directed by Christopher Nolan and was cowritten by him and his brother Jonathan (they adapted it from a novel). This same team brought us many huge movies, including The Dark Knight, The Dark Knight Rises and, most recently, Interstellar. The first movie they made together — an indie film called Memento — is easily in my top 10 favorite films of all time. It had air-tight direction, fascinating writing and a story that never lets you catch your breath; all of which can also be said about The Prestige.

(image via movpins.com)

Set in 19^th-century England, The Prestige tells the story of two rival magicians who used to be friends and partners. The film starts with the death of Robert Angier’s (Hugh Jackman) wife, who dies during an onstage illusion, and he blames Alfred Borden (Christian Bale), causing them to become enemies. The film chronicles them both becoming famous magicians and how both of them try to sabotage the others’ stage performances. Alfred eventually performs a dazzling, mind-bending trick and Robert becomes completely obsessed with figuring out the secret of how he did it.

(image via aceshowbiz.com)

One of the best parts of The Prestige is David Bowie. He portrays real-life scientist, inventor, engineer and all-around badass guy, Nikola Tesla. In the film, Tesla is the man responsible for building Borden’s “transported man” machine, which is the magic trick Angier becomes veraciously obsessed with, so he tries to get Tesla to build him one. Much of the film includes Tesla talking about and showcasing his infamous Tesla coils. Ironically enough, Tesla was embroiled in his own rivalry with Thomas Edison during their heyday. Ricky Jay stars in the film and served as the film’s technical adviser for magic as well. His IMDB credits are quite fun, because he has served as a consultant and technical adviser for a variety of interesting categories. For instance, he was a cons and games consultant on Leap of Faith and an illusion wheelchair designer on Forrest Gump (he designed the wheelchair that "magically" hid Gary Sinise’s legs). I got the chance to see him do his one-man show, Ricky Jay: A Rogue’s Gallery, which was directed by David Mamet. It was spectacular. The film features many locations in Los Angeles, including the Tower Theater, Greystone Park & Mansion, and the Los Angeles Theater. Los Angeles has a rich history of magic & magicians; it is the home of the Academy of Magical Arts, most typically called the Magic Castle.

Here are some lullabies to put a magical naptime spell on your little ones.

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And for more movie picks from Team Rockabye, click HERE.