There is always something magical about magic. From time beyond one's recorded historical and geographical events, magic has decisively played its own part in shaping up people's beliefs ergo the civilizations ultimately. It has intrigued and fascinated may people thus have them hypnotized and spellbound under its enchanting spell. So, what is magic? It is certainly not what the magicians perform on stage to enthrall the audience with their performances. That is merely an illusion. One of the many forms of magic which has an inherent and intricate logic and science with years of hard toil attached to their tricks and unbeknownst to the spectators. So, back to our question. What is magic? It is very simple. Magic is an event, act or situation that is not understandable to the common man and woman which causes them to worry, fear, panic, alarm or be elated at the turnaround of the given circumstance. Before the advent of theoretical and practical science, every phenomenon in the world - be it lightning, thunder, storms, day, night, seasons, diseases, origin of the universe etc. was attributed to God. In short, before science began to spread its wings and soar far and wide in this world, God was the greatest and grandest magician that this planet had ever seen. This can be very well found in Greeks, Egyptians, Christians, Hinduism or every other place and religion which regards The Almighty to be the most powerful and formidable being on this planet. Even now when you venture into the deepest jungles or simply move away from the city, you can still see quite a million, which goes into billions in reality!, who revere the divinity and sanctity of Gods for their day to day usage of objects. So, am I going to bore you to death on the different kinds of magic or the chronological record of events in magic like the ghost Professor Binns who had taught The History Of Magic at Hogwarts? Def Not!
Like the billions spread across the nook and corner of the world, I was also bitten by the magic bug when I was a kid. I saw magic everywhere - be it the TV, cinemas, cartoons, electricity, comics, super heroes etc. I always had the sense of awe and wonder as to what made these objects come live so beautifully and colorfully thus enriching the lives of the people who use them. It did not take me long to find out and know that it was due to science , courtesy schools. Still my interest in magic never diminished and I have always had the inclination for things that are improbably fantasized as equal to the things that are objectively real in front of me. The last week was truly magical in every sense of the spirit of the letter of the word.
It started when I started to search for The Big Bang Theory's latest episode to torrent. Suddenly, the name "The Magicians" caught my eyes when I was scanning for the episode. Without any hesitation, I simply downloaded it first followed by the TBBT's new episode. Later a quick search on the internet told me what I wanted to know about The Magicians minus the plot - A trilogy written by Lev Grossman. Wasting no time, I set out to delve into the world created by Grossman to see and explore newer concepts and life forms that were created in his universe.
When the pilot successfully and positively ended, my instinct and immediate reaction was to search for other famous alternatives on similar lines. It did not take me long as I struck gold and found another jackpot - Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrel. An IMDB rating - 8.3/10 and Rotten Tomatoes rating of 90% was more than sufficient for me to watch this mini series aired by BBC based on the novel written by Sussana Clarke. Its based on a prophecy that 2 magicians were destined to bring the lost magic to England after a gap of 300 years. Mr. Norrel performs practical magic that is only respectable whereas Strange performs venturesome and audacious spells for his country's sake. It seemed like the perfect recipe for yet another "The Prestige".
It was then it hit me that it had been ages since I caught up with Nolan's swashbuckling masterpiece "The Prestige". Every word. Every sentence. Every scene in the movie made immense sense in hindsight. For instance, when Tesla tells Angiers "At what cost"? where Tesla actually has understood the significance that Angiers would be killing himself every night when the latter desires to purchase the machine from the former. The importance of the dialogue would hit you like a boomerang only when you see this movie for a second time. Just like inception, till date, Nolan has left me in a state of complete and perpetual ambiguity to the ending of the film - whether the Angiers shown in the tank is alive or not! The Prestige is a multi-layered masterclass magic by itself which lives up to the 3 essential components of a magic trick namely - The Pledge, The Turn and The Prestige. The Pledge - the hanging of Borden and Angiers being victorious over him finally. The Turn - Borden is hung and Fallon goes after Lord Caldow. The Prestige - when the cat is out of the bag that Borden and Fallon are twins and that it was Borden who kills Angiers and eventually reunites with his daughter. One of the most brilliant and complex scripts handled with skill and ease by the ace director. Even Tesla's and Edison's rivalry were showcased for a brief moment in the movie much like the one upmanship between Angiers and Borden. The Prestige is indeed a roller-coaster ride which truly leaves everyone gaping with an open mouth at the end. The magic has done trick its trick.
What started with an innocuous search for TBBT's torrent lead me one after another to The Prestige thus making my week to be truly ABRACADABRA !
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