Insomnia

 SPOILER ALERT! The plot will be discussed.

This film (2002) is a remake of the movie done in 1997 which was a Norwegian story set inside the Artic Circle. The setting is here is Nightmute, Alaska, which fits the constant daylight experienced by the residents. The opening shot shows someone applying blood to a fabric, presumably to frame an individual. Then there are shots of the white Alaskan environment as Detective Will Dormer (Al Pacino) rides in a plane over the frozen land with his partner Detective Happy Eckhart (Martin Donovan). His first name will become ironic as the story plays out. As IMDb points out Dormer’s last name in Romance languages implies sleep, which is also ironic here because that is something he will get little of.

They are met by the enthusiastic Ellie Burr (Hillary Swank), a fan of Dormer. (Could her last name refer to the cold exterior?). They meet Chief Nyback (Paul Dooley), an old acquaintance of the visiting detectives. The Chief requested their help although he notes that there is an Internal Affairs investigation going on that may involve Dormer. We quickly realize that there may be a dark side to the protagonist here. Director Christopher Nolan uses doubles in his films to show the negative aspects of his protagonists, such as in the Batman movies, Memento, and The Prestige.

Dormer insists upon seeing the body of seventeen-year-old Kay Connell despite being told all the evidence is in the report. It points to Dormer’s insight and experience. Dormer realizes that the killer took his time to wash the victim’s hair and cut the nails, not applying any makeup. He and Burr conclude the murderer must have known the victim and wanted to erase any traces of her that might connect them. The process was patient and methodical revealing a calculating killer. Dormer observes that the perpetrator “crossed the line and didn’t even blink. You don’t come back from that.” The idea of stepping over the line of legality and morality and the resultant fall from salvation is something that the film addresses.

After examining Kay’s room, Dormer sees that she cut out the picture of her best friend, Tanya (Katharine Isabelle). It is proof that animosity developed between the girls. He also observes gifts that her boyfriend, Randy (Jonathan Jackson) could not afford to give her. Dormer concludes there must be an admirer of some means involved. When Dormer says he wants to visit the school, the local police inform him that it’s ten o’clock at night. It’s the time of year there that has only daylight. Ian Nathan, in Christopher Nolan: The Iconic Filmmaker and his Work. says Nolan liked how the original movie “reversed the poles on film noir.” I assume that means that film noir movies take place mostly in the dark to mirror the dark deeds characters do. Here the light exposes those wrongful actions.

Even though Dormer doesn’t want to discuss his department investigation, Eckhart drops a bomb saying he has cut a deal which means he will testify concerning evidence used in arresting drug dealers. Dormer sees the Internal Affairs action as a means for others to get promotions, indication that selfish, not admirable, behavior is the motive. Dormer leaves upset. This fact makes what happens later question Dormer’s motives.

Dormer presses boyfriend Randy for information and realizes he doesn’t know the mystery person Kay was seeing even after Randy beat her, showing his brutal side. The police find Kay’s backpack which contains a mystery by A. J. Brody. Dormer is trying to discover connections to the victim since he believes it will lead him to her secret admirer who he believes is the killer.

Dormer sets up a trap, saying they are still looking for Kay’s backpack at a certain location. They stake out the area. The scene takes place in a fog on rugged terrain, which is symbolic of mystery and perhaps the inability for Dormer to see what is morally correct. The suspect shows up and wounds a police officer. In pursuit, Dormer fires at a shadowy figure which turns out to be Eckhart. Dormer goes along with the story that it was the suspect who killed Eckhart. Dormer tells the dead detective’s wife about the death, and it is ironic when she tells Dormer not to arrest the person who killed her husband. She doesn’t realize that she is actually telling Dormer to kill himself.

Burr is now investigating Eckhart’s death. Again, ironically, she doesn’t realize that it is Dormer she is after. He hides his gun just as he hides his criminality. The lawful here becomes the unlawful, as morality is turned upside down. Dormer cannot sleep. The brightness of the day will not allow him the luxury of escaping from his deeds into the relaxed darkness of dreams. He thinks he sees Eckhart among other policeman, as if the man is haunting him. Dormer is suffering from guilt, which is a major element in Nolan’s films: the leaving of the family in Interstellar; the drowning death at the beginning of The Prestige; the possibility that Leonard is the cause of the death of his wife in Memento; the torment the main character feels in creating a weapon of mass destruction in Oppenheimer.

Warfield, the IA investigator, calls Dormer at the restaurant where Rachel Clement (Maura Tierney) works. (Does her name imply that she is the opposite of the inclement weather in the area, and can bestow individual clemency?). Dormer is nasty to Warfield, which may rise out of his guilt that his past wrongful actions will surface.

The police found a .38 caliber bullet at the foggy area and Dormer doesn’t let it be known that he also picked up the .38 caliber weapon left by the suspect. He shoots a bullet from the .38 caliber gun into the body of a dead dog and exchanges the casing for the .9 caliber bullet that killed Eckhart. The lack of sleep causes sounds in the police office to appear loud and disturbing. However, it could also mean that his world has become distorted by his upending the moral order in his life. Burr gives him a report to sign to close out Eckhart’s death investigation. Possibly due to a guilty conscience, he doesn’t sign it. He tells Burr to be thorough in her investigation. We may have here the compulsion found in Edgar Allan Poe perpetrators to confess their crimes.

As Burr takes another look at the evidence and finds inconsistencies, Dormer gets a call from the killer, Walter Finch (Robin Williams). He says he saw Dormer shoot Eckart and pick up Finch’s gun. He knows that Dormer is experiencing insomnia, and that he hides his clock to not remind him of how much sleep he is losing. At the end of the conversation he says, “We’re partners in this.” It shows how he is the demonic replacement for Eckhart. Finch may be a manifestation of Dormer’s darker self, his evil double, another element of Poe’s writing appearing here.

By bringing the victim’s best friend, Tanya, to the dump where her body was found and intimidating her by saying he will reveal that she cheated on her best friend with Kay’s boyfriend, Dormer gets Tanya to reveal that Kay’s secret admirer was Brody, the crime novel writer, who is really Finch.  

Finch calls Dormer again, and again, shows how well he knows him by telling Dormer his state of insomnia. He says that no one would believe him if he says that the shooting was an accident because of the scrutiny on Dormer in the IA investigation. Finch says that he’s not who Dormer thinks he is. It is an ironic statement because it suggests that the surface an individual projects is not the reality beneath. That point can be applied to Dormer also. Finch says he is not a murderer, just like Dormer thinks he isn’t. But then Finch raises the question that maybe the shooting of Eckhart wasn’t an accident. Nolan likes to insert enigmatic possibilities in his stories.

Dormer finds out where Finch lives and breaks into his apartment. Dormer sees pictures of Finch so he can now recognize him. Finch left a piece of paper at the top of the door so when he returns and finds it has fallen, he knows someone is there. He runs off and Dormer chases after him across a river filled with floating lumber. Dormer falls in and almost drowns. Does this scene imply that Dormer is unable to reach steady moral ground?

Dormer returns to Finch’s apartment and receives a call from Finch telling him to feel at home by taking a shower and resting there. Maybe he can even feed Finch’s dogs. His words are another indication that Dormer and Finch could be doppelgangers. Finch is intelligent because he says Dormer should know he’s not going to return to his place. And the only way he knows that Finch is the killer is because he told him so (although we know that Tanya’s statements point to him as a person of interest). Finch sets up a meeting between him and Dormer. Dormer plants the .38 caliber gun in Finch’s apartment. Dormer is trying to frame a man for a killing he himself committed.

Burr has been following Dormer’s advice about checking out the little details surrounding a crime. She realizes that the shot that killed Eckhart came from a different location and now she discovers, as did Dormer, that Finch, a local writer, is the author of all the books in Kay’s position, one of which was autographed, which means she knew him. Later Burr finds a newspaper that features the LA investigation. She repeats what Dormer once said, “A good cop can't sleep because he's missing a piece of the puzzle. And a bad cop can't sleep because his conscience won't let him.” More irony here that Dormer’s protégé is on the trail that leads to himself.

Maybe the best scenes in the film occur between Pacino and Williams. Here they meet on the ferry. Dormer tries to diminish what Finch says about them being in the same situation, not meaning to kill their victims. But Finch is persuasive, saying if it comes out that Dormer shot Eckhart, even if he says it was an accident, it meant that all his IA problems disappeared, which would seem suspicious. It would also ruin his legacy of being an effective cop. It might cause many of those he put away to have grounds to be released, if Dormer is shown to be a cop who alters evidence. Finch says when he was young, he was impressed by the police, and that is why he writes about them. He even wanted to be once, he says, but couldn’t pass the tests. All his statements show how similar he and Dormer are. They speak with their faces close to each other, which suggests they are two sides of the same coin. Finch says that they should steer the investigation toward the boyfriend, Randy. Dormer coaches Finch since he will be brought in for questioning because of the signed copy of the book in Kay’s possession. Dormer tells him not to elaborate, and that the investigation will lead to Randy. Dormer, however, does not reveal that he planted the gun at Finch’s place. After he leaves the ferry, Finch reveals that he taped their conversation, insurance that he has the goods on Dormer.

Finch calls Dormer again and the latter asks if Finch still has Kay’s dress. He feeds that line to Finch who now says that is evidence they can plant on Randy. Dormer really wanted to discover if he could find evidence in Finch’s possession to pin the killing on him. Since Dormer says he can steer the investigation he needs more facts about Kay’s death. Finch says he wanted to comfort Kay when she came to him distraught about how Randy hit her and was fooling around with Tanya. But Kay laughed at him when he held her and kissed her. He says that he hit her to stop her from laughing and his humiliation was the force that led to his beating her. Here we see that Finch’s pathology is deeper than that of Dormer’s. His telling Dormer about what happened is like a confession, an attempt to relieve the feeling of guilt. He says he thinks he will be able to sleep now. The theme of insomnia not allowing one to escape guilt is stressed here. It is telling that when Finch gives Dormer the opportunity to unburden, Dormer hangs up. He can’t so readily expel his guilt.

Finch, during his interrogation, diverges from Dormer’s advice, telling how Kay was afraid of Randy, how he abused her. Then he reveals that Kay said Randy had a .38 revolver that he hid in a heating vent, which is where Dormer hid the gun at Finch’s place. Here Finch is communicating that he knows Dormer was trying to manipulate him and the reason Dormer didn’t want Finch to say anything about Randy was because he wanted Finch to be the prime suspect. Dormer then takes over the questioning once he realizes what Finch is doing. He says that Finch gave the young girl gifts, implying Finch was grooming her, like a pedophile. After Dormer goes into a rage, he leaves the room.

Dormer can’t find the gun in the air vent at Randy’s place. It was a ruse by Finch. The police come and find the weapon where Finch relocated it. They then arrest Randy ironically on evidence that Dormer manipulated to prevent himself from being implicated. Now, instead, an innocent person is targeted for something he didn’t do. Dormer has done the opposite of what a cop is supposed to do.

Dormer and Finch meet again, and Finch says that it’s over because he now can go on with his life, scumbag Randy is in jail, and Dormer’s reputation is intact. He gives the tape to Dormer who disposes of it and points his gun at Finch. But Finch reminds him that his outburst at the police headquarters shows he would be a prime suspect in Finch’s death. Dormer then says he will tell the cops about everything. Finch reminds Dormer he destroyed any evidence of the two ever having a previous conversation that implicated Finch.

Finch is very smart and has thought it all out, except that Burr finds more about what happened. She uncovers a .9 mm shell at the site of Eckhart’s death, which undermines the .38 caliber gun being the weapon that killed Eckhart. She notes in some case files involving Dormer that a .9 mm was used. She encounters Dormer who looks wasted due to insomnia. Burr gives him a hug and can feel the .9 mm gun, and since none of the local cops carry that firearm, she is very suspicious.

Back as his hotel room, Rachel asks Dormer why he is moving furniture around to block the window. Even though it is dark in there, he still says it’s bright. Metaphorically he can’t hide his guilt anymore. He now does confess to Rachel about the case under investigation back home. He describes how a pedophile kidnapped, tortured, raped, and finally killed a boy. Dormer says he knew the man was guilty. Tellingly, he says his job is to “assign guilt.” Now he is placing that guilt on himself. The shot at the beginning of the film that showed blood being absorbed onto fabric involved Dormer taking blood from the victim and planting it in the perpetrator’s home. He admits he knew it “would catch up” to him, and mentions the investigation. He says the “end justifies the means.” He doesn’t sound convinced, probably realizing it is a rationalization. He asks Rachel, who he has put in the position of a clergyperson, what she thinks. She says it might be that it seemed like the right thing to do at the time. But can he live with his actions? And that is the vital question this film asks.

There is an interesting cut to Burr who holds the .9 mm casing and now she must decide what to do, and can she live with her decision? Dormer picks up his badge and gun and decides to go after Finch, no matter the means or the consequences. Burr promised to meet Finch at his cabin where she does not know he killed Kay. He said he had letters from Kay that told of Randy’s abuse. He has no such letters that he could create in time for this visit. Dormer can’t find any evidence at Finch’s empty apartment so he too heads to the cabin. Burr notices Kay’s dress and Finch knocks her out. What follows is Finch getting the drop on the disoriented Dormer. He disarms him and beats him. Burr shows up and Finch escapes to get more firepower. Burr realizes that Finch is Kay’s killer, and he witnessed Dormer shooting Eckhart. Dormer admits these facts and adds that he just isn’t sure if killing Eckhart was an accident. Dormer sneaks up on Finch and they fight. They eventually exchange gunfire. Both receive fatal wounds. The shot of Finch falling dead and disappearing gradually in the water symbolizes the death of Dormer’s darker self.

As Dormer is dying, Burr is ready to throw away the .9 mm casing saying nobody has to know. He stops her and says, “Don’t lose your way,” as he had, forgetting to abide by the law. He says to just let him “sleep.” He can now have the ultimate escape from his guilt in the comfort of an eternal rest.

Five 2023 Films

 SPOILER ALERT! The plots will be discussed.

I thought I would make some brief comments on five 2023 movies:

BARBIE:

Greta Gerwig’s film was a critical and very big commercial success. She was able to present a funny movie that was also heavy on theme. The opening is an enjoyable reference to 2001: A Space Odyssey, with the evolutionary progression moving away from girls playing with one-dimensional versions of dolls to the multifaceted menu of Barbies. However, as the story moves forward, those versions are shown as creations by men who are trying to cash in on women adopting various professions in the modern world.

In the real world, women are still not respected for their roles, so there is disenchantment that their lives are not living up to the ideals presented in Barbie World. This disillusionment is represented by Gloria (America Fererra). Her unhappiness affects Stereotypical Barbie (Margot Robbie), who shocks other Barbies by ruminating on death, and travels to the real world to explore the problems there.

She has a stowaway in her Barbiemobile. It’s Stereotypical Ken (Ryan Gosling). In Barbie World he is just an accessory, as are the other Ken dolls. In the real world he learns how to be macho, and he brings that attitude back to Barbie World to share with the Kens. Barbie must return to set things straight before revisiting the real world at the end.

The thrust here is that neither gender should dominate, and that women must become empowered by way of their own identity, and not by what is prescribed by men.

The film is accomplished at bringing the world of Barbie to life, and the performances hit their marks. Great last line, when Barbie says she is in an office to see her “gynecologist.”

 OPPENHEIMER:

Christopher Nolan dazzles again in this story about the scientist who created the atomic bomb. In this film, unlike some others by Nolan, it is not that difficult to follow the different timelines. The story jumps between Oppenheimer in his early years associating with the Communist movement and his early brilliance as a physicist. There is the time period when he works on the Manhattan Project developing the atomic bomb. When he refuses to continue work toward developing the even more devastating hydrogen bomb, the government persecutes him for his early association with Communism. Eventually, the film depicts his acquittal.

We discussed this film in an online forum that the Bryn Mawr Film Institute presented. I asked about how the instructors viewed Nolan’s attitude toward science in general, mentioning his films, Inception, Interstellar, and his Batman trilogy. The instructors stated that Nolan appears to view people as flawed creatures who are not equipped to handle the fallout (pun intended in this case) from their technological advances. Inception shows the psychological devastation of delving into the dreams of others. Interstellar, although optimistic in the end, shows the need to leave Earth because of how humans destroyed the environment with technology. There is the section in the Batman stories where Bruce Wayne can listen to everything that the citizens are saying, totally invading their privacy. He allows that technology to be destroyed, but the fear is there if unscrupulous individuals used that system. In Oppenheimer, the ethical question that torments the main character is if he doesn’t develop the nuclear bomb, then Hitler might dominate the world if he is not stopped. However, by developing the A-Bomb, he opens a nuclear Pandor’s Box that threatens the existence of the world.

Great performances by Cillian Murphy as Oppenheimer, and Robert Downey, Jr. as the scientist’s eventual nemesis, Lewis Strauss (both Golden Globe winners).

KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON:

The title of the movie refers to an Osage Native American ceremony that cherishes the blossoming of flowers each year. During the ritual they discover oil on their land and the tribe becomes rich. However, they are surrounded by the enemy, the white man, who cherishes the land for profit. The whites exploit the Natives by marrying into the tribe and then bringing about the deaths of the Osage community to inherit the land’s wealth. They even have some declared incompetent while living to gain control of the assets.

The Native population is somewhat to blame for being seduced by the white culture’s love of materialism. Martin Scorsese’s film suggests that the desire for oil destroys the soul of the people who were its initial residents and pollutes the land with whom the Osage people were joined. One image that backs up this theme is when the natives have visions of their ancestors, they are covered in the dark liquid coming from the gushing oil, suggesting a blackening of their souls.

The film is very much about being in denial. The best example in Leonardo DiCaprio’s character, Ernest Burkhart (The “Earnest” name comes off as ironic, since he deceives his wife and himself). He comes to Oklahoma seeking financial help from his uncle, William Hale (Robert De Niro), who is a deputy sheriff and big landowner. On the surface he appears as a benefactor to the Osage community, but appearances are deceiving in this film, and he orchestrates the deaths of Osage natives for the personal gain of the whites. Ernest marries Mollie (Lily Gladstone, Golden Globe winner for her role), and fools himself into thinking he is helping her treat her diabetes when he is actually poisoning her. Mollie herself also deludes herself by not seeing how the man she believes she loves is attempting to do away with her. She finally comes to her senses after personal losses and is strong enough to get the Federal Government to investigate the many killings of Osage natives. The self-denial is general here, as the white people act as if they are helping the Native Americans while actually ruining their way of life.

Scorsese employs the camera to good effect when he places it at ground level and makes the audience feel as if it is a character walking with the film’s characters in rooms in houses. There is a smart image of Ernest swatting flies on two occasions. It brings to mind Beelzebub, the “Lord of the Flies,” and generally acts as a symbol for decay and corruption.

We discussed this film in a Zoom class. One instructor thought, given the length, that there should have been more of the story told from the Native American perspective. It seems a valid observation. This movie, and exceptional films such as Dances with Wolves and Little Big Man, tell the stories from the perspective of the white man, and not from that of the Native American.

 MAESTRO:

Bradley Cooper does it all here, writing, directing, and starring in this biopic about musical conductor/composer Leonard Bernstein, who composed the music for West Side Story. The movie is stylized, as it moves at the beginning from one location to another without breaks, which stresses the artistry of the filmmaking and thus can be distancing for the audience to invest emotionally. There is not a great deal of background information about Bernstein’s early life. Some may find the lack of exposition admirable while others may again find it difficult to understand the main character’s passion for music. But that passion is undeniable, and Cooper is submerged in the character, energetically demonstrating his conducting ability. Along with the makeup, Cooper inhabits Bernstein, and it is a virtuoso performance. I did, however, find his voice distracting, since he constantly sounded like he was suffering from a cold.

The film focuses on his marriage, and the conflict between his love for his wife and his homosexual orientation, and the homophobia of the time period. Carey Mulligan plays the spouse, Felicia, and she shows her love for and frustration with her husband. She displays emotional depth as she battles the cancer that ends her life.

 THE HOLDOVERS:

While the above films stress moviemaking artistry and theme, this film by Alexander Payne is very much about character. Paul Giamatti reunites with Payne after previously starring in Sideways. He is Paul Hunham, a sarcastic ancient history teacher at a boys’ boarding school who bemoans the lack of educational accomplishment of the privileged students who attend the school by way of their affluent parents. There is a School Ties and Dead Poets Society feel as to the locale of the story.

Hunham is stuck with having to babysit a few of the students over the Christmas holiday period because the boys’ parents are otherwise engaged. One of the fathers eventually arrives, literally as a helicopter parent, and whisks all but one student to a ski getaway after the child emotionally blackmails the patriarch. The one remaining boy, Angus Tully (Dominic Sessa, in a wonderful performance) has shown his anguish about the demise of his parents’ marriage.

The story is set during the beginning of the Vietnam War, and the cafeteria worker, Mary Lamb (Da’Vine Joy Randolph), has lost a son who was a student at the school. She took advantage of her employment to allow her boy to attend. There is a definite class antagonism here as Hunham’s background is more in tune with the workers at the school.

There is a great deal of witty and insightful dialogue in the movie. Hunham’s pessimistic attitude is shown when he says, “Life is like a henhouse ladder: shitty and short.” He tells Tully at one point the need for learning about history when he says, “history is not simply the study of the past. It is an explanation of the present.”

As the film progresses, secrets about the lives of both Hunham and Tully come to the surface, and they find that there is more to each of them than appears on the surface. This film says that you don’t understand people until you take the time to really get to know them. Preconceived stereotypes don’t always conveniently fit into one’s world view.

Both Giamatti and Randolph deserved their Golden Globe wins.

The next film to be analyzed is Badlands.

The Dark Knight

 SPOILER ALERT! The plot will be discussed.

Before analyzing the next film, I’m following up one Christopher Nolan film, The Prestige, with a brief discussion of the characters in another movie of his, The Dark Knight (2008). This post springs from a viewing and class focusing on the second story in the Nolan trilogy recently held at the Bryn Mawr Film Institute.

Nolan explores the two sides of individuals in his films. Sort of a take on the superego and the id. He does it in Memento and The Prestige, and there is certainly a dark side in Oppenheimer. The punning title of The Dark Knight reminds us that Batman is, like the animal he has adopted as his persona, a creature of the night, but a person who wants to champion good over evil. However, as the Joker asks, is he also the catalyst that brings about dangerous side-effects? Vigilantes mimic him and are harmed, and one is killed. Batman (Christian Bale) bypasses the justice system by doing unlawful acts, as he unlawfully kidnaps the Asian banker, Lau (Chin Han), and beats up Joker in custody (even if we applaud it. What does that say about us?). He taps into everybody’s cell phone in Gotham to find out Joker’s location. He tampers with crime scenes, not sharing his technology with the police to analyze evidence. Do the ends always justify the means?

Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart) was called Two-Face because he worked for internal affairs at one point, investigating criminality in the police department. So, cops considered him to be a policeman but also a traitor. Bruce Wayne, Batman’s legitimate front man (is he really the disguise and Batman the true version of Wayne?) sees Harvey as a way to get out of the vigilante business. Harvey appears through most of the story as a white knight, a hero not needing a mask, whose goodness is uncompromised, who fights crime through legal channels, and has won over Rachel (Maggie Gyllenhaal), Bruce’s love. In a way, Harvey is Bruce’s legitimate surrogate, who Bruce wishes he could be, who deserves to get the girl. Bruce hopes that if he no longer must be Batman, then he can go legit, and win back Rachel. But Joker will have none of that. He wants to keep Batman in the game to expose his true identity behind the mask. Symbolically it also means revealing Batman’s darker tendencies can’t be separated from the supposedly legitimate person wearing the costume. When Harvey literally becomes two-faced after the explosion, it reveals how the dark side of his personality can take over as it can for anyone who sees the world’s rules as unjust. In his own way Harvey becomes a vigilante to avenge the corruption that led to the murder of Rachel. As our instructor pointed out, Batman and Joker wage their war over Harvey’s soul. Joker wants to show that everyone’s nature, once stripped away from the socially acceptable façade, is destructive. In the end, Joker wins when it comes to Harvey.

The most interesting character is, of course, Joker, played perfectly by the late Heath Ledger in a supporting Oscar-winning performance. Joker tells the defaced Harvey that he is a true outlaw. He is not a schemer, a planner, like the other leaders of society. He is chaos, which he sees as the natural state of humankind.  As Alfred (Michael Caine) says to Bruce, there are some people “who just want to see the world burn.” Joker crafts situations where people must act on their selfish, anti-social drives. For example, after he infiltrates a criminal organization (that criminals should organize is a joke to the Joker), he breaks a pool stick so that two of the crooks must use the splintered weapon to fight to the death to survive and join his gang. Of course, as is shown by the opening scene, survival is not guaranteed if one joins the Joker, whose associates are mostly anti-social misfits. He shows Batman that he can’t save Rachel, that his heroic efforts will not triumph.

Writer/director Nolan gives us several images that show how Joker subverts what we consider is worthwhile about society. Joker uses school buses to transport his band of criminals, which contrasts the innocence of children with the depravity of criminals. Joker and his band of outlaws dress up as policemen and use police cars, showing that those who we think can protect us can’t. Indeed, he kidnaps Rachel and Harvey with the help of corrupt cops. To divert the police caravan to the underground road, he sets on fire a fire engine to block the planned (that word again) passage. The vehicle that is meant to protect us from flames is negated by being consumed by them. (Observe how the police escort goes underground, the place where, for the Joker, we all genuinely belong, in the selfish id of our personalities). Joker masquerades as a nurse at the hospital where Harvey is a patient. Nurses are supposed to care for others, but Joker does not even leave angels of mercy unsoiled. He blows up the hospital, showing how pointless it is to seek sanctuary anywhere. Even Joker’s makeup in this film is nightmarish. He looks like a demon from hell, not the happy clown that is meant to make children laugh. When Batman captures Joker at the end, the criminal hangs upside down, showing how he is in opposition to society, But the camera rotates the shot, and he becomes right-side up. The suggestion is that, like in Stranger Things, the upside-down, the darker side of reality, can become the norm.

There is hope toward the end of the film. As one student insightfully pointed out, those individuals on the ferries do not give into selfishness and refuse to destroy passengers on the other boat to save themselves. Even the transported criminals on one craft do the right thing, indicating that redemption is possible. These are unsung heroes, who have no names, do not have fancy technology, or Ninja skills. Yet, they upstage the high-profile crimefighters, Batman, the police commissioner, and the mayor.

However, the darkened character of Harvey Dent threatens any hope of saving Gotham. Batman and Gordon (Gary Oldman) decide that Harvey’s character must remain untarnished, and that Batman must shoulder the sins of others, Christ-like, to save the soul of the city. In other words, they determine that, ironically, salvation should rely on a lie.

The next film is Europa, Europa.

The Prestige

 SPOILER ALERT! The plot will be discussed.

Director/writer Christopher Nolan has given us complex films (Memento, Inception, Interstellar). Here he uses the story of competing magicians in The Prestige (2006) to explore what defines one’s identity. He also uses the performers as a metaphorical vehicle to explore the magic of filmmaking, which is also an illusory art, and how far some may go to succeed in the creative process to achieve recognition, or “prestige.”

The story takes place in 19^th century England and begins with Cutter (Michael Caine) doing a voice-over that describes the three parts of a magic trick. The “pledge” introduces something ordinary. In Nolan’s case, where nothing is ordinary, he presents some intriguing events that will be explored later but for now sets us up for what is happening in the present. The “pledge” is followed by the “turn,” which is a special action, like making something disappear. Cutter says the audience wants to know how the magician did that exceptional move, but “You don’t really want to know. You want to be fooled.” Cutter is talking about the willing suspension of disbelief, which is necessary to buy into stories, and which the filmmaker depends upon. The third part of the trick is the “prestige,” which, through a surprising act uses the “magic” to return things to the way they were before the start of the trick.

Nolan actually subverts these parts. His opening gives us intriguing shots he will expand upon later to lead us up to the present, which is one of three timelines in the film. The first image is of something common, a top hat, but there is a field filled with them, making it unusual. As Cutter speaks he is telling the parts of a trick to a little girl, Jess (Samantha Mahurin), which we later discover is the child of magician Alfred Borden (Christian Bale), and this scene will reappear at the end of the movie. There are shots of the other magician, Robert Angier (Hugh Jackman) performing his transporter trick on stage amid electrical discharges from a machine. There is a worker there who is blind – a clue. He drops through a trapdoor into a tank of water which the astounded Borden witnesses.

Nolan then transports us to a courtroom where Borden is on trial for the murder of Angier. The depiction of current events is the first timeline. Cutter, Angier’s magic trick engineer, is testifying, saying Borden placed the tank under the trapdoor to drown his competitor. Cutter is not willing to reveal the details of the “transported man” trick Angier was performing at the time of his death since it is very sought after and knowledge of the trick would render the act worthless. He reveals to the judge in private that a “wizard” invented the electrical machine which was not an illusion, but did what it appeared to do. This statement is a half-truth, as we discover, and fits in with the theme of illusion versus reality in the story. He tells the judge that magicians dress up “plain” and “sometimes brutal truths.” Like most artists, they present truth clothed in fiction. He says that the water tank joined the two men in an awful way, which we later learn.

Owens (Roger Rees), a lawyer, visits Borden in jail. He says he represents Lord Caldlow who wants to buy Borden’s version of the “transported man,” and has already purchased all of Angier’s belongings. Borden refuses, and Owens uses Jess’s fate as leverage, saying Caldlow will intervene to save her from becoming an orphan in a workhouse. He also gives Borden Angier’s diary which relates his attempt to find out about Borden’s transporting trick. Later, Fallon, Borden’s engineer, nods his confirmation that the state will put Jess in an orphan work program after Borden is hanged. Borden tells Fallon to get in touch with the lawyer, Owens, that he has reconsidered selling him his transported man trick. He hasn’t lost his skill despite the finger loss as he fools a nasty guard by securing the man in a leg chain.

The contents of the diary are the second timeline in the film. The diary tells of Angier trying to decode Borden’s notebook (we later learn how he acquired it), which needs a five-letter encrypted word reveal Borden’s illusions. Angier travels to Colorado to meet the now-renowned Tesla (David Bowie) who Angier believes helped Borden do his famous trick. (Angier is limping, and we learn of the injury further on. He also wears a hat like those in the first shot. More of Nolan’s teasers). Angier is already a known magician under the name The Great Danton. The question of what is one’s true identity enters here, as we see later that disguises are used in various ways to trick others, and of course the audience, which is part of showmanship.

As Angier reads Borden’s notebook (which is a story within a story), the movie presents the third timeline. It relates how Angier and Borden in the past worked for magician Milton (Ricky Jay), along with Cutter. Angier and Borden pretended to be members of the audience and tied the wrists and feet of Julia (Piper Parabo) in a water-escape trick (we have an echo here of Angier drowning in the water tank in the first montage). Angier kisses Julia’s leg while he puts rope around it, and Cutter divulges their relationship when he says Angier could be seen kissing his “wife.” Borden complains that Milton’s act is boring, and he thinks there should be more risky tricks like the bullet-catching bit. Cutter says that an audience member could substitute a button instead of the blank and kill someone. He also warns Borden about the type of knot that Borden uses on Julia’s wrists, which may look better but is difficult to slip off. (There is a foreshadowing here).

Cutter tests the men’s magical insight by sending them to see a Chinese magician make a large fishbowl with water and a fish appear from behind a scarf. Borden says the magician held it between his legs under his robes. He walks in a halting manner in real life to hide his deception. Again, what appears on the surface is not a true picture. Borden says the real trick is his daily performance, pretending to be handicapped. It is the Chinese magician’s devotion to his craft that Borden admires. Nolan could be saying the same about any artist committed to his work.

Angier can barely hold the fishbowl without water, and marvels as to how the Chinese magician lives his act, pretending to be a cripple. Angier has his own secret, which we get a hint of when he says he uses a fake name so his family will not know he is trying to be an entertainer. The implication is that he comes from a prestigious family who would not cherish him trying to earn a magician’s prestige. The film stresses deception in art and in life, and how they merge.

Borden reads in Angier’s diary about how Borden requires self-sacrifice in magic and comments about how Borden doesn’t understand that extreme level of sacrifice that he has undergone. We see Angier looking at a cameo of Julia when we hear these words. (Of course, Borden can’t see this fact by reading. It takes Nolan to manifest the narrative visually). The story eventually shows us why Angier speaks of personal loss.

There is a scene where Milton takes the ordinary, a bird in a cage, and slams down on it while it is covered with a drape. The cage disappears (the “turn”). He then supposedly brings back the bird from under a handkerchief (the “prestige”). A boy in the audience cries, perceiving that the original bird was killed and another took its place. His insight is confirmed by Borden disposing of the dead bird in the collapsed cage hidden in the table, while other birds in the back room await their fate. We have here a foreshadowing of Angier’s ultimate trick (which was implied by the opening scene of the film showing the numerous hats). Borden later tells the boy that “the secret impresses no one. The trick you use it for is everything.” The suggestion is the way one uses the mystery is what’s important. Again, the same can be said of filmmaking.

Borden and the boy’s aunt, Sarah (Rebecca Hill), begin a relationship (which eventually mirrors to some degree that of Angier and Julia, as the story revolves around itself). When he walks her home, she says she can’t invite him in just then. He seems to leave, but then is inside her place asking her about what she wants in her tea. Is he that good a magician, doing his transporting man trick, or is there something else going on?

At the next performance of the water tank escape, Julia gives Borden a nod and he proceeds with tying the rope around her wrists. However, she can’t slip the bonds and she drowns. The implication is that one can go too far in one’s passion and the result is collateral damage to others. The personal loss Angier noted in his diary is obvious now, and he becomes devastated and full of wrath because of Julia’s death. Borden infuriates Angier even more by saying he doesn’t know which type of knot he used. (Nolan explored the effects of guilt and revenge in this film and in Memento, and guilt in Inception and the apocalyptic guilt that weighs on Oppenheimer).

With the death of Julia, Milton’s career is over, Borden and Angier go off to establish their own careers. Sarah meets the bearded and bespectacled Fallon. Sarah informs Borden that she is going to have a baby. He says he loves her, but she says, “not today.” She explains that “maybe today you’re more in love with magic.” Sarah seems okay with sharing Borden with his other passion, at least for now.  

Angier continues to read Borden’s notebook. He relates performing in front of a disapproving crowd. Although Borden has great tricks, he is not a showman and does not wrap the magic in an intriguing way. He gains the audience’s attention by starting the bullet-catching trick. Angier shows up in disguise and volunteers to be the shooter. He adds his own round of ammunition to the pistol and demands to know what knot did Borden tie around Julia’s hands. Again, Borden says he doesn’t know. Angier fires the pistol and maims Borden, blowing off the ends of two fingers. Borden’s words reiterate that he agonizes over what knot he tied. Angier is outraged that Borden could not know, since the man was an accomplished magician. The suggestion is that Borden may be working on an unconscious level at times, not sure what is real and what is an illusion, since his magic is so real to him because he lives it, like the Chinese magician.

Angier’s diary recounts how he hooked up with Cutter who couldn’t find work after Julia’s death. They also hired an attractive assistant, Olivia (Scarlett Johansson), whose beauty Cutter said is an effective distraction, which adds to the audience not really wanting to know what is truly happening.

Angier doesn’t want to kill birds when doing the disappearing cage trick. Cutter lectures him, saying he is not a “wizard,” and he must get his “hands dirty,” if he wants to be successful. We again have the theme of how far an artist must go to perfect his work. However, Cutter invented a contraption that collapses the cage while sparing the bird. They get a gig working for Merrit (William Morgan Shepphard). Angier attempts to do the disappearing bird trick. But a disguised Borden seeks revenge and acts as a volunteer from the audience. By mimicking Angier’s attack on himself, he sabotages the trick, killing the dove and breaking the female volunteer’s fingers. Angier’s hands have now been dirtied. Merrit terminated their run, and Angier must come up with a show-stopping performance to redeem his reputation.

By reading Borden’s diary, Angier believes that his antagonist acquired a machine from Tesla to perform his incredible trick, and he asks Alley (Andy Serkis), Tesla’s assistant, a second time to meet Tesla. Alley shows how Tesla can turn on lights without wires. Angier sees how science is magical without tricks. He goes to an alternating current demonstration where Alley argues against Edison’s attempts to “Smear” Tesla’s works (the rivalry was real). The electrical discharges jumping from conductor to conductor frighten the audience, as if they are seeing the power of a god. Angier follows Borden who also attended the demonstration. Angier’s diary says he was envious of seeing Borden with his wife and child, but he also knew that Borden tormented his family with his obsession over his magic. In a way, Borden has a split personality according to Angier. We discover that he is not far from the truth.

By this time, Olivia and Angier have become involved romantically. In Angier’s diary we learn that, in disguise, he witnesses Borden premier his “Transported Man” trick. He goes in one door of a closet at one end of the stage and comes out another door at the other end of the stage in the time it takes to bounce a rubber ball on the raised platform. Cutter says he is using a double, but Olivia noted a gloved hand on the man occupying each closet, revealing the lost fingers. Angier says he will get even with Borden by stealing his trick.

Cutter says the only way they can duplicate Borden’s act is to find a double for Angier, which they do. He is Gerald Root (also played by Jackman). He is a drunken, out-of-work actor. He says to Angier, “Did you think you were unique, Mr. Angier? I’ve been Caesar. I’ve played Faust. How hard could it possibly be to play the Great Danton?” Root as an actor assumes other identities, false fronts, to present the illusion that he is someone else. A performance in its own way is a sham to temporarily convince the audience that what they are seeing is real. Nolan is stressing the illusion versus reality aspect of the performing arts.

Angier’s team dresses up the trick and call it “The New Transported Man.” Instead of a closet they have just two door frames. But there are trapdoors at the thresholds. Angier must be the first man as he has the ability to dramatically introduce the act. Behind the open door he falls through the trapdoor onto padding below. Root emerges at the other end. He overacts his part, and even kisses Olivia. Angier is not able to experience the adulation of the crowd, and enjoy the “prestige,” since he is below the stage. They must keep Root under wraps because if he surfaces and is recognized as working for Angier, the illusion is destroyed. Angier’s life is copying that of Borden, and the two stories begin to blur together as the story unfolds.

Angier is obsessed with learning how Borden does his trick without a double so he can be the one on the stage accepting the audience’s adoration. He sends Olivia to work for Borden as a spy, but she is to tell him the truth, that Angier sent her to discover Borden’s secret of the Transported Man. Angier assumes Borden will want her as a counterspy to access Angier’s secrets. Even though Angier has become very successful, Borden’s keen eye can tell that his double is overweight and drunk. Olivia tells Borden that she is sick of Angier’s obsession with Borden, which turns out not to be too far from the truth.

Angier reads in Borden’s diary that Borden found Root and convinced him that he had the power in the act. Root then acts to subvert the performance unless he gets more money and control. Borden sabotages the act eventually by removing the padding under the trapdoor and Angier injures his leg when he falls through during one performance (remember his limp at the beginning of the film?). Instead of Root appearing through the door, it is Borden, and he tied up Root and has him descend from the ceiling with a sign that says he is Borden’s opening act. Borden has spruced up his performance by adding some of Tesla’s electronics and has Olivia for effect.

Cutter wonders if Olivia is now working for Borden since he discovered Root. It becomes very difficult to know what is a lie and what is the truth. Angier confronts Olivia with his suspicions. She says Borden uses a double since she has seen wigs, glasses and makeup about. Angier dismisses her impression, saying it’s misdirection, because Borden lives his act, the way the Chinese magician did. But sometimes the overly suspicious can no longer accept what is obviously true. Olivia gives him Borden’s notebook, and that is how Angier was able to read it (it took a while for the audience to discover this fact). Angier shows his obsession, and his downfall, as he says he only cares about Borden’s secret, not the death of his wife anymore. Both magicians let their preoccupation with their craft interfere with their attention to others. Olivia is torn, but Angier’s manipulation of her most likely is the reason she reveals that she has fallen in love with Borden.

Angier kidnaps Fallon as leverage to get Borden to explain his Transporting Man trick. He buries the man in a wooden box and when Borden shows up, Angier says Fallon wouldn’t talk, in fact, he says, “He doesn’t talk at all.” We never hear Fallon speak – another clue. Borden writes “Tesla” as the answer to how he performs his trick, and then saves Fallon by digging him up. There are a number of references to being in boxes, or cages, losing freedom and wanting to escape.

Angier wants to see what machine Borden bought and he wants a duplicate. In his diary he writes that he finally met Tesla, who dramatically enters by walking through electrical streams, looking like a modern Prometheus (the mythological reference is used by Nolan in Oppenheimer). He confirms his view of how one can achieve anything if one has the “nerve,” the courage to apply oneself. Money is also a factor, and Angier says it is not a problem. We again get an idea about his background. But, Tesla also means there is a nonmonetary “cost” resulting from obsession. Tesla admits that he is a “slave” to his own obsessions, and “one day they’ll choose to destroy” him. Angier says Tesla knows urging caution about an obsession is pointless, basically saying that an obsession triumphs over all warnings. Perhaps Nolan is implying that the drive to fulfill one’s artistic vision sometimes will not be deterred by whatever negative outcomes surface in the pursuit of that quest. Nolan, here, and in such films as Interstellar and Oppenheimer explores the fascination and fear of science.

Angier reads in the notebook as we get a scene which reveals that Olivia says to Borden that she had loved Angier but despised him for using her to steal his competitor’s secret. Borden wrote that Olivia’s loyalty was proven by not only letting him know where Root was, but also because Borden wanted her to give Angier the notebook. He was manipulating Angier by having him read it. “Tesla” was the keyword to the notebook, but not to his trick, he writes as he directly addresses Angier in the notebook. Borden thinks he’s sent Angier on a wild goose chase with Tesla, but it becomes an ironic twist in the plot.

An angry Angier confronts Tesla, saying he made the magician think that he constructed a machine for Borden so he could take Angier’s money to fight Edison. Tesla says the machine needs further experimentation. He tries using a cat as the subject of a test, but the cat is not transported. As Angier exits Tesla’s laboratory he follows the sound of a cat. He finds two cats, the original and a duplicate, as well as many reproductions of his hat (which was the first shot of the film). Tesla’s machine does not transport, it makes copies, so the uniqueness of the individual becomes dissipated.

Sarah is becoming more disenchanted with her marriage and is drinking alcohol more. Borden assures her that he loves her and Jess their child more than anything. Borden promised Jess he would take her to the zoo, yet he tells Fallon to do it and try and reassure Sarah that he loves her. We don’t see if Jess is disappointed his father doesn’t keep his promise. Borden sees Olivia who kisses him and he says he doesn’t want her to call him Freddie. Why? When she says she doesn’t trust Fallon, Borden says that Fallon protects all his interests. These are all clues as to Fallon’s true identity.

Edison’s henchmen have burned Tesla’s property, but he delivered the machine to Angier saying in a note that those interested in magic will accept it because they like to be “mystified.” Could that not also be said for us in the audience as we watch Nolan’s cinematic magic? Tesla also delivers a warning that although he has provided the goods for which Angier paid him, he tells him to destroy the machine since it will only be a source of grief. We have again the warning of going too far for one’s artistic passion. And, we see the overreaching danger of science (obviously a theme Nolan is interested in later in Oppenheimer). Borden receives this information by reading Angier’s diary. Angier’s writing addresses Borden directly (just as Borden did so in his notebook). Angier’s words say that he knows Borden awaits the death sentence for killing Angier. But, if the man is dead, how can he have written this closing? Borden tells Owens, the lawyer, that the diary is a fake, but Owens says it is in Angier’s handwriting. The theme of illusion versus reality continually surfaces, and it appears that here the diary is genuine. That would mean that Angier is not dead. Or, is he?

Sarah is unable to live in Borden’s world of lies, secrets, and tricks. She wants honesty, and he can’t do that because he puts his profession above all else. They go back and forth as to whether that day he loves her, and he admits that this day he does not. She can no longer continue in this state of imprisonment, which is like a life in a cage or a box, or a tank of water. Her escape is suicide as she hangs herself (a foreshadowing). Now both magicians have lost their wives, which shows them to have surrendered what they hold most dear because of their craft. Later, Borden tells Olivia he never loved Sarah, but only loves her. Is he a lying jerk, or is there something else going on? She says he is a cold man to be so dismissive of Sarah. She leaves, saying he and Angier deserve each other. In a way, they are psychological twins to her.

Angier reconnects with Cutter and says he wants to do the transported man to show Borden that he can do the trick without Root. Angier doesn’t want Cutter backstage and has hired blind stagehands (remember there was a blind worker at the very beginning of the film, which of course is now chronologically at the end of the tale). He wants total secrecy as to how his trick works. Angier turns on the machine for a patron, Ackerman (Edward Hibbert) Angier disappears and almost instantaneously appears at the back of the auditorium. Has Tesla perfected his invention? Borden shows up at Angier’s performance and although he saw that Angier disappeared through a trapdoor, he berates Fallon for not being able to figure out how Angier can show up fifty yards away almost instantaneously.

Borden sneaks under the stage and witnesses Angier falling through the trapdoor into a water tank that then locks. Borden tries to break the glass with an axe, but can’t save the drowning Angier. He has died as his wife did. Cutter shows up and Borden is found guilty of the murder of Angier, as has already been shown. Cutter meets with Owens and says although Lord Caldlow has purchased all the equipment, Cutter wants Tesla’s machine.

That same Lord Caldlow shows up with Jess at the prison since Borden struck a deal with Owens that he would deliver the prestige part of his tricks if he could see his daughter once more. Caldlow is Angier, and he says he “always has been.” We now know that Angier comes from an aristocratic family and that is why money was no object when it came to buying Tesla’s machine. Borden concedes that Angier no longer fears getting his “hands dirty.” Just like Borden, he is all in when it comes to his craft. Borden hands Angier the “prestige” parts of his tricks so that Jess will not be under Angier’s control. Angier is stealing what’s left of Borden’s family for himself. Angier says that Borden was the better magician, but Angier’s trick is better, so he rips up the papers. Borden shows Jess his rubber ball, the one he used in his transported man trick, and here symbolizes that he has a bit of magic left to get his daughter back. He screams that the man he was supposed to have killed is walking out the door, so he is innocent.

Cutter discovers Caldlow’s address and sees that Angier is still alive. Cutter wants the machine destroyed and Angier says it will never be used again, and will be placed with the rest of the show’s equipment. Meanwhile, Borden meets with Fallon, says he is sorry about Sarah, and throws him the rubber ball, telling him to live life for the both of them.

As Borden goes to the gallows he asks the guard, “Are you watching closely?” Is there one more trick to be played? Just before he is hanged (like Sarah, so poetic justice?), Borden says “Abracadabra!” There is a cut to the rubber ball bouncing toward Angier and a shot rings out as he is shot. The man with the pistol is Borden. Or is it? Just before his death Angier realizes that Fallon is Borden’s twin brother. His shooter reveals that they were both Borden and Fallon, sharing one life. They alternated who disappeared and reappeared in the transported man trick. The other brother sacrificed his fingers to make the illusion seem real. It was one who loved Sarah, and one who loved Olivia, so depending on who was with which woman, the truth was actually told.

Angier tells Borden the truth. Tesla did not perfect his machine. Angier used it to create a double of himself, shot the first duplicate, and drowned the other versions of himself so that there would only be one Great Danton remaining. His storage facilities have several water tanks with drowned versions of himself. As he said often in the film, “no one cares about the man in the box” and the film has repeatedly shown imprisonment and various, even lethal ways, of escape. There is always that risk for the sake of the magic. Angier paid the ultimate price, his own death, to come back in the prestige, to create wonder. Now that the show is over, the remaining duplicate Angier takes a figurative last bow. He drops a lantern, and the resulting fire destroys his secrets.

Jess walks away with her “father.” Is it Fallon, or was it Fallon who was hanged, and Borden reunites with his daughter? Nolan keeps his secret, as all good magicians do, but he brings the man back, to earn the prestige.

The next film is Europa, Europa.