I cannot say for sure that it didn't work, but I have a sufficient doubt to accept that it did, going by what is shown in the film.
How many people actually had these doubts:
If the machine really works, then
1)f Bordon knew about Tesla and his machine( which he did as per his diary), why would he be intent to give that information to his number one rival Angier, as his diary was specifically intended to be read by Angier.
2)Why would Bordon be still surprised as to how Angier performs the "Real Transported Man" trick?
3)If Tesla was short of funds, why wouldn't he use the machine simply to duplicate money, gold and what not?
4)Why would a director, as talented as Nolan, would deep into some sci fi machine all of a sudden, to solve all the twist in the movie?
So the story just doesn't make sense to me! On the other hand, it makes a lot of sense to consider that the device didn't really clone or anything, it was simply a diversion technique used to trick us, the viewers. That is why Cutter says in the end " You won't find the secret. You want to be fooled." So keep that in mind and then the movie is really a 2 hour long simple magic show, intended to trick its viewers, and that's exactly what it does!
Keeping this in mind, now you can interpret the events like this
1) Bordon, through his diary, sends Angier on a wild goose chase in Colorado to know the trick to "the Real Transported Man" where he meets Tesla. How Bordon knows about Tesla, is not explained in the movie.
2) Tesla tricks Angier( and most of the movie viewers) into believing that he had successfully invented some sort of cloning cum transportation device, with using those cats and hats as a "ruse"( Tell me how much difficult it is to obtain a dozen of identical looking hats and two identical looking black cats- notice that the cats were fully black, and not a very complex color pattern, which makes it easier)
3)Angier receives the device in dubious circumstances, and maybe finds it doesn't work only after he's bought it.
4)But this time, Angier, through his showmanship, tricks Bordon into suspecting that the machine actually works.. and everything else follows...
P.S:
Can you see a tiny air bubble coming through the water in the tank where a dead(?) Angier's body lies, in the last shot of the movie, just before the credits? It pretty much explains everything.
As for the scene when Angier shoots his clone( or other way round?), that can be another lie from Angier as both Angier and Bordon were lying to each other throughout..
How many people actually had these doubts:
If the machine really works, then
1)f Bordon knew about Tesla and his machine( which he did as per his diary), why would he be intent to give that information to his number one rival Angier, as his diary was specifically intended to be read by Angier.
2)Why would Bordon be still surprised as to how Angier performs the "Real Transported Man" trick?
3)If Tesla was short of funds, why wouldn't he use the machine simply to duplicate money, gold and what not?
4)Why would a director, as talented as Nolan, would deep into some sci fi machine all of a sudden, to solve all the twist in the movie?
So the story just doesn't make sense to me! On the other hand, it makes a lot of sense to consider that the device didn't really clone or anything, it was simply a diversion technique used to trick us, the viewers. That is why Cutter says in the end " You won't find the secret. You want to be fooled." So keep that in mind and then the movie is really a 2 hour long simple magic show, intended to trick its viewers, and that's exactly what it does!
Keeping this in mind, now you can interpret the events like this
1) Bordon, through his diary, sends Angier on a wild goose chase in Colorado to know the trick to "the Real Transported Man" where he meets Tesla. How Bordon knows about Tesla, is not explained in the movie.
2) Tesla tricks Angier( and most of the movie viewers) into believing that he had successfully invented some sort of cloning cum transportation device, with using those cats and hats as a "ruse"( Tell me how much difficult it is to obtain a dozen of identical looking hats and two identical looking black cats- notice that the cats were fully black, and not a very complex color pattern, which makes it easier)
3)Angier receives the device in dubious circumstances, and maybe finds it doesn't work only after he's bought it.
4)But this time, Angier, through his showmanship, tricks Bordon into suspecting that the machine actually works.. and everything else follows...
P.S:
Can you see a tiny air bubble coming through the water in the tank where a dead(?) Angier's body lies, in the last shot of the movie, just before the credits? It pretty much explains everything.
As for the scene when Angier shoots his clone( or other way round?), that can be another lie from Angier as both Angier and Bordon were lying to each other throughout..
