The Prestige: Movie vs. Novel

                                                                          

If somebody will ask me,what is better? novel or a movie based upon that novel, my answer would be, off course novel. Life is never perfect neither its element so how can a believe like this will always be true, off course there will be exceptions and yes! There are many and one of those many is THE PRESTIGE. Though I like novels more yet movie reaches to me earlier than novel (with exception). I watched ‘The Prestige’ movie and got mad for it, it was so so good. It was this movies effect that made me watch it twice the same day. I liked to watch scenes witch were shown 'something else' but meant 'entirely different'. Soon it came on the top of my favorite list beating ‘The Dark Knight’ and for a change,1^st time in my life I became a director's fan (of Chris Nolan) rather an actor's. Though they show in starting or in last, some details about movies, I mustn't have looked at it because the fact that this movie was based upon novel of idetical name and same name of writer and director (surname is surely different), even their country is same (England). I wondered how it have been, reading the novel first, something that cannot be achieved, though there are ways, like if I lost my memory but I wouldn't prefer it on any cost. Yet I read it and found that it wasn't better than the movie. Although I compared it with other novels I find it was better but not better than “the hundred years of solitude’.

Plot of both are un-matching and major difference I’d like to point out, which are as follows:

Robert Angier is Rupert Angier & his act in which Tesla’s machine is used is called ‘In A Flash’. Unlike movie (where 2 identical come out of machine where one is at its original position & other is at some other position, quite far from the original one) the original Angier is shifted to a different location leaving behind a dead body which is removed (as in movie after killing in the water trap tank) and collected as Prestige.

Although the story of novel proceeds through diary but  diary is read by grandchildren of magicians rather than magicians themselves.

The cause of feud between Rupert and Alfred is revealing of a trick of Rupert and his wife in public, off course the culprit is Alfred Borden. The scene of dying of Robert’s wife (in movie) was sensational and it was also worth fighting for ever and it's missing in novel.

Borden never goes to jail we don’t get that mind blowing climax as it was in movie. According to novel when Borden enters while ‘IN A FLASH’, he shut down the machine and thus transformation between bodies was incomplete this leaves with two Rupert Angier but both weak and deformed. Original returns to its original life (as a Lord Colderdale) and the clone one start living in dark, tries to kill one of the two Bordens.

Climax is not as mind blowing as it was of the movie but considering the whole plot of novel, it was best; there cannot be a better climax than it. After death of original, clone performs an experiment with his body in order to achieve everything back as it had been and finely it was shown that he was still alive in the days of his grandchildren.

   The best element of movie is its suspense, which is not alike in the novel as well as movie represents both magician as super human, both of them have quite strong character, it is also a thing that attract me toward movie rather than novel.

Finally I would like to confess that all of these I said may have been different if I’d read novel before watching movie, I may have been more attracted towards characters of novel than same of movies, who knows, still it was all that I’ve to say.