I think this detracts from Nolan movies
I've seen 3. The Prestige (my favorite), Inception, & the Batman with Heath Ledger as "The Joker".
I think his movies come close to being some of the best. But Alas IMHO, they are not.
I googled "Explaining The Prestige" & "Understanding The Prestige". And have read at this site about the movie.
There are so many people that think the ending means so many different things & can be viewed in so many ways its ridiculous. Now if you like movies that become so convoluted that people can argue over almost what is going on in every other scene and especially what HAPPENS at the end & what the ENDING means, its for you.
HERE IS JUST ONE SITE GOING ON ENDLESSLY ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED AT THE END. A GUY WRITES AN ARTICLE ABOUT IT - AND I'M TALKING ABOUT ALL THE COMMENTS AFTER IT WITH DIFFERENT THEORIES ABOUT IT OF WHICH MANY MAKE JUST AS MUCH SENSE OR AS LITTLE.
http://www.cinemablend.com/new/Prestige-Ending-Explained-Here-What-Actually-Happened-69828.html
I'm sure you could go to similar sites about explaining this movie and people would be have different views and thoughts of what so many things in this movie mean, & again I know some folks love these kinds of movies.
Just look at a site like I googled and you'll see so may explanations for SO MANY THINGS....twin brother or clone, why new clone instead of original or 2nd one, is the whole movie a magic trick of Cutters? The two meanings of what drowning is like told to Cutter....why the 1 1st and the other 2nd. And how could he explain drowning - if you drown - you are dead and can't tell anybody about it.
I thought Inception was even worse - 50 ways to take all sorts of things. I could go on about The Prestige and I did say if he could ratchet down all the numerous ways to take things that could all be considered I think it would be better and if we think Tesla does build this cloning or whatever machine and if it worked and did it work for both & dozens of other scenarios about the machine because you don't know for sure what the deal was with it which can add twists and turns in how u interpret that & what Tesla says about it.
So is a good magic trick worth having your brother hanged and your wife hanging herself depriving her daughter of a mother? Or was Borden's brother hung or a clone of some sort.
I guess people like movies that can have all sorts of inferences & conclusions like Mulholland Drive - which I remember reading Ebert's review of which I thought was the best I read of another movie that was more convoluted than this one. First....Ebert liked it a lot. His review was - it was like when you are waking slowly from a dream and fragments are starting to fade or something like that.
There was a likability to that movie for me too. But I will never understand that one & if I did I would have liked it more just like Nolan movies.
OH YEAH - AND SOMEBODY JUST BROUGHT THIS UP TOO. He keeps asking what knot Borden tied. Well, when they broke open the water tank....the knot was still there. So Cutter, Angier, (don't want to get into Borden theories here on why he says he doesn't know). But u could also see the knots were quite different, so THAT WOULD BE AN EASILY ANSWERED QUESTION.