Intacto

Rating:
Summary: Suspenseful, chilling, but mostly just wierd.
Review: "Intacto" is a rather clever film. This film is also very confusing, which makes it hard to come up with a premise without giving much away. But here goes. "Intacto" is a film essentially luck. In the film, games are played, think of it as "gambling", and prizes are won. However, these are not ordinary prizes. The prizes are people's luck. This sounds a little off, but it's true. The people in the film believe that after playing these games, gathering a picture of someone gives you their luck. No, I'm not joking.

There has been a plane crash, and Tomas is the only survivor. A man named Federico thinks this is odd, and immediately comes running to see Tomas. Five years earlier, Federico had his luck taken completely away by The Jew, a holocaust survivor, whom is supossedly the luckiest man alive. Having lost all of his luck, Federico convinces Tomas to go with him and play "games", or whatever the heck they call it.

I may sound like I'm making fun of the movie, but I'm really not. This is a very beautiful film, that is beautifully shot, and brilliantly acted. The film is just so odd. It's a very original work, and I have to admit, this is a very good film.

The only problem is that it's about 45 minutes into the movie before we really think we know what's going on. In fact, in the beggining the Jew and Federico are talking, but we really don't know what they're talking about, so therefore later when we realize what they were talking about, we forgot all of what they said.

And the games are so bizarre. My favorite is when they put blindfolds around themselves. Then, they start at the beggining of a forest of trees. They then take off through the forrest blindfolded, with many chances of smacking right into a tree. One by one, the gamblers are knocked flat on their back by trees they run at full speed into. The last one standing wins.

"Intacto" is definitly bizarre, and at times greatly confusing. I've only seen the film once, and am anxious to see the film again, because this film cannot be solved by being seen once. The problem with most films of this sort, is that you don't care what really happened. However, this film makes an exception.

Rating:
Summary: Suspenseful, chilling, but mostly just wierd.
Review: "Intacto" is a rather clever film. This film is also very confusing, which makes it hard to come up with a premise without giving much away. But here goes. "Intacto" is a film essentially luck. In the film, games are played, think of it as "gambling", and prizes are won. However, these are not ordinary prizes. The prizes are people's luck. This sounds a little off, but it's true. The people in the film believe that after playing these games, gathering a picture of someone gives you their luck. No, I'm not joking.

There has been a plane crash, and Tomas is the only survivor. A man named Federico thinks this is odd, and immediately comes running to see Tomas. Five years earlier, Federico had his luck taken completely away by The Jew, a holocaust survivor, whom is supossedly the luckiest man alive. Having lost all of his luck, Federico convinces Tomas to go with him and play "games", or whatever the heck they call it.

I may sound like I'm making fun of the movie, but I'm really not. This is a very beautiful film, that is beautifully shot, and brilliantly acted. The film is just so odd. It's a very original work, and I have to admit, this is a very good film.

The only problem is that it's about 45 minutes into the movie before we really think we know what's going on. In fact, in the beggining the Jew and Federico are talking, but we really don't know what they're talking about, so therefore later when we realize what they were talking about, we forgot all of what they said.

And the games are so bizarre. My favorite is when they put blindfolds around themselves. Then, they start at the beggining of a forest of trees. They then take off through the forrest blindfolded, with many chances of smacking right into a tree. One by one, the gamblers are knocked flat on their back by trees they run at full speed into. The last one standing wins.

"Intacto" is definitly bizarre, and at times greatly confusing. I've only seen the film once, and am anxious to see the film again, because this film cannot be solved by being seen once. The problem with most films of this sort, is that you don't care what really happened. However, this film makes an exception.

Rating:
Summary: Intriguing- A very clever premise......
Review: 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."

Rating:
Summary: Not as good as it looks
Review: I saw the preview and really wanted to see this movie. First of all I thought it was in English...it wasnt. This isnt bad the preview makes you think it'll be in English. The movie was slow at some parts and not as fast paced as the preview makes it out to be. There are better foreign films out there.

Rating:
Summary: what a great movie!
Review: i was very pleasantly surprised by how much i liked this film. it's suspenseful, well-acted, lovely to look at and... original! true, near the beginning of the film you have almost no clue as to what is going on but i don't find that it detracts from the film as a whole. too many films nowadays are spelled out, cookie-cutter snores i'd rather not have watched them.

there are moments in the film that have this sort of silent mystery: like when the police woman is getting into bed and she just stares at the painting across from her bed (you understand why later) or when max von sydow's character is slowly getting ready for a visitor by putting on his hood. there is this wonderful mounting tension through the whole film and by the end my husband and i were deeply engrossed in a conversation about just whose "luck" had won out.

Rating:
Summary: Sustained by a lucky force
Review: Luck can be passed to person to person, or sucked out of someone like a liquid. Do you have what it takes to sustain your lucky streak? When will it end? The main characters put up all of their valuables, for the thrill of winning, and for claiming that they indeed do have the best luck in the moment.
Directed with a somnelent hand, the director takes us into a realm where bets are placed on fate.
The pace is at once odd and ethereal. The viewer is thrusted into an underworld where the stakes are high, and the only the lucky survive, again and again.
There is a plot with elements of justice, love, risk, and redemption. The denouement could have been longer, but the viewer is not lucky enough to see more.
Russian roulette with FIVE bullets is normal, especially when you are clad in all khaki in a desert somewhere, in a ... survivor's casino.
The story is original.
The acting is first rate.
Like an oneiric gamble on life and death.

Rating:
Summary: Very, very cool movie...
Review: 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...

Rating:
Summary: Survive the Game with Pure Luck: Very Original Thriller
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: Survive the Game with Pure Luck: Very Original Thriller
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: One of the most boring movie
Review: The movie turned out to be totally bizzare concept. Can somebody steal luck or something. My whole Friday evening was spoiled after watching this movie and girlfried bitched on me too. The movie is so dark and gloomy, the music is so melanchonic. Above all the story takes you nowhere.