So I recently rewatched Snowpiercer, a dystopian movie from 2013 directed by Bong Joon-Ho. Although it’s one of my favorite movies, I see complaints about tone problems in that movie which I do think are valid. It doesn’t have a dystopian thriller tone all the way through. It changes.
And this got me thinking, maybe caring about tone is a culture thing? Keep in mind Bong Joon-Ho also directed Parasite (2019) which starts off as a dark comedy before rapidly shifting into a thriller / horror movie. I’m also reminded of some of the Indian cinema I’ve seen, where a movie might have drama, comedy, romance, sad scenes, and action and be received perfectly well by Indian audiences.
So I’m curious, people from non western countries especially, how well are tonal shifts received by your general audiences? Do people care less about the Avengers quips and one liners so much?
The only “magic” in the Prestige is the cloning device, which I feel fits with the theme. Actual magic would allow for him to just teleport, but he has to make do with cloning himself and killing the original.