Question: In Angier's final performance Borden watches Angier's duplicate drown in the tank. Does the other Angier still reappear for the audience, and take a bow? They never explain this in the film. If he does take the bow, Borden would never have been accused of murder. If he doesn't take the bow, how does the duplicate know not to do so? The duplicate would have no idea that Borden was below stage.
Answer: No, he does not appear to take a bow. The set-up is as follows: Angier invites the audience on stage to observe the machine, but in reality it is so he can watch for Borden trying to work out the trick. When he sees Borden in the audience, he also knows Borden will not learn anything from the stage, and will go backstage. He then clones himself, and the clone is created with the exact knowledge he had at the time of the cloning, including Borden's presence and the trap the original Angier had set. So the "new" Angier hides away the best he can, letting Borden be framed for the murder of the "original" Angier. Had he appeared, not only would it ruin his plan of framing Borden, but it would also reveal how he had done his trick, and he would not allow any of those to happen, no matter what.
Question: ***SPOILER WARNING*** I don't understanding the ending to this film. What was Mandy's reason for killing people? Is this a flawed character motivation, or did I miss something?
Answer: The reason for Mandy and Emmett killing off the characters is pretty much left open for interpretation, but it seems the reason they killed them was because before Mandy became "hot over the summer" (as Dylan says at the beginning), Emmett and Mandy were treated like outcasts, and after Dylan's death, Emmett probably took a lot of the blame. It's possible that Emmett and Mandy were tired of how the popular crowd had treated them before. At the end, they made a pact to kill themselves. But after finding out that Emmett is just like the others, Mandy backs out and decides not to, but Emmett doesn't take it very well and decides to kill her too. Mandy fights him off, and she saves Garth, who seems to be the only one at the ranch who saw her as a human being and treated her with respect. So any of these reasons may have been motivation (although their actions are extreme), but overall there seems to be no obvious reason.
Answer: It's likely that Mandy developed a taste for murder subsequent to the Dylan incident, in which she evidently was more complicit than would seem at first glance.
Question: I saw the answer to the whole Frankie death scene, but there's still something I don't get. If Wendy and Kevin had stayed in his truck, wouldn't they have died, and messed up Death's list?
Chosen answer: They would've died, but Death "knew" they wouldn't have stayed in the car. If they had stayed, Death would change his death.
Question: All realistic indication by the end of the movie points to the fantasy actually being real, based on strong evidence. (Such as the magical door and chalk, etc.) Is there any strong theories that the fantasy is not real? I know is is ultimately up to the viewer to decide, I am just curious as to whether or not there is any concrete proof the fantasy might not be real.
Answer: Evidence from the film: 1) The image of a ram appears frequently in the house, including over the mother's bed and the twisted growth of the tree. An image such as this suggests that the fawn was created from common images. 2) The first image is of the magical realm. The the following show Ofelia reading a fantasy book. This inidicates that the movie will be mostly from the point of view of a child who spends time developing her imagination. 3) The images of fascist, war-torn Spain are bleak aand desaturated while the images of the magical realm are bright. Even the monochromatic images of el Fauno are supersaturated. This filming technique suggests that Ofelia creates the fantasy. 4) At the end of the movie, the General cannot see Ofelia talking to el Fauno. Therefore, at least for him, the kingdom is fantasy. The proof exists for both. The flower at the end of the film has been cited as evidence that the magical world certainly exists but only for those who choose to see it. This means that the kingdom is both real and not real - a paradox.
Question: As Robert Langdon sinks to his knees on top of the Louvre at the very end of the film over Mary Magdalene's tomb, what is the music playing? It's very uplifting and would logically be the last track on the soundtrack, but on listening to a sample on iTunes, the style of the tracks seem completely different.
Chosen answer: The track is "Chevaliers de Sangreal" on the official soundtrack. It's the second to the last track (13).
Question: Does anyone know when the release date for the DVD is in the UK?
Answer: According to AnimeonDVD.com, there is still nothing planned, though the first volume of the manga is coming out on April 28. See http://www.animeondvd.com/forum/showpost.php?pid/311465/ for further DVD release updates.
Question: I was wondering whether the evidence that Adrian Brody gathered was true, or if it's artistic license. It seems that if it were true, there should have been a further inquiry into George Reeve's death.
Answer: Here is a good link that will help separate fact from fiction. http://www.crimelibrary.com/notorious_murders/celebrity/george_reeves/1_index.html.
Question: I kinda understood the scramble suits that they would wear in the movie to keep their identity secret but I do not understand exactly how they would help. If you had to walk into the office every morning (it would have to be a high security area they worked in) where you would have guards/security and id cards and such to get in, people would know that you worked there simply by watching you entering and leaving the building. The only thing the suits would help with is at public speakings but all they really seem to do is keep your coworkers guessing who you are. You see "Code name guy" walk into room then "regular guy" walk out. Not very hard to figure out. Anybody with a little insight please explain.
Chosen answer: You are working on the assumption that it would be a standard 9-to-5 job and that the same people would be walking in at the same time. Bob Arctor is seen to go in irregularly and "Hank" would also keep irregular hours, much like officers in real-life. James was also seen to enter and exit the building and he was a witness; other witnesses, lawyers, public officials, the medical staff and janitors would also irregularly enter and exit the building. There are simply too many people entering and exiting the building randomly for anyone to definitively figure out who is who, particularly as their real and "suit" identities would be kept as separate as possible, "Hank" only figured out it was Bob because she was Donna. The identities of real-life police officers (particularly officers working undercover, especially on drug-deals) are routinely kept secret and the design of the building that Bob and "Hank" work in would be designed to protect their identities and the scramble-suits would be another layer of protection on top.
Question: Was the birth scene real? It seemed completely real, and the woman appeared to actually be pregnant earlier in the film.
Chosen answer: No, it wasn't real. Good make-up and acting, that's all.
Answer: Angier always wants to take revenge on Borden as he is the reason behind the death of his wife. He knows that Borden is in the crowd the two times, first time, Olivia suggests Borden to watch the new "Transported Man" trick of Angier, where Borden finds out the trap door in the bottom of the machine, second time, Borden wants to know how Angier flies that distance with in seconds through the trap door. As expected by the Angier in the final play, Borden reaches the back stage where actual Angier is drowning (it is as always actual Angier drowns and the replica of Angier appears at some distance in every performance). So, as per the plan the replica hides to create an impression that Borden intentionally murders Angier. Note: the replica of Angier has the same ability and sense like actual Angier.
Rajesh v
It's never stated whether the "real" Angier drowns or takes the bow, but it's implied that it doesn't matter - as the clone is a perfect copy, they are both "Angier." Angier at one point says, referring to toll the trick has taken on him, that each time he did it, even he himself didn't know whether he would be the man in the box or the prestige. Similarly, when Angier asked Tesla which hat of all the duplicates was his, Tesla replied "They are all your hat."