Intacto

Intacto

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DVD Reviews of Intacto

DVD Review: Survive the Game with Pure Luck: Very Original Thriller
Summary: 5 Stars

"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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