Intacto (2002)

Let's be realistic.

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

I am only giving this movie a 1 for the great cast, though I can't imagine what any of them were thinking. This movie was horrible

Yes, absolutely, there is fun to be had, as well as many, many things to go boom, all amid an atmospheric urban jungle.

luck, love, survive. the fairy tale atmosphere and the flavor of Oriental old story. and, sure, Max van Sydow. more than a film, it is a challenge. to reflect and to discover the real significant things who defines the life. in same measure, it is a game of appearances. the need of them. the science to make difference between shadows and reality. not the last, it is a beautiful film. for cinematography , off course, but for the memories about other similar scenes. in same measure, it is an answer. to the need to define yourself . and to use the dreams as concrete of life.

I really liked this movie. I think a lot of people didn't because they got hung up on the potentially confusing aspects of the concept. It doesn't come out and hit you in the face with the rules for this game that the characters play which is a good change for people who like smart, understated stories and don't need everything spelled out for them in suppositional monologues from secondary characters. This is a great movie for just collecting data about the story until the end. Has great themes of sacrifice and redemption and pretty good cinematography too. Lots of other movies have tried to be serious about quantifying "luck" and where those movies failed, this one succeeds because it doesn't hang itself with specifics. There's no way to guage how "special" you are. Just spin the chamber and hope for the best. You will get a lot more out of this movie if you don't try to "figure it out". Just accept what you see until the movie's over, then appreciate the poetry of it.

The debut feature of the man who would go on to direct 28 Weeks Later, one of the best horror films of the decade. This one is a thriller, of sorts. It has a very weird and original concept. Set in the underground world of gambling, it's about a group of people who see luck as a tangible item, that can be had, bet, transferred, taken away, what have you. The film follows the sole survivor of a plane crash as he is recruited by another man to enter this world. The king of the subculture is Max von Sydow, a holocaust survivor who is supposedly the luckiest man ever to live. Meanwhile, a female detective who also has amazing powers of luck is searching for the plane crash survivor, who was on the plane fleeing after robbing a bank. The concept is interesting, but Fresnadillo and his co-writer, Andrés M. Koppel, have a difficult time establishing it. It never stops seeming silly. It's also confusingly told and badly edited. I never really understood the role the detective played. That whole character could have been dropped, the whole bank robbery thing, too, and the film would have thankfully lost 20 to 25 minutes and been a lot more streamlined. As it is, the movie's a slog. The only decent parts are the bizarre gambling games they play. One has a gigantic, bioluminescent insect released into a dark room. Whosever head it lands on wins. The best sequence in the movie – and even it could have been greatly improved with better editing – has gamblers with their hands tied behind their backs and blindfolds. The object is to run through a forest at full speed. The last person standing, having not brained him/herself on a tree, wins. Someone needs to propose this event as a reality game show. I'm sure at least someone in Japan would produce it!

This Spanish film is a strange one, a hard one to follow story-wise, but visually striking and interesting most of the way. The fact is wasn't always easy to follow will help me want to watch this again to see if I can figure things out better.The story involves people with th ability to steal "luck" from other people and then taking it away from fellow takers. Make sense? I didn't think so. Despite the difficulty following and understanding everything, I still enjoyed this film. The DVD transfer is sharp, too, and has good sound. It's an intriguing film and, perhaps, I should have waited for a second viewing when I understood more things about the story. Suffice to say I thought enough of this film to buy it because I knew I'd be watching this multiple times.