INTACTO -------
When Federico (Eusebio Poncela, "Law of Desire") tells his mentor, casino owner Sam (Max von Sydow, "Minority Report"), that he wants to leave to play the circuit, he's literally robbed of his luck and cast out. Desperate to regain his lofty ranking in the secret society of gifted gamblers, Federico makes a deal with Tomas (Leonardo Sbaraglia, "Burnt Money") who lies in a hospital bed, the sole survivor of a plane crash. Eager for the wealth Federico offers, young thief Tomas cautiously agrees unaware that he's about to enter the strange world that is "Intacto."
Spanish director Juan Carlos Fresnadillo has been mulling the link between luck and death since, as a young boy, he witnessed the aftermath of the 1977 747 runway collision in his homeland Canary Island of Santa Cruz de Tenerife. He and cowriter Andres M. Koppel have invented a world of vampiric gamblers that exist on a plane undetected by ungifted mortals.
At first Tomas is suspicious of Federico's assurances of easy wealth, but when he wins his first round, where three people wager huge stakes that a fly will land on their treacle streaked forehead, he's hooked. (A fly's fancy was also used to convince a doubter in "Girl on the Bridge," another film about fate, luck, love and death). Meanwhile a cop, Sara (Monica Lopez),
is introduced investigating this underworld when she discovers Horatio (Guillermo Toledo) dead on the side of a highway blindfolded, the victim of a test of his own luck ("Unbreakable's own villain and victim in one). When Tomas and Federico take possession of the wagered home of Alejandro (Antonio Dechent, "Day of the Beast"), a bullfighter with a spotless record who nonetheless lost to crash survivor Tomas, they soon find Sara snooping about and must move on. Tomas manages to scale the ranks of the lucky and finds himself competing against the elite, where he will again meet Alejandro, but unbeknownst to him Federico has wagered something too precious for Tomas to lose.
"Intacto" crosses into the realm of the supernatural with Fresnadillo's twist that the truly lucky can steal luck, usually from the unsuspecting masses whom he portrays in one eerie scene like walking dead. This twisty thriller is peopled with those high on the infallibility of their own luck, spurred on by a growing greed, yet it is at its most interesting when exploring survivor's guilt (shades of Peter Weir's "Fearless"). Fresnadillo neatly balances this aspect of his script between two characters - Sam, who we learn is a concentration camp survivor, and the one who is ultimately after him - Sara, who flashbacks reveal lost her family in a car crash which spared her. The gift of luck (and ability to steal it) which gave them life appears to make each flirt with death.
Fresnadillo used the unearthly and remote lava fields of his homeland as home base for Sam's casino, heightening the effect of a secret, privileged club. The bunker-like area where Sam resides is stark, the only decoration a pink and red neon 'Good luck' sign flashing at its entrance. Once inside someone unfamiliar with the layout is presented with three doors, a demonic Monty Hall at work.
"Intacto's" cerebral machinations distance the viewer from emotional connections with its characters, but it is a dynamic piece of work from an exciting new voice.
B+
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