Official Selection

INTACTO

Spanien 2001
Regie juan carlos fresnadillo
Darsteller leonardo sbaraglia, eusebio poncela, monica lopez, antonio dechent, max von sydow

In völliger Dunkelheit sitzen drei Menschen und spielen um Alles oder Nichts... Männer mit verbundenen Augen und auf den Rücken gefesselten Armen jagen durch einen dicht bewachsenen Wald... Im Keller eines entlegenen Casinos wartet ein alter Herr in einem cremefarbenen Anzug, Überlebender eines Nazi-Vernichtungslagers, weiterhin auf den einen Herausforderer, der ihm im Duell auf Leben und Tod die Gabe des ‘Glücks’ zu entreißen vermag. Wie viele bei dem Versuch schon auf der Strecke blieben, lassen turmhohe Aktenschränke vermuten, in denen die auf Polaroidfotos festgehaltenen Schicksale der ‘Verlierer’ verwahrt werden...

Wie bei Rubiks Zauberwürfel dauert es eine Weile, bis sich die scheinbar unzusammenhängenden Handlungsstränge dieses verstörenden spanischen Mysterythrillers deckungsgleich zusammenfügen. Und doch: Die Augen kann man nie abwenden von Juan Carlos Fresnadillos bestechend abgeklärtem Erstling, der sich Hitchcock gleichermaßen wie Buñuel verpflichtet fühlt und dabei, frisch, originell, abgründig, surreal und eigenartig sexy daher kommt – wie die vergleichbar originellen spanischen Thriller NOBODY KNOWS ANYBODY und OPEN YOUR EYES vor ihm: ebenfalls Erstlingswerke, die geschickt mit den cineastischen Möglichkeiten des Kinos spielen und mit jedem Bild erneut verwirren.

Comparable to a Rubik’s Cube, first time director Juan Carlos Fresnadillo takes a couple of at first seemingly disparate plot strands and fuses them into a relentless and irresistible meditation on fate, death and luck. Just like his colleague Alejandro Amenabar did in his debut THE SIS, Fresnadillo ponders serious questions, while always remaining steadfast in moving the thriller along at breakneck speed.

“Using a strikingly cool visual style, a sexy set of performances, and a vivid imagination, Spanish director Juan Carlos Fresnadillo has fashioned an elegant and mysterious thriller about luck and good fortune. INTACTO posits that there are those among us who are preternaturally lucky. They are the survivors of the plane crash that kills everyone else, the ones who escape being victims of war and terror, the gamblers who win in high-stake games and even life itself. [...] A new generation of Spanish filmmakers has regenerated the mystery and shock value of the thriller, and Fresnadillo demonstrates that he is a director to be reckoned with. INTACTO is intelligent and finely crafted filmmaking. Its subtext of themes, including survivor guilt and the possibilities for redemption, and its richly layered structure are bound both to entertain and stimulate audiences.” Sundance Film Festival

“A self-aware, intriguing and technically accomplished fantasy thriller firmly in the Hollywood tradition.” Variety
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Federico sobrevivió a un terremoto. Tiene el poder de arrebatarle la suerte a los que le rodean: tiene el DON. Trabaja gafando a los jugadores en racha en un Casino edificado en un desierto de lava, propiedad de Sam, un superviviente de la mayor tragedia que ha vivido la humanidad; el holocausto judío. Retando a Sam, Federico es expulsado del paraíso y su don es anulado por Sam. Años más tarde Federico cree haber encontrado en Tomás, único superviviente de un accidente aéreo, el instrumento de su venganza para volver al Casino y retar al Dios del Azar con un muchacho tan poderoso como él, al que enseñará cómo controlar la fortuna. Aquí comenzará un viaje iniciático en el que ambos tendrán que cumplir un circuito de pruebas cada cual más extraña, apostando la suerte de los demás. Todo irá bien hasta que una policía obsesionada con la muerte de su familia en accidente de coche, persigue a Tomás y Federico con la intención de descubrir la realidad de esta red de juegos clandestinos, en los que la muerte y la suerte se confunden. En los que uno solo puede salir INTACTO.
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Devilishly clever and boasting a killer finale, "Intacto" is this year's Memento - only Spanish. Juan Carlos Fresnadillo's debut feature film does take its sweet time getting going, and you'd better come prepared to think your way through it. Any foreign-language film that requires actual thought is likely to die a dog's death at the box office, but "Intacto" deserves to catch on.

The most highly prized commodity in the world of "Intacto" is luck, and the story concerns people who have it and others who want it - badly enough to kill for it. Inside a lavish casino in the middle of what looks like a moonscape, we meet the razor-faced Federico (Eusebio Poncela), a sort of "luck thief" who patrols the gaming floors. One gambler whose winnings are piling up too high for comfort gets unlucky when Federico walks by, lays a hand on his shoulder, and steals his luck away. Federico then "delivers" this stolen luck to the casino's underground vault, to owner and overlord Sam (Max Von Sydow, always a welcome presence). But when Sam lays hands on Federico, he may as well signing his death warrant. Federico is summarily dismissed from Sam's service, left to fend for himself in the outside world, a world in which luck does not come easily.

It's when Federico comes across Tomás (Leonardo Sbaraglia), the sole survivor of a plane crash, that he finds his vehicle of revenge. Federico uses Tomás and his extraordinary luck in an escalating series of high-stakes games, eventually leading him back to the remote casino for one final game with Sam, "the fucking god of chance" - one final test of whose luck can hold out longer.
"Intacto" deals its clues and meanings with almost excruciating patience; the film is always intriguing but also unafraid to outright confuse.

With its calculated sci-fi feel, it's not the most emotionally engaging movie either (Kubrick would have flipped for it). But by the final minutes - and after a magnificent, touching monologue by Von Sydow explaining the origin of his lifelong streak of luck - director Fresnadillo turns the screws like a master. The final confrontation is brilliantly staged and simply could not be more exciting. "Intacto" is as cold as dry ice, as hard as a diamond. It's a genuine mind-bender." Film Threat
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