As an opening tease, this is dense stuff.Īngier’s background is of privilege and wealth, and he is hiding - almost playing tourist - behind show-biz ambitions. The little blonde girl shows up twice, as she is also in the gallery of the courthouse with a mystery man. This is all in the span of less than three minutes. One dissolve later, and we see Cutter testifying as a subject matter expert - and character witness - explaining to the court the nature of showmanship. In quick succession, with Cutter still explaining the structure of a trick, we witness Angier drowning to his death in a tank of water, an event that takes place in the late-middle of the story, and then Borden on trial, accused of murdering Angier. Not that we know any of this at the time. And Cutter is, in actuality, occupying - one might say babysitting - the young daughter of Borden, in his workshop, while, elsewhere, the duelling magicians are having the film's final showdown. There are disconnected clips of Angier performing while Borden snoops around the stage. To confound matters, the editing of the images gleefully violate all standard the the rules of time and space in traditional cinema. This sequence - along with the mysterious top hats - is itself The Pledge of the film. Nolan does not introduce any of the key characters in a standard fashion.
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