Intacto Review:

Synopsis

Nominated for six Goya Awards, Intacto was both written and directed by new Spanish talent Juan Carlos Fresnadillo and stars Argentinian actor Leonardo Sbaraglia and Max von Sydow. The tale follows four people whose lives are intertwined by destiny.

What if one day, you woke up to find your luck had run out? What if luck could be traded like picture cards, bought, sold or even stolen? Would you bet your life to become the luckiest person in the world?

A master gambler presides over a mysterious contest that draws together people with supernatural luck with extraordinary consequences.

Critique

Intacto is an intriguing exploration of luck by Director Juan Carlos Fresnadillo - the film is not entirely successful, but its weaving plot and stylish visuals will ensure that viewer interest is easily maintained until the closing credits. The entire story hinges on the concept of luck being an invisible commodity that can be traded between people or even stolen.

Sam (Max von Sydow), an unlikely survivor of the Holocaust many decades ago, has such belief in his luck that he frequently challenges others to test their fortunes against his by playing Russian Roulette. His luck is clearly not in question, since he has attained the understandably rare unofficial status of a 'veteran' player. In the tale, Sam steals the luck of a close acquaintance, Federico (Eusebio Poncela), in order to increase his uncannily plentiful fortune even further.

Furious with being cheated, Federico embarks on a mission to spot and befriend someone else with extraordinary luck - perhaps someone with even more luck than Sam himself. At the same, law enforcer Sara (Mónica López) attempts to investigate this dangerous underworld of chance, while dealing with her own personal problems at the same time. As the film draws to a climactic end, the principal characters enter a seemingly inevitable showdown - whose luck has finally run out?

Intacto will appeal to fans of twisty thrillers that consciously steer clear of Hollywood formulas. The notion of transferrable luck seems to be very fertile for cinematic storytelling and Fresnadillo's tale is indeed shot well and capable of boasting powerful acting. However, the plot seems too disjointed, preventing scenes from flowing with ease and cohesion during their sequential playback. The cold attitude to the characters is another factor which may cause some audience members to switch off - however, this approach was clearly intentional and should not be considered a flaw simply because it won't appeal to he masses.

The final few scenes, which are marvellously contrasted by a serene desert sequence beforehand, manage to create a tremendous tension with undeniable ease, providing viewers with the most gripping act of all. However, the ultimate conclusion will certainly follow in the firm genre tradition of failing to satisfy a large number of viewers - this seems to be almost unavoidable here given the nature of the film.

Overall, Intacto may fail at exploiting its full potential, but its stylish visuals, interesting premise and solid performances make it a worthwhile watch for fans of the mystery thriller genre and modern European cinema.

7 out of 10

The Video

As is usually the case with image quality, there are both postive and negative points to mention about this disc. Colours are accurately reproduced and black levels are solid throughout, while the low grain level never becomes significantly intrusive. The lack of excessive edge enhancement is also a credit to the disc.

However, the source print used to create the transfer was not in pristine condition, resulting in the presence of a few very minor marks and blemishes in many places. Sharpness levels, meanwhile, can occasionally slip below standard momentarily, leaving shots looking somewhat indistinct. Significant instances of unwanted aliasing are also visible on a periodic basis.

Overall, this is an average video transfer that is more than adequate from an objective standpoint, but perhaps not fitting of a film with so few years under its belt.

7 out of 10

Sadly, while some foreign Intacto titles feature Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtracks, UK fans are left with a primary audio stream in the lowly Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo format. Considering the humble nature of the sonics, the aural experience is fairly good, with dialogue coming across clearly. Moments of decent channel separation between the front left/right speakers are also there to be noticed.

Regardless of the merits of this stereo stream, however, one cannot ignore the failure to include a Dolby Digital 5.1 track - the overall impression, therefore, is that the disc performs no more than adequately in the sound stakes.

5 out of 10

The Extras

Sadly, only the film's theatrical trailer is included on this disc by way of extras - the promo runs for 2 minutes in 1.33:1 full-frame with Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo sound. Meanwhile, the menu screens are equally unimpressive, consisting of static pages with no accompanying background sound.

Overall, therefore, this is essentially a barebones disc with no proper supplements to offer fans whatsoever. To add further insult to injury, many other territories have received a decent collection of bonus material items (along with a Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack) on their counterpart DVDs. The Spanish version, for example, is presented across 2 discs and includes a director's commentary, stories, featurettes, promotional material and more.

As a result, it is impossible to recommend this UK title to any Intacto fan looking to secure the best set of extras for the film - looking abroad is a necessity to achieve this. Those who proceed to purchase an Intacto DVD from outside the UK should remember to take into account any language barriers that might cause problems.

1 out of 10

Movie 7
Video 7
Audio 5
Extras 1

OVERALL (not an average) 4

DVD Bulletin

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