Intacto
This clockwork toy of a movie, where gamblers absorb the luck of others in order to compete in strange games of chance, is brilliantly photographed and well acted. But I didn’t feel emotionally engaged at all. I kept thinking of “Talk to Her,” another high-concept Spanish movie. But “Talk to Her” is so much better, because it manages to sustain the high concept while still being mostly about the people in the story. The characters in “Intacto” are ciphers, and I think intentionally so, which makes it hard to care about what happens to them. I did like it better the more I thought about it, which is appropriate for a movie that primarily goes on in your own head.
For all its problems, I would so much rather watch a movie like “Intacto” that tries something different, that challenges rather than coddles, than the usual Hollywood junk. Even if they shoot for the moon and don’t quite make it.
I’m glad you enjoyed it, even if it didn’t quite work for you. I had pretty much the same reaction when I saw it: interesting, beautifully shot, and it didn’t matter. Did you see it in the theater, or on disc?
I saw it in the theater. I was surprised when I looked up the movie on IMDB and found that it’s actually from 2001. I have no idea why it’s playing theatrically here now.
I just saw it… hang on, let me check my archives… Dec 19, 2002. I think it had a lot of trouble finding distribution in the US, as a friend in Seattle saw it in Feb 2002.
http://www.videoeta.com/movie.html?via=form&id=54889