Themes: Gambling, Haunted By the Past, Murder Investigations
Main Cast: Leonardo Sbaraglia, Eusebio Poncela, Mònica López, Antonio Dechent, Max von Sydow
Release Year: 2001
Country: ES
Run Time: 108 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Plot
Some people are born with good luck, but others try to attain it however they can -- and at any cost -- in this offbeat psychological thriller from Spain. Samuel Berg (Max Von Sydow) is an elderly man who lives beneath a gambling casino on an island off the Spanish coast. In Berg's world, good fortune is a commodity that can be acquired from others, and while would-be gambler Federico (Eusebio Poncela) has a genuine talent for taking good luck from those who have it, Berg's gift is even stronger, and after a long day of absorbing positive vibrations from winning gamblers, Berg steals the day's "take" from him, leaving Federico to plan his revenge. Federico becomes aware of Tomas (Leonardo Sbaraglia), a man who recently survived a plane crash, and is convinced he has even more luck than Berg can overcome; the two become partners, and Federico enters Tomas in an underground tournament designed to determine who Lady Luck smiles upon most sweetly. After Federico and Tomas win a handsome home from Alejandro (Antonio Dechent), a former bullfighter, the pair seems poised to go up against Berg and claim his luck as their own, but Sara (Monica Lopez), a police investigator, is convinced Federico and Tomas are up to no good and begins exploring their bizarre secret world. Intacto received its American premiere at the 2002 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Review
Intacto is a stylish but empty film that seems too ponderous for such a silly story line. Writer/director Juan Carlos Fresnadillo does an impressive job of expressing his and co-writer Andres Koppel's ideas in visual terms, whether it's an insect landing on a treacle-covered head or people running blindfolded through the woods, but the ideas themselves aren't all that remarkable. Basically, this is a film about people who have exceptional luck (which is presented as both a commodity and a superpower comparable to telepathy or being able to shoot lightning bolts out of your fingers) and would rather apply their powers to weird contests than to buying lottery tickets or betting on sports, for example. Despite some indications of friendship and romantic attachment in the story, the movie is generally cold and has little emotional resonance except for the performance of Max Von Sydow, who lends gravitas and a sense of melancholy to his role as a Holocaust survivor whose luck enabled him to survive. Otherwise this film is mostly just a series of stylish vignettes that don't add up to much. ~ Todd Kristel, All Movie Guide
Intacto is a film thriller first released in Spain during November, 2001, and then internationally on the film festival circuit in 2002. It was directed by Juan Carlos Fresnadillo.
The film depicts an underground trade in luck; where fortune flows from those who have less to those who have more. Rooted in magical realism, the premise purports that luck can be amassed and transferred as any other commodity.
The story follows several participants as they engage in literal games of chance, each one more risky than the last to eliminate the unlucky.
Plot
A concentration camp survivor named Samuel Berg (Max von Sydow), a preternaturally lucky fellow, runs a European casino. One of his workers is Federico (Eusebio Poncela), a man who "steals" other people's luck merely by laying a hand on them. When Samuel Berg has a fall out with Federico and takes away his powers, Federico sets out to find the luckiest man alive (Leonardo Sbaraglia), the lone survivor of a plane crash, in order to use his powers to overpower Samuel Berg in the one game he has never lost: Russian roulette using a revolver, with five of the six chambers loaded. Federico takes his partner through a series of tests in order to confirm his abilities. In the process they approach the tightening circle of underground chance games that will eventually lead them both, and a female cop on their heels, to a final showdown with Samuel Berg.
