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| Have you been wondering what ever happened to 'Lucky Star',
a widely trailered, slick looking cinematic thriller in which Benicio del
Toro is blessed with supernaturally good luck? Well, there's good news and
bad news. The bad news is that there is in fact no such film as 'Lucky Star';
those trailers were just a clever hoax, designed to advertise a certain
German brand of car. The good news, however, is that the new film 'Intacto',
being a thriller about luck with a largely Hispanic cast, delivers everything
which 'Lucky Star' seemed to promise.
'Intacto' plays with a premise that certain people have the uncanny ability to absorb the good luck of others. It begins with casino owner and arch luckster Samuel (Max von Sydow) taking this ability away from earthquake survivor Frederico (Eusebio Poncela). Seven years' bad luck later, Frederico grooms aircrash-surviving thief Tomas (Leonardo Sbaraglia) to help him challenge Samuel once again; but with police detective Sara (Monica Lopez) and bullfighter Alejandro (Antonio Dechent), both of whom also have a share in this gift, joining forces to pursue the fugitive Tomas, all become fated to reveal their last hand in a high-stakes standoff at Samuel's casino, where only the luckiest can survive. The cinematic plot-type in which people with special abilities size one another up before converging for a climactic face-off is as old as the western or martial arts genres, and its science-fiction variant has already been seen in films such as 'Scanners', 'Highlander' and 'X-Men'. Indeed 'Intacto' is hardly poker-faced about its influences, making its chief antagonist a concentration camp survivor, as in 'X-Men', and having him played by Max von Sydow in a clear reprise of his death-cheating role in 'The Seventh Seal'. Even the film's title (which means 'Untouched') alludes to the title of another film, 'Unbreakable', whose protagonist also discovers that he has special powers after becoming the sole survivor of a horrific accident. Yet what makes 'Intacto' so refreshing is its intelligent script (by director Juan Carlos Fresnadillo and Andres M. Koppel), which teases from a seemingly simple premise more than enough ramifying complications to keep things interesting, and which suggests what is going on through the action itself rather than through endless commentary. I have no doubt that the Hollywood remake will be full of characters either saying 'Oh my god!' and 'I don't believe it!' at every given opportunity, or else explaining at great length the inner workings of their gift; but Fresnadillo simply takes for granted his underground community of rivals in chance, presenting it nonchalantly as though it is no more unusual than a chess club, knitting circle, or any other subculture. This lack of clumsy exposition allows the script to focus much more on the development of character and drama, and leaves plenty of room for open-ended ambiguity (I'm still not sure what to make of the final scenes). The acting is excellent, with Max von Sydow in particular bringing a dignified sadness to his role as a man who has survived only thanks to others having the very worst luck that can possibly be imagined. In cinema, as in life, there can be no guaranteed wins, but 'Intacto' really is a chance worth taking. Anton Bitel, 04.04.03 |
