Are you watching closely?
Every magic trick consists of three parts, or acts.
The first part is called "the pledge."
The magician shows you something ordinary.
A deck of cards, a bird or a man.
He shows you this object.
Perhaps he asks you to inspect it,
to see that it is indeed real,
unaltered, normal.
But, of course, it probably isn't.
Where do you think you're going?
I'm part of the bloody act, you fool.
The second act is called "the turn."
The magician takes the ordinary something
and makes it do something extraordinary.
Now you're looking for the secret, but you won't find it,
because, of course, you're not really looking.
You don't really want to know.
You want to be... fooled.
But you wouldn't clap yet,
because making something disappear isn't enough.
You have to bring it back.
That's why every magic trick has a third act.
The hardest part.
The part we call...
..."the prestige."
The prestige? And did Robert Angier, the Great Danton, your employer,
get to that final part of his trick that night?
- No, sir. Something went wrong. - What went wrong?
I saw someone making their way below stage.
I followed him.
It was Borden, watching Mr. Angier drown.
Would you please describe your occupation to the jury, Mr. Cutter.
I'm an ingénieur, I design illusions
and construct the apparatus necessary for performing them.
So, Mr. Cutter, was this water-filled tank beneath the stage
part of Mr. Angier's illusion?
No. The tank was brought on for the first trick
and then taken offstage.
Borden must have placed it under the trap door after the end of it.
How large was this tank?
It's a normal tank for escape under water,
about 400 or 500 gallons.
How do you think he was able to move the tank
under the trap door without anyone noticing?
He's a magician, ask him.
I ask again,
would this man explain the mechanics of Mr. Angier's illusion.
The Real Transported Man is one of the most sought after illusions
in this business.
I have the right to sell it on.
If I reveal the method here, the trick is worthless.
How can we know that the tank wasn't simply
some part of the trick that went wrong?
Mr. Cutter, I see your predicament.
But Alfred Borden's life hangs in the balance.
If you were prepared to disclose the details to me in private,
I might be able to judge their relevance to the case.
Might this be an acceptable compromise?
I'm going to have to ask you to turn out your pockets.
Not my idea, sir. The warden saw his show in Manchester last year
where he vanished into thin air.
He's convinced he'll try and escape.
I told him the only way Borden's going to disappear
is if I leave him out there with the other inmates.
Check the locks...
...twice.
My name is Owens.
I'm a solicitor.
I represent Lord Caldlow, an accomplished amateur magician and...
How much?
- He is interested... - How much for my tricks?
Five thousand pounds.
Talk to Fallon, my ingénieur. Money's for him.
Yes, I did. He offered to sell me your tricks.
All except the most valuable one, The Transported Man.
Well, I won't forgive myself for selling my greatest trick.
Even for your daughter?
If you are for the drop, your daughter is going to need looking after.
Fallon will take care of her.
Perfect, Fallon.
A man with a past as obscure as your own.
The courts have motioned she be removed from his care. She will be an orphan.
I know you're no stranger to the workhouse.
It's better than here?
I'm offering you a way to wrap up your affairs with dignity.
I'm offering your daughter a future.
As Lord Caldlow's ward, she will want for nothing...
...ever.
Well, think it over.
And Lord Caldlow would like you to have this,
as a show of good faith. It might be of interest.
Robert Angier's diary, including the time he spent in Colorado
learning your trick.
- He never learned it. - Really?
On his return, he mounted a version of The Transported Man
that the papers said was better even than your original.
If you want Angier's secrets,
you go dig him up and ask him yourself.
I want your secret, Mr. Borden.
Consider your daughter.
A cipher,
an enigma...
...a search,
a search for answers.
Even if Colorado is the end of my journey,
it'll take much longer to unravel
the rest of Borden's secrets.
See, the cipher in his notebook is
unlocked by a single word,
but it will still take months to translate his writing.
And to know his mind.
Well, my passion is equal to the task.
Mr. Angier, welcome to Colorado Springs.
- The whole town has electricity. - Yes, sir.
Well...
...quite a reception.
You're our first guest of the season, Mr. Angier.
Your telegram didn't indicate how long you'd be staying with us.
As long as it takes.
I will need a coach tomorrow to take me up the mountain.
Well, the peak's closed, sir.
For scientific experimentation.
Yes, I know.
That's why I'm here.
Whoa. Whoa.
You'll have to walk the rest, I'm afraid, sir.
I'm amazed how many of you newspaper writers
can't read my sign.
Not the welcome I was expecting.
I know you.
You're the Great Danton.
I saw your show in London.
Seven times you guessed every object
the audience had in their pockets.
I'm Alley. Sorry about the fence. People keep interfering with our work.
- I've come to see Tesla. - Why?
He made a machine for a colleague of mine some time ago.
- Can you get me a meeting with him? - Impossible, I'm afraid.
I've brought a lot of money.
I'm sorry, Mr. Angier.
I simply can't help.
I'll be staying at the hotel, indefinitely.
Hey, what am I holding?
Your watch.
Borden's journal entry for April 3, 1897,
describes a show at the Orpheum Theater.
That was just days after he first met me.
We were two young men at the start of a great career,
two young men devoted to an illusion,
two young men who never intended to hurt anyone.
Which of you brave souls
is willing to bind this lovely young woman?
Me!
If you would tie her wrists,
bind her feet...
...around the ankle.
Are either of you two gentlemen sailors?
- No. - No.
I'm sure you can both tie a strong knot.
He's complacent, he's predictable, he's boring.
Milton has gotten success, whatever that means,
so now he's scared. He won't take any risks at all.
He's squandering the goodwill of his audience with tired,
- second-rate tricks... - They're all favorites.
Give me something fresh. He won't even try a bloody bullet catch.
A bullet catch is suicide.
All it takes is some smartass volunteer to put a button in the barrel.
- Use a plant. - You can't for every trick.
No seats left for the punters.
All right, no bullet catch, whatever, but the point is a real magician
tries to invent something new
that other magicians will scratch their heads over.
Then you sell it to him for a small fortune.
- What? - I suppose you have such a trick?
- I sure do. - Would you care to sell it to me?
No. No one else can do my trick.
- Any trick can be duplicated. - Wrong.
If Mr. Borden has invented his masterpiece,
he's prepared to do it.
Milton is a showman, but Borden is right,
he won't get his hands dirty.
If you want to see what it takes to make real magic,
go to the Tenley. There's a Chinaman there and he really has what it takes.
- Chung Ling Soo. - I can't afford that.
I know the bloke run the door.
You two go and see that show, and whichever one of you can tell me
how he does the goldfish bowl trick gets the prize.
- Which is? - Ten minutes onstage
with my old friend, Mr. Ackerman.
- Really? - Who's Ackerman?
The top theatrical agent in London.
- I saw you drop the knot again. - I turned my wrists.
Some nights you just don't get it, do you?
I mean, if that knot slips and Julia's on the hoist,
she'll break her leg.
It's the wrong knot.
Like I said, the Langford double will hold tighter.
The Langford double isn't a wet knot. It's too dangerous.
If the rope swells, she can't slip it.
- I can slip a Langford underwater. - We can practice.
- Borden, he said no. - Oh, you know knots better than me?
Listen, no more mistakes.
All right. Yeah? Do you? You want to take over?
- Just leave. - I didn't think so.
Hey, Cutter, where's he from?
Where are you from? He shifts props for Virgil at the hall.
- Worried he'll steal your tricks? - Doesn't deal in methods.
- How do you know? - Because I hired him
to find out how Virgil does the orange trick.
- I don't trust him. - He's a natural magician.
'Course you can't trust him.
I think he's all right.
- You think everyone's all right. - Even you.
Watch your sightlines. If I can see you kiss your wife's leg every night,
so can the blokes at the ends of rows three and four!
You're wrong. It can't be.
- Look at the man. - This is the trick.
This is the performance. Right here.
This is why no one can detect his method.
Total devotion to his art.
A lot of self-sacrifice.
You know.
It's the only way to escape...
...all this, you know?
I can barely lift this thing and it's not even filled with water.
Or fish, look.
I don't know. Hang on a second.
He must be strong as an ox.
He's been pretending to be a cripple for years.
Any time he's in public, any time he goes out. It's unthinkable.
Borden saw it at once. But I couldn't fathom it.
Living my whole life pretending to be someone else.
You are pretending.
I don't think changing a name compares.
Not your name. Who you are and where you're from.
I promised I wouldn't embarrass my family with my theatrical endeavors.
I thought of a name for you.
The Great Danton.
Do you like it? But it's sophisticated.
It's French.
Borden writes as if no one but he understood the true nature of magic.
But what does he know of self-sacrifice?
You bloody fool.
- He killed it. - It's OK.
- He killed it. - He didn't.
Look, now he'll bring it back.
- No, he killed it. - No, he didn't.
Look, see, he's all right. He's fine.
- Look at him. - But where's his brother?
He's a sharp lad, your son.
Oh, he's my nephew.
Ah.
You're the lucky one today.
Are you watching closely?
Look closer.
Never show anyone.
They'll beg you and flatter you for the secret,
but as soon as you give it up, you'll be nothing to them.
You understand? Nothing.
The secret impresses no one.
The trick you use it for is everything.
Well, thank you for lunch, Mr. Borden.
You're welcome.
Alfred, it's Alfred.
Alfred.
So I could use a cup of tea.
I can't allow... It's the landlord. It's not...
You think that's... Is that enough to keep me out?
I think so.
So I'll see you again?
Milk and sugar?
What's in there?
Angier's machine.
You built this, Mr. Cutter?
Oh, no, sir. This wasn't built by a magician.
This was built by a wizard.
A man who can actually do what magicians pretend to do.
Tell me, Your Honor, what happens with these things after the trial?
They've been sold to a Lord Caldlow.
An avid collector, very interested in the case.
Yeah. Well, don't let him take this.
- Why ever not? - It's too dangerous.
I'm sure beneath its bells and whistles
it's got a simple and disappointing trick.
The most disappointing of all, sir.
It has no trick.
It's real.
This is the tank Angier drowned in?
Yes.
This is the...
...place where the performer's hand reaches through
to the trick padlock.
A standard magical apparatus for escapes?
Yeah, with one important difference.
This isn't a trick lock.
It's been switched for a real one.
What a way to kill someone.
They're magicians, Your Honor.
Showmen, men who live by dressing up plain and sometimes brutal truths,
to amaze, to shock.
Even without an audience?
There was an audience.
You see, this water tank
was of particular significance to these two men.
Particularly awful significance.
Which of you brave souls is willing to bind this lovely young woman?
If you would tie her wrists,
bind her feet around the ankle.
- Are either of you gentlemen sailors? - No.
I'm sure you can both tie a strong knot.
Robert!
No, no.
Julia. Julia!
I knew an old sailor once.
They told me he went overboard,
tangled in the sails.
They pulled him out,
but it took him five minutes to cough.
He said it was like...
...going home.
What do you want, Borden?
I'm sorry for your loss, Angier.
Which knot did you tie?
I keep asking myself that.
- And? - And...
I'm sorry, I just don't know.
You don't know?
I'm sorry.
You don't know?
You don't know?!
- Alfred? - Good news. We got our first booking.
I don't think we've had the pleasure.
- Mr. Fallon is my ingénieur. - Where did you get all...?
- I had to borrow and... don't ask. - He's a very enterprising soul
is... is Mr. Fallon. So...
- We can't afford to pay him. - The money will come with the audience.
But what about until then? What I earn, it's barely enough for us.
Don't worry about it. I'll share half my food with him or something.
You're going to be doing that with someone else.
No. You're...
Having a baby.
Oh, my God.
We should have told Fallon. That is great.
Oh, come here.
Oh.
Alfred, what is this?
Oh, this is just the trick to work Ackerman up at the end of my act.
Is it the masterpiece, the great trick?
No, no, no, the world is not ready for that one yet.
This is just your run-of-the-mill, daring, spectacular bullet catch.
- A bullet catch. - Yeah, but it's safe.
I promise. Look.
- Shoot me. - Shoot you?
Go on, shoot me.
- Right there. - No, I can't.
No, no, not there. Shoot me here. Don't...
How's that?
That's very good. Tell me how you do it.
No, I can't do that.
- Well, then you can't do it. - I can't do it?
I'm sorry, but I can't raise a child on my own.
You don't tell anybody that I told you.
- OK. - Gunpowder.
Wadding.
Then the bullet.
Ramrod.
Hold out your hand.
The bullet is not even in the gun when the charge is fired.
Once you know, it's actually very obvious.
Well, I mean, you still get...
It's dangerous.
- People still get killed doing that. - How?
You get some smartass who could put a penny or a button
or, God forbid, Sarah, somebody could put a bullet down there.
Don't worry. Don't worry,
because I'm not gonna let anything happen.
Everything's gonna be all right because...
...I love you very much.
- Say it again. - I love you.
- Not today. - What?
Well, some days it's not true, and today you don't mean it.
Maybe today you're more in love with magic than me.
I like being able to tell the difference.
It makes the days it is true
mean something.
All right.
Metal rings, ladies and gentlemen.
If there are any ladies and gentlemen here.
- Solid metal. - Seen that already.
Who threw that?
This is what you came for, is it?
So...
...who wants to volunteer?
- I do! - Me!
Me.
Are you man enough, sir?
Yes.
Which knot did you tie, Borden?
I don't know.
He came in to demand an answer, and I told him the truth.
That I have fought with myself over that night,
one half of me swearing blind that I tied a simple slipknot,
the other half convinced that I tied the Langford double.
I can never know for sure.
How can he not know!
How can he not know?
He must know what he did.
He must.
Sarah, that bloody hurts.
I don't understand how it can be bleeding again.
It's as bad as the day it happened.
- We have to get a doctor back. - We can't afford the doctor back.
- You've woken her. - Great.
I'm sorry, I need this to heal so I can get back to work.
You've got to face things. What tricks can you perform with this injury?
I can do car pulls. I can do some prop tricks.
I can still do that. I can do the trick I've been telling you about.
The one that they're gonna remember me for.
Come on.
I never thought I'd find an answer at the bottom of a pint glass.
Hasn't stopped your looking.
Heard about a booking. Nice little theater.
- Young, up-and-coming magician. - Who?
- You. - Me? Booking? Why?
I want to keep on working.
Who's going to hire the ingénieur that killed Julia McCullough
in front of a sellout crowd at the Orpheum?
Someone who knows it wasn't your fault.
Someone who knows Alfred Borden and his repertoire of exotic knots.
I hear he had a spot of bad luck catching a bullet south of the river.
That's a dangerous trick, that one.
We'll have to whitewash the windows,
confound the more curious members of the public, but it will do.
- We should see about an assistant. - I've made some arrangements.
You settled on a name?
Yes, I have.
The Great Danton.
It's a bit old-fashioned, isn't it?
No, it's sophisticated.
The birdcage can't be our climax. Everybody knows it.
- Not like this. - I don't want to kill doves.
Then stay off the stage.
You're a magician, not a wizard.
You got to get your hands dirty, if you're going to achieve the impossible.
In here, Miss Wenscombe.
No point in meeting Mr. Angier if you don't fit. On the right.
- What's so hard about this? - Nothing.
You're going... down here.
- And this will conceal, right? - Oh, sure.
- Tighten up on there. - Yep.
OK.
This ties up here?
- Ties in the back. - Good.
Breathe as little as possible.
Now, you see?
- That's it. - OK.
She's not experienced,
but she knows how to present herself.
A pretty assistant is the most effective form of misdirection.
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, for my final trick,
I will require the assistance of two volunteers.
Mr. Merrit, if you would oblige me?
Yep.
- Under? - Under, yeah.
Come around his foot.
- Careful. - It's all right.
- Your volunteer, put their hand there. - Yeah?
And another one here.
If you'll place your hands on either side of the cage, please.
Thank you, Olivia.
You best not be intending to hurt this animal, Mr. Angier.
- Of course not. - Ready? Right.
- One... - Two...
Three.
That's bloody marvelous, Cutter.
Very nice.
And the best part is...
I thought you said I had to get my hands dirty.
Someday, perhaps you will.
I just had to know that you can.
Very nice. Very nice, indeed.
I haven't had the chance to compliment you on your beautiful theater.
It'll be a lot more beautiful when it's full.
Don't worry.
You all say that. Why should I worry?
If your tricks don't get them in, somebody else's will.
Maybe somebody willing to do a bullet catch or a water escape?
Cheap thrills, Mr. Merrit.
People hoping for an accident, likely to see one too.
What would that do for your business?
You got a week, John.
Thank you, Mr. Merrit.
Thank you.
Uh... Sir, in the third row there.
Please stand up and show us your handkerchief.
This isn't mine.
Perhaps you'd return it to the lady in the aisle of the second row.
I believe she has yours.
I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I'm making so many mistakes. I'm so nervous.
The audience doesn't seem to be responding.
They've seen a lot of tricks before,
but not this next one.
Cloth over.
Keep your fingers crossed.
I'll have the champagne ready.
- You've seen this one before? - We've seen them all before.
I'll make it a little harder then, shall I?
Two volunteers, please. A lady and a gentlemen.
To hold this cage with me.
I'll perform this feat in a manner
never before seen by yourselves or any other audience anywhere in the world.
Madame, place one hand on the back of the cage,
one hand on the front.
Sir, one hand on the bottom of the cage
one hand on the top.
- I should've spotted him. - You had a lot of plates going.
- Don't suppose we can do this again. - No.
- So, what's the climax of our show? - Show?
- You don't have a show. - We have a week's engagement.
To perform magic, not butcher birds and break my customers' fingers.
Clear out, anything here in the morning gets burned.
- Mr. Merrit... - It's done, John.
I've hired a comedian. You know I hate comedians.
Well, there's plenty of good theaters.
If we can come up with a new trick,
- change the name of the act. - The name stays.
Right, well, then the new trick's gonna have to be irresistible then.
I have a couple of methods to try out.
And then we need a new angle on the presentation.
And if you need some inspiration,
there's a technical exposition at the Albert Hall this week.
Engineers, scientists, you know?
That sort of thing captures the public's imagination.
Mind if I join you? Tesla sends me down here during the storms.
Perfect excuse to come join the Great Danton for a drink.
Two of them.
Beautiful, isn't it? God, I miss New York, though.
- Why are you here? - The lightning lives here.
And not much else.
Our work is secret.
That a cipher?
A rotating transposition that shifts every day of the diary.
Simple but time-consuming to translate, even with the five-letter keyword.
Which is?
We magicians have a circle of trust.
You have a circle of trust with someone whose diary you stole?
Maybe I bought it.
And you're hoping to find a great secret in there?
I've already found it.
That's why I'm here.
Tesla built one for another magician.
Why would you want the same thing?
Call it a professional rivalry.
Mr. Tesla has built unusual machines for unusual people.
- But he would never talk about it. - I understand discretion.
I just want the machine.
Finish your drink.
I want to show you something. I think you'll have
a special appreciation for our work.
- I thought it was a secret. - You're a magician.
Who's gonna believe you?
Not long now.
Our equipment requires a great deal of current.
Tesla electrified the whole town
in exchange for using the generators when we need them.
We do our tests when the townspeople are asleep.
Mr. Tesla doesn't want to scare anyone.
Where are the wires?
Exactly.
Where's the generator?
You saw it last week.
- That must be ten miles from here. - Fifteen.
And I have to ride all of them before I get to bed.
I'll send word for you in a few days, Mr. Angier.
Magic. Real magic.
Now appearing, only here at London's Royal Albert Hall,
one of the miracles of our age.
A technological marvel. You've never seen anything like it in your lives.
Your eyes will not believe what they're witnessing.
The miracle of Nikola Tesla, ladies and gentlemen.
Free, clean power. Like to know the future?
The man who's speaking right now is going to change the world.
Come one, come all. Immediate seating, no waiting.
Ladies and gentlemen,
objections have been raised...
They should be raised. Does that look safe to you?
Part of Thomas Edison's smear campaign
against Mr. Tesla's superior alternating current.
We have asked Mr. Tesla to reconsider.
Which he will not!
But I've been told he refuses to appear under any such restrictions.
This thing's gonna blow.
Ladies and gentlemen, please.
Hey.
Hello, Jess.
Have you had a nice day with mommy? Huh?
Sarah.
- I love you. - See, today it's true.
- Yeah. - Hello.
I saw happiness.
Happiness that should have been mine.
But I was wrong.
His notebook reveals that he never had the life that I envied.
The family life that he craves one minute,
he rails against the next, demanding freedom.
His mind... his mind is a divided one.
His soul is restless.
His wife and child, tormented
by his fickle and contradictory nature.
So, what do you think you'll call her?
I don't know.
Everybody needs a name, so, what's hers?
Maybe Sarah.
That's a lovely name. That's a lovely name.
Well, you talk about what you want to do for the rest of the day.
All right, go on, you talk with her.
Are they taking her away?
To the workhouse?
You keep talking.
Tell Owens I've reconsidered. Take it.
Go on, take it.
It's for the best.
Let me see.
I'm gonna learn all the professor's secrets.
Only if I teach you how to read.
They're just stupid tricks, right?
Haven't helped you get out of here, have they?
Or can't you undo real locks, professor?
Maybe I'm just biding my time.
Maybe one day I'll...
...open my hand, get your attention,
ask, "Are you watching closely?"
Maybe a magic whirl or two.
And then I'll be gone.
How'd you get so famous then?
Magic.
Oi! Borden, get back here!
Thank you.
Shut up!
Where's the bloody key?!
February 8, 1899.
Today, finally, a breakthrough.
Tesla's agreed to see me.
Perfectly safe.
So this is the Great Danton.
Mr. Alley has effused about your act to me on any number of occasions.
Hold out other hand.
- What's conducting the electricity? - Our bodies, Mr. Angier.
Quite capable of conducting and, indeed, producing energy.
Have you eaten, Mr. Angier?
I need something impossible.
You're familiar with the phrase, "Man's reach exceeds his grasp"?
Is a lie.
Man's grasp exceeds his nerve.
Society only tolerates one change at a time.
First time I tried to change the world,
I was hailed as a visionary.
Second time...
...I was asked politely to retire.
So here I am, enjoying my retirement.
Nothing is impossible, Mr. Angier. What you want is simply expensive.
If I were to build for you this machine,
you would be presenting it merely as illusion?
Well, if people actually believed the things I did on stage,
they wouldn't clap, they'd scream.
Think of sawing a woman in half.
Have you considered the cost of this?
Price is not an object.
Perhaps not, but have you considered the cost?
I'm not sure I follow.
Go home, forget this thing.
I can recognize an obsession.
- No good will come of it. - Hasn't good come of your obsessions?
At first, but I have followed them too long.
I am their slave.
And one day, they will choose to destroy me.
If you understand an obsession, then you know you won't change my mind.
So be it.
Will you build it?
I've already begun to build it, Mr. Angier.
I hope you enjoy the mountain air. This will take some time.
Uh... I thought you'd gone.
I don't really have anywhere to go.
You've been sleeping here?
Cutter said it'd be all right till we get another booking. What are you doing?
Uh... research.
Part of a magician's job
is to... watch his competition, see what illusions...
You're going to do something to that man, aren't you?
Cutter's hoping you let things lie.
He says if Borden thinks things are even between you...
Even?
My wife for a couple of his fingers?
He has a family now and he's performing again.
Borden is out there living his life just as he intended,
as if nothing had happened and look at me.
I'm alone and no theater will touch me.
Us.
You're going to need a better disguise.
I need a volunteer.
What happened?
Did you hurt him?
What happened, Robert?
You, sir. Just a rubber ball, yes?
Thank you.
Just a rubber ball? No.
Not normal. Not a normal rubber ball.
It's magic.
He had a new trick.
Was it good?
It was the greatest magic trick I've ever seen.
Did they applaud when you saw it?
It was too good. It was too simple. The audience hardly had time to see it.
- He's a dreadful magician. - A wonderful magician.
He's a dreadful showman. He doesn't dress it up,
- how to sell it. - How does he do it?
- He uses a double. - No, it's too simple.
This is a complex illusion.
You say that because you don't know the method.
It's a double that comes out. It's the only way.
I've seen him perform it three times. The prestige is the same man.
- No, it's not. - The same man comes out of the cabinet.
It's the same man.
He wears padded gloves to hide his damaged fingers,
but, if you look closely, you can tell.
He doesn't know how to sell it to an audience, but I do.
Yeah, we could use it as a climax to the show.
Yes.
The man stole my life, I'm gonna steal his trick.
We got to find someone who looks like you.
- He doesn't use a double. - I don't know how Borden does it.
Either... You either wait for him to retire and buy the secret,
or you listen to how I would do it.
And the only way that I know how to do it
is to find you a bloody good double.
All right.
Take a good look. Let's get out there and find me.
Whoo!
Look, look.
What's that?
- It's for you. - What's this for?
Come.
You...
- I asked you last week... - You caught me in a wrong mood.
- But you won't ever... - Sarah,
I'm gonna have to change my mind, aren't I?
The act is taking off. Soon we'll be in a bigger theater, things will work out.
I can't believe it. Thank you. Thank you. It's beautiful.
- Gerry? - Darling, look at you.
Mr. Cutter, Mr. Angier, I'd like you to meet Gerald Root.
Mm-hm.
A pleasure. Pleasure to meet you fine gentlemen.
Would you like for me to tell you a little joke? Come here.
Yes. Are you laughing now?
I have to take a piss.
- He's out of his mind. - Of course, he's an out-of-work actor.
He's perfect. He needs a little help.
But when I get done with him, he could be your brother.
I don't need him to be my brother, I need him to be me.
Give me a month.
So you open the door...
...and...
Come on.
Couldn't you have found a softer one?
Well, it's not for sleeping on.
So, if you come down through there...
- ...does Root go up through there? - Yep.
It's going to be amazing.
Well, it has to be. Borden's trick is getting noticed.
The place was packed today.
You went and saw his show again.
Ready to meet yourself, Mr. Angier?
All I have to do is keep myself stinking drunk,
and no one will be able to tell the difference.
Have a little faith, sir.
Now, would you favor us with a performance, Mr. Root?
You'd drink, too, if you knew the world half as well as I do.
Did you think you were unique?
I've been Caesar, I've played Faust.
How difficult could it possibly be to play the Great Danton?
You can go back to being yourself now, Root, for nothing.
I'd rather be him for now.
I find it, uh... amusing.
"My liege,
I did deny no prisoners."
- You look wonderful. - Oh, thank you.
Root has to keep a low profile. Anyone sees him, the game's up.
I don't know how you do things. I'm not sure I wanna know.
Have you thought what we should call it?
There's no point being coy. Borden calls his trick The Transported Man.
Ladies and gentlemen, much of what you've seen may be termed
as illusions or entertaining trifles.
Alas...
...I cannot claim this next feat as illusion.
Watch carefully.
You will see no trickery,
for no trickery is employed.
Merely a technique familiar to certain citizens of the Orient
and various holy men of the Himalayas.
Indeed, many of you may be familiar with this technique,
but for those of you who are not, do not be alarmed.
What you're about to see is considered safe.