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Intriguing- A very clever premise……, February 4, 2004

I didn’t know what to expect at first watching Intacto. A movie about people stealing each others’ luck would ordinarily sound ridiculous, but despite skating the edge of credibility, Intacto has a lot of style and some scenes of quiet suspense. I am also a huge fan of Max Von Sydow, and he is clearly a standout in this movie as the Jew, a man who is able to convey his uncanny ability to survive deadly games as almost a tragedy. His conversation with the main character Tomas (also very good) is quite touching. It seems that even though many of the characters in the movie have incredible luck, the luck in the end seems to be more of a curse than a blessing as characters throughout the movie are unable to get enjoyment from their “good fortune.”

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Very, very cool movie…, October 2, 2003

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GLBT (Illinois) –

  

My one complaint, which I’ll state at the very start, is that the English subtitles remain even when the characters are speaking in English. It’s very annoying. English subtitles when they’re speaking Spanish (which is most of the film) makes sense… English subtitles when they’re speaking English is just plain distracting.

Having gotten that out of the way…

I don’t want to reveal too much of the story because half the fun is watching things gradually unfold, but I will say that this film has a very original premise, having to do with the nature of luck. The idea is that luck is an actual “thing” that can be traded, stolen, and gambled away.

Our central character is a thief who, it turns out, has the gift of luck and so is pulled into this strange world of people who collect luck. Many of these people are quite ruthless, and as the stakes gradually increase, our protagonist stands to lose far more than his knack for good luck.

The tone of this film is very creepy and clever… in many ways, it reminded me of “Blood Simple,” “Memento,” “Music of Chance,” or Atom Egoyan’s “Exotica.” Like all four of those movies, there’s a lot to absorb and it’s handed to you in small pieces. This is a movie that requires your full concentration. Fortunately, that’s not hard to give, as the film itself is absolutely fascinating and full of brilliant images and moments.

Eerie, beautiful, and not quite like anything else…

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Survive the Game with Pure Luck: Very Original Thriller, November 10, 2003

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Tsuyoshi (Kyoto, Japan) –

  

Some people believe that a certain kind of thing can bring a good luck to them. Clover with four leaves, black cat (in England), and Japanese beckoning cat. Then, what if a luck happens to be something you can steal, collect, and use? And use to kill?

“Intacto” is a bizarre, unnerving, and quite original thriller from young Spanish director Juan Carlos Fresnadillo. Its story is complicated, but is not hard to follow. One crimial Thomas (Sbaraglia), the only surviver of a terrible plane crash, meets a strange guy Federico in the hospital. Federico asks Thomas to draw a card just casually. Little did Thomas know that it is only the beginning of games that test his own luck … the game that becomes more and more deadly as it goes on.

As Federico and Thomas travel together, they unwittingly involve some other ‘lucky’ characters; Sara, female police investigator who seems to be unaware of her own luck; Arejandro, a bull fighter who somehow got never hurt; and Sam, the owner of a casino (excellent Max von Sidow), who survived one of the tragic events known in the world’s history.

This is Fresnadillo’s feature debut (though his short “Esosados” has been nominated for Oscar in 1996), and like another talented Spanish director of “Open Your Eyes,” he has his own style. The picture always exudes some eerie atomosphere (like David Lynch), and though his narrative gets slightly confusing (especially the conclusion), he carries this unusual material to the end quiet gracefully.

There are many “games” that test the characters’ lucks, which might look, to be frank, somewhat silly to some of us. Certainly few of us would dare to do these things, risking their limbs and life, but the director has enough visual skills to convince us that there must be some people who try to run THERE, blindfolded.

My material says that the director actually witnessed the plane accident in the Canary Island when he has a child, and that experience is part of inspiration of the film. Also, he has read the books of Primo Levi (“Survival in Auschwitz”), whose background helped to develop the concept. The film at first sight looks too incredible, but close inspection reveals that it contains thought-provoking things like the guilty feeling which some survivers of terrible accidents have.

But of course, you can enjoy it as entertainment, and as such “Intacto” is just great. And the images are very beautiful, such as the bleak landscape of the Canary Island (where the casino is set).

Hollywood (Buena Bista, at the time of writing) has already bought the right of remake, and that fact testifies that the film is very original. If you like the kind of films like “Thesis” or “Open Your Eyes,” you should not miss this thriller.

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