Movie Review Intacto

Intacto (2001) 

Directed by Juan Carlos Fresnadillo 

Written by Juan Carlos Fresnadillo 

Starring Leonardo Sbaraglia, Max Von Sydow 

Release Date January 3rd, 2003 

Published June 2nd, 2003 

Luck is a funny thing. It's defined as a force that brings good fortune or adversity. But what kind of force? Does not the word force imply something can be controlled? Luck is something seemingly intangible that it can't be controlled. Or can it? The characters in Juan Carlos Fresnadillo's first full length feature believe not only that luck can be controlled but that the luck of others can be controlled as well, alternately taken away and given to others. It's this unique premise that plays out in Intacto.

In a casino seemingly in the middle of nowhere, high rollers drop big amounts of cash. But underneath the casino, far bigger wagers are being played against the casino's oddball owner known to many as The Jew (Max Von Sydow). With his top advisor Federico (Eucebio Poncela), The Jew manipulates the luck of the players in the casino. If by chance someone gets on a hot streak, Federico is dispatched to simply touch the player. The touch takes the player’s luck and gives it to Federico.

However, when Federico decides he wants to go out on his own, using his abilities for his own gain, The Jew takes his luck away. Some years later Federico is working for an insurance company, or at least, that’s his cover. In reality, the insurance industry is a way for Federico to find people who have the gift he once had. He finds what he is looking for in a plane crash survivor named Tomas.

Tomas happens to be a thief who was on the plane escaping from the pursuit of a police detective named Sara (Monica Lopez). She too has a gift for luck, having survived a car crash that killed her husband and child. As Federico helps Tomas escape from the police, they enter a strange world of gamblers who trade in luck rather than just money. With the help of another of these gamblers, a bullfighter (Antonio Dechent), Sara follows them into the games.

The games are dreamlike in their strangeness. In one scene, regular everyday folks are chosen by the gamblers. They take photographs of these people and then touch them, taking their luck. The photographs of these people are then used as cache for the bigger bets. The goal of it all is to get to The Jew for the biggest chance game of all.

All of this is shot by Fresnadillo with a sharpness that belies the film’s small budget. The crispness and clarity of the DVD is remarkable. The desert landscape that surrounds the casino, shot in the opening from a mini helicopter equipped with a camera at night is striking and attention grabbing.

The story does have its minor contrivances, such as what happens when you beat The Jew? Then what, wait until someone beats you? The Jew's life isn't exactly exciting. As played by the magnificent Max Von Sydow, he is a paranoid old man who spends his days locked in a small, poorly lit room wearing a mask in fear that someone might see his face or take his photo.

That minor quibble aside Intacto is a fascinating and unique picture that combines the cool of modern Hollywood storytelling with the beauty of an art film. For a director working on his first feature, Fresnadillo has an amazing confident style that comes from a kid who doesn't know what can't be done.