Do you side with one of the characters?

The 2006 film about rival magicians desperately trying to learn the secrets of each others tricks.
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Vader182 wrote:Full spoilers for anyone who hasn't seen it and wandered into this thread for no reason:

You guys seem to be forgetting- Bordon was the catalyst of the majority of the problems in the film. He arrogantly tied a not he was adamantly told not to, however his wife condoned it too. He still did it. That alone is enough to drive some men to despair, losing the love of your life because some arrogant ass can't follow simple advice? That's hugely devastating.

Additionally, Bordon and his brother basically each took turns playing the different roles so nobody would catch on necessarily, that was the trick obviously. So, he was advocating the intense fighting with his wife, he was advocating cheating, he was advocating fighting in front of his daughter. You guys talk about how he still loved his daughter, but in the end, he prioritized his craft above his wife and family by a huge degree. That's not to say he didn't love them, or they*, didn't, just that his actions need to be fully taken into account. On the surface, he's a more sympathetic character, but he brought this on himself as he only fueled Angier's obsession and anger instead of letting it go.

Most importantly- Bordon only was put in prison and sentenced to jail because he couldn't let go of a need for the secret, it was happenstance that put him in jail, I never thought it was deliberate on Angier's part. For Angier to expose himself would mean explaining his own actions which would be ...difficult.

Basically, they're both incredibly layered and complex individuals with dark impulses, but it's difficult to say which is worse on several fronts.

-Vader
:twothumbsup: Brilliant Stuff :clap:
lalyil wrote:Just doing the last touch up on my Prestige essay but anyway, they both play a half of a perfect artist.. and both really not very good human beings. I always sided with Borden though, cos I find his willing to sacrifice for his art much more appealing. Angier was looking for the easy way out, of course only at the end he realized it wasn't 'like going home'. But his showman-ship always felt too much like vanity to me.
It's interesting, that is true that his showmanship was beyond vain (especially when the main reason he wanted the drunk-doppelganger to be fired was the fact he took the applause), but in the books, it seems that Borden had some weird 'french' routine that in both accounts (Borden and Angier's) sounded completely egotistical.

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So I'm still going for Angier.
Borden does seem to 'redeem' himself, which does prevent me from truly hating him, but Borden didn't stop harrassing Angier until he was gone.

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Bordon has my vote. The way Angier approached things was beyond what Borden was willing to do to be the better magician. By the end of the movie, Angier becomes cruel and arrogant enough for me to despise him and he is stupid enough not to accept the
simplicity of the trick
. Borden is totally devoted to his profession but Angier just wants everything the quick way and does things out of spite rather than anything else.

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I side with Bordon for the most part.
Whichever Bordon that is Falon, I do not side with. The other Bordon gets my vote. Falon was cruel sometimes and Angier was beyond cruel at other times.
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Batfan175 wrote:Bordon has my vote. The way Angier approached things was beyond what Borden was willing to do to be the better magician. By the end of the movie, Angier becomes cruel and arrogant enough for me to despise him and he is stupid enough not to accept the
simplicity of the trick
. Borden is totally devoted to his profession but Angier just wants everything the quick way and does things out of spite rather than anything else.
The reason Angier was willing to do anything was because he had pretty much nothing else to live for after his wife died, and revenge and ambition is keeping him alive. I found it reasonably understandable considering his circumstances.

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steveportee wrote:
well, that's not what he was hanged for
By the court system, he wasn't. Morally, he was.

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I agree that the killing of Julia was really the crime Freddy Borden was being hanged for. Maybe not in the eyes of the court system, but in the eyes of Angier and maybe even Freddy. Freddy was essentially responsible for the death of not just Julia but kind of Sarah as well (he was the Borden that made her husband cheat on her and that she could tell didn't love her). But Freddy Borden was accused by the courts for drowning Angiers in the water tank, just like he was responsible for the drowning of Julia in an identical water tank. I also feel the death of Julia resulted in the figurative death of the kind, moral Angier seen in the beginning of the movie and started his downward journey to "getting his hands journey". Whether you feel that Freddy Borden was innocent of the crime which he is accused of committing, I don't feel that Freddy Borden can be viewed as innocent in general

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kahern93 wrote:

By the court system, he wasn't. Morally, he was.

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I agree that the killing of Julia was really the crime Freddy Borden was being hanged for. Maybe not in the eyes of the court system, but in the eyes of Angier and maybe even Freddy. Freddy was essentially responsible for the death of not just Julia but kind of Sarah as well (he was the Borden that made her husband cheat on her and that she could tell didn't love her). But Freddy Borden was accused by the courts for drowning Angiers in the water tank, just like he was responsible for the drowning of Julia in an identical water tank. I also feel the death of Julia resulted in the figurative death of the kind, moral Angier seen in the beginning of the movie and started his downward journey to "getting his hands journey". Whether you feel that Freddy Borden was innocent of the crime which he is accused of committing, I don't feel that Freddy Borden can be viewed as innocent in general
Don't I know you...? :think:

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Don't I know you...?
That's not the reply I was looking for :P

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kahern93 wrote:
Don't I know you...?
That's not the reply I was looking for :P
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I sided with Bale's character. But I liked Jackman's as well. I didn't care (in one sense) what happened to each of them, I just was interested in seing what was going to happen next.

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