The theory is that Tesla's assistant, Alley, is actually the real Tesla. The fake "Tesla" is just a well paid actor and the public face of the operation, designed to fool people in public and protect Alley/Tesla. When Borden and Angier see Tesla years before, Borden is able to recognize the con, because he and his twin pull the same con.

Feb 5, 2023 · Angier uses the exact same Prestige as Tesla used on him. Angier must show Cutter fake copies – of himself Angier must show Cutter fake copies – of himself Notice that the tanks are in a suspiciously dark room so it is hard to inspect them closely.

Aug 3, 2020 · Tesla clones a generic black cat rather than a unique one. He has Angier's hat for a long time. Long enough to have replicas made. "Technically Mr Angier they are all your hat" is still technically true if Tesla used Angier's money to have the replicas made.

Apr 12, 2022 · Tesla was confused why it wasn’t “working”, as well. But of course, this is the narrator lying to the audience AND Tesla and pretending he’s upset it’s not working, while having the knowledge that it actually is working, so he can later fool his rival who he thinks is rotting in jail for the rest of his life.

Jul 14, 2015 · Both are tools of deceit. Even if the machine works, Borden doesnt know the tesla can build a machine like that. By sending him to tesla in his mind, he is sending him to a useless bloke. By bordens' own admission he sends Angier there on a wild goose chase. Bordens' diary is also useless, Tesla is the key but it doesnt contain anything useful.

One possible answer is that the man Angier thinks is Tesla is not Tesla at all, and that the real Tesla is the man posing as an assistant - Mr. Alley. Assistants are crucial to The Prestige. The inciting incident is the death of a magician’s assistant.

Tesla didn't know how the machine worked when he built it for Angiers. This theory would rely on Tesla destroying the first machine and then forgetting how it worked. Btw it's a huge coincidence in the movie that Borden randomly sent Angiers to Tesla as a misdirection, but then Tesla actually could build a machine that worked for the illusion.

Sep 8, 2014 · In the 1990s, the Schumann cavity was renamed the Schumann-Tesla cavity. 2) This is also based on a myth, this one a doctored photo: Tesla spent two years in Colorado Springs where the El Paso Electric Company had agreed to give him free power. There he built the world's largest Tesla coil, the device most often associated with his name.

Tesla & Alley lived similarly by leaving the town with electricity but evading Edison’s henchmen on their heels. Cutter - as well as the mirrored metaphor of Tesla & Alley - have roles in the one surviving man’s secret - maybe like the Chinaman’s people around him do to …

Apr 29, 2019 · Tesla’s assistant approaches Angier for the first time, and the scene ends in the yard outsides Tesla’s workhouse, where Angier sees wireless electricity and remarks: “Magic. Real magic.” Consider what Nolan is doing here: he tells us that couching a trick in science can sell it to the public as real.