Customer Reviews

Intacto

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

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...

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."

What a film. I have to be honest, I'd never heard of this before, but I am so glad I took a chance with it.
Its quite a difficult film plot to describe: but in a nut shell its about a dangerous game played with people who have proved to be 'extremely' lucky (perhaps supernaturally so). The games become more and more dangerous, and are always played blindfolded (my favourite was running through a forest hand ties behind backs - the last NOT to run into a tree is the winner). There is a reason for this (which I wont disclose) and this is genuinely and exciting a quite unique movie.
All the actors are excellent (especially Max von Sydow and the gorgeous Leonardo Sbaraglia from Burnt Money).
A thrilling and inventive movie.
(NB: The film is mainly in Spanish with some English)

The premise of this film is that some people can steal luck from others. The idea is bizarre but interesting, and the director (Juan Carlos Fresnadillo) and some great actors managed to make a great movie out of it.

The main character, Thomas (Leonardo Sbaraglia), the only survivor of a tragic crash that killed the other 236 passagers in the plane, is one of the "fortunate" people that can steal luck. He is not so fortunate, though, because he is arrested by the police while he is in a hospital recovering from the crash, due to the fact that he is a thief. Despite that, not all is lost for him.

A strange man called Federico (Eusebio Poncela) helps him to escape, on the condition that Thomas will bet for him in a secret and very exclusive ring of betting, and that they will split the earnings. As a consequence, Thomas is introduced to to a secret society of "fortunate" people addicted to betting all kind of things in different games. The stakes are high: money, houses, people... The questionn is: how far is Thomas ready to go?.

On the whole, I can say that I highly enjoyed this movie, and that I recommend it to you. I have never seen a plot similar to this one. Whether that means that I don't watch enough movies, or that is an extremely original film, I don't know. All the same, watch it: you have nothing to lose, and a lot to gain :)

Belen Alcat

I didn't mind the subtitles at all, for this movie has a great deal going on and you are soon submerged in the story. A man who survived a Nazi concentration camp believes good and bad luck can be 'transferred'. He runs a casino where luck is vital to the players and many often have 'high stakes' in some bizarre games played behind closed doors. For some, it appears they do have extraordinary 'luck', but can life's events really be that simple? I was very surprised by the ending and it prompted a long discussion between my husband and myself as to whether good luck actually exists for some and not others.

Chrissy K. McVay - Author

Intacto is an interesting movie based on a very original and creative theme. It loosely based on the adage that states "there is limited luck in this world, you always get somebody else's share". The movie is about a bunch of people who are either full of luck or utterly luckless. The luckless hunt for the lucky ones, run wagers and attempt to get lucky themselves. The very idea of being able to collect luck is intriguing.
Samuel (Max von Sydow) is an old holocaust survivor who runs a high-end casino in the middle of nowhere. He has been extremely lucky all his life and plays a dangerous one bullet game. He hasn't lost in thirty years and all his challengers have died. Thomas Sanz (Leonardo Sbaraglia) is the lone survivor of a plane crash (and thus deemed lucky) who is approached by a luckless Federico (Eusebio Poncela) to run wagers. Federico is deceitful and wants to steal some of Thomas's luck and Thomas wants to quickly multiply his aircraft-crash insurance compensation. Incidentally, Thomas had burgled a bank before the crash and a cop in the form of Sara (Monica Lopez) is in hot pursuit. Each character's life gets entwined while as they attempt to fulfill their motives. The story wavers and gets confusing at times, but that just adds to the intriguing plot. Thomas eventually manages to run a wager with Samuel ... you'll have to watch the movie to know the winner.

Intacto is another good movie coming from Spain. Terrific performances by Leonardo Sbaraglia and Max von Sydow. The cinematography deserves high marks, it is successful in creating surreal landscapes. The wager games are very creative.

This film does not involve anoyone you've seen on Texas Hold 'Em. In fact, they don't even play any cards in this movie. They do, however, have many unique ways of gambling and finding out what kind of luck you have. I especially enjoyed the part where a prospective lucky man blindfolds himself and runs across a busy freeway at night to prove himself.

A few of the characters don't seem very believable. That is, the actors don't seem to relate to the characters they are playing. A few of the roles seemed rather hollow to me.

The action only ceased for a few dramatic pauses, and the ending was unique. I would share this one with all my friends.

And even my mom.

I received the DVD that I ordered in a timely manner. It was the right DVD, and it was exactly as described. Thanks!

Surrealistic and itelligent thriller exploring such adult themes as fate and fortune, life and death. The action is believable enough and the atmosphere has a nightmarish dream-like quality that adds to the esoteric subject matter. Very well done, very original story, very entertaining and very thought-provoking. Four "very's" equal four stars. Better than good, less than great. You won't walk away from this movie feeling like it wasted your time. Good stuff.