Revealing mistake: When one twin (presumably Alfred) is removing the other twin's fingers, "Alfred's" upper arm passes through his twin's head as "Alfred" reaches for the hammer. [Fixed on DVD.]
The Prestige (2006)
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Directed by: Christopher Nolan
Starring: Michael Caine, Scarlett Johansson, Christian Bale, Hugh Jackman, David Bowie
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More mistakes in The Prestige
Olivia Wenscombe: He wants me to come work for you and steal your secrets.
Alfred Borden: What does he need my secrets for? His trick is top-notch. He vanishes, and then he reappears instantly on the other side of the stage - mute, overweight, and unless I'm mistaken, very drunk. It's astonishing, how does he do it?
Trivia: The "Chinaman" in the movie was based on a real-life magician. He wasn't Asian at all, he just dressed and lived the part. The first English he ever spoke in his career were his last words. When a bullet catch went awry, he uttered the words, "My God, I've been shot" just before his death.
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.
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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."