Director Juan Carlos Fresnadillo became famous in Spain by being nominated for the Oscar for best short subject with his short "Esposados", which I found refreshing but somewhat overrated. Anyways... he went to Hollywood, knowing that he didn't have a chance of winning and wanting to take his chances of selling the rights for distribution of three films to Miramax. The first of these films is called "Intacto", starring argentinian Leonardo Sbaraglia, spaniard Eusebio Poncela and swedish Max von Sydow (yes, "The Exorcist" in person).
The plot: The film starts at a casino in the middle of a desert. We know there two characters: Federico (Poncela) and Sam (Sydow). The first one is the protegee of the second, the master of luck... a man who has the power to get other people's luck (by touching - even hugging - them, and by getting photos of them)... well... Federico was the sole survivor of an earthquake, and Sam was also the sole survivor of a nazi camp... both has high amount of luck, and also Federico at this time is the only person allowed to see Sam's face!
Federico thinks it's high time he got his own way, away from Sam, who has raised him since childhood and that earthquake... so Sam is not going to let Federico go... with his good luck.
A few years later, we meet Federico searching fortunate people that can let him get back to Sam and have revenge... because Federico now has the "power" of give bad luck to the people who touch him... or that he touches. After a failed - another failed we suppose - attempt to find the right person with the right luck, he manages to meet Tomas, a thief that is the sole survivor of a plane crash and is in an hospital, under arrest. He frees Tomas, and offers him to play some games, in which anything but money is can be bet.
Then we know Sara (Monica Lopez), a female cop which wants to catch Tomas again, and has herself her own personal history with luck (good? bad? you can never tell: this is one of the most moving characters in the film)... and the hunt begins.
I won't go too far in details of what happens next, with the sole exception of that another important character is introduced, a bullfighter (Antonio Dechent) who retired without ever being harmed... and also likes to play the games Federico and Tomas NEED to play.
The ending of course will take place at the casino, with the five main characters being involved... it is no spoiler, since from the first minutes of the film it is clear that the casino is for Federico what Itaca was for Ulysses. The difference is that instead of Penelope's love, he's looking for revenge.
The acting: range from very good (Lopez, Dechent) to great (Sydow, Sbaraglia and Poncela). I foresee a best actor nod at the Goyas (Spanish Oscars) for Eusebio Poncela.
The flaws of the film... a few. The most important for me was that in a couple of times the director remarked too much some aspects (I think too much explanation is bad). And also it is maybe a little slow for the average thriller viewer, but this is more like "Unbreakable"... Yeah, it has many shares with "Unbreakable", but it is really different. To compare both films is just as dumb as to do so with "The Sixth Sense" with "The Others". Needless to say that "Unbreakable" and "Intacto" doesn't share endings at all... don't expect a twist ending in this one (and that is the first of the strenghts of the film is that one: FINALLY A THRILLER WITHOUT TWIST ENDING!).
The strenghts: Fresnadillo's direction is strong. When I saw the film, I somehow KNEW this one is going to go to America and success. Believe me. Another Fincher? I don't think so, but he's good enough. The landscapes (the movie was shot at the Canary Islands) and the game scenes are great!
How I rate this film? 8 points. 4 stars out of five. Could have been a masterpiece, but it delivers the goods. And it is fairly better than most of the thrillers I've seen in a long time.
The plot: The film starts at a casino in the middle of a desert. We know there two characters: Federico (Poncela) and Sam (Sydow). The first one is the protegee of the second, the master of luck... a man who has the power to get other people's luck (by touching - even hugging - them, and by getting photos of them)... well... Federico was the sole survivor of an earthquake, and Sam was also the sole survivor of a nazi camp... both has high amount of luck, and also Federico at this time is the only person allowed to see Sam's face!
Federico thinks it's high time he got his own way, away from Sam, who has raised him since childhood and that earthquake... so Sam is not going to let Federico go... with his good luck.
A few years later, we meet Federico searching fortunate people that can let him get back to Sam and have revenge... because Federico now has the "power" of give bad luck to the people who touch him... or that he touches. After a failed - another failed we suppose - attempt to find the right person with the right luck, he manages to meet Tomas, a thief that is the sole survivor of a plane crash and is in an hospital, under arrest. He frees Tomas, and offers him to play some games, in which anything but money is can be bet.
Then we know Sara (Monica Lopez), a female cop which wants to catch Tomas again, and has herself her own personal history with luck (good? bad? you can never tell: this is one of the most moving characters in the film)... and the hunt begins.
I won't go too far in details of what happens next, with the sole exception of that another important character is introduced, a bullfighter (Antonio Dechent) who retired without ever being harmed... and also likes to play the games Federico and Tomas NEED to play.
The ending of course will take place at the casino, with the five main characters being involved... it is no spoiler, since from the first minutes of the film it is clear that the casino is for Federico what Itaca was for Ulysses. The difference is that instead of Penelope's love, he's looking for revenge.
The acting: range from very good (Lopez, Dechent) to great (Sydow, Sbaraglia and Poncela). I foresee a best actor nod at the Goyas (Spanish Oscars) for Eusebio Poncela.
The flaws of the film... a few. The most important for me was that in a couple of times the director remarked too much some aspects (I think too much explanation is bad). And also it is maybe a little slow for the average thriller viewer, but this is more like "Unbreakable"... Yeah, it has many shares with "Unbreakable", but it is really different. To compare both films is just as dumb as to do so with "The Sixth Sense" with "The Others". Needless to say that "Unbreakable" and "Intacto" doesn't share endings at all... don't expect a twist ending in this one (and that is the first of the strenghts of the film is that one: FINALLY A THRILLER WITHOUT TWIST ENDING!).
The strenghts: Fresnadillo's direction is strong. When I saw the film, I somehow KNEW this one is going to go to America and success. Believe me. Another Fincher? I don't think so, but he's good enough. The landscapes (the movie was shot at the Canary Islands) and the game scenes are great!
How I rate this film? 8 points. 4 stars out of five. Could have been a masterpiece, but it delivers the goods. And it is fairly better than most of the thrillers I've seen in a long time.