Alber Ponte, Andrea San Vicente, Antonio Dechent

Set on a Spanish resort island, Intacto tells the story of a World War II concentration camp survivor, Samuel (Max von Sydow), who lives in the basement of a casino and has the supernatural ability to...( read more  read more... ) acquire good luck -- which he can give, take, sell or gamble for other people. As the story begins, he steals luck from an earthquake survivor, Federico, who then vows revenge on Samuel. A series of strange mind games of luck and intrigue follow.

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83% liked it

6,899 ratings

Critics

72% liked it

72 critics

R, 1 hr. 48 min.

Directed by: Juan Carlos Fresnadillo

Release Date: November 12, 2002

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DVD Release Date: June 24, 2003

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Flixster Reviews (488)


  • September 18, 2009
    The interesting premise to this Spanish thriller is that some people are luckier than others, and those with the gift of luck play in a series of secret tournaments where they face off against each other, sometimes for fatal stakes. Max von Sydow, playing a Holocaust survivor, i...( read more)s the luckiest man alive---but can a man who miraculously survived an airplane crash unseat him? The idea of the underground luck circuit, and the strange, ritualistic games they play to determine who among them is the luckiest, is the most interesting thing about it; the rest of the movie is moody, humorless, and distant, and doesn't generate as much suspense as you might hope.
  • November 10, 2008
    Federico: Tomás Sanz, you're a lucky man.
    Tomás: Sure...
    Federico: Believe me. The chances of a plane crash are one in a million. The chances of a crash with you as the sole survivor... out of how many? 237 passengers? Are 237 million to one."

    ...( read more)//s172.photobucket.com/albums/w25/EarthlyAlien/?action=view¤t=intacto.jpg" target="_blank">Photobucket

    Dripping with style and a seedy noir sensibility, Juan Carlos Fresnadillo's (of 28 Weeks Later) feature-length debut Intacto is an extraordinarily good-looking film, a sleek and arty Spanish metaphysical thriller that clearly has a lot going beneath its surface, but it's a lot more concerned with entertaining the hell out of us. The film (like The Cooler) shows how a person's luck can be given or taken freely, as easily as a handshake. In fact, according to the Intacto world, certain gamblers who play high-stakes games actually absorb luck from those around them, almost like black holes sucking in light. The brilliance of the film lies in the way it carefully lets information loose a little at a time, so that we're drawn into this world and captivated by it - until we finally understand everything only at the very end.

    The film opens with a strange game. A large, angular man, Samuel Berg (Max Von Sydow), sits in a windowless room, his head covered with a black cloth. A challenger enters and is handed a revolver containing five bullets and one empty chamber. He fires at Berg, and - click! Then it's Berg's turn. He takes the gun, fires, and the challenger's corpse is hauled out of the room on a plastic tarp. Games like this take place all the time in the Intacto world, but only members of an elite circle know about them.

    One such player is Federico (Eusebio Poncela), who once worked for a casino, stealing luck from big winners. But Federico's mentor Berg, who survived the Nazi death camps, steals the "gift" away, making him normal. Years later, Federico works for an insurance company and learns of a bank robber, Tomás (Leonardo Sbaraglia), who was the only survivor of a horrendous plane crash. After guessing that Tomás has "the touch" - that he sucked all the luck away from everyone else on the plane - Federico offers him a deal, hoping the two can make some serious money by playing the various games.

    The games range from a simple one in which contestants bet that a flying bug will land on their heads, to the film's centrepiece: a horrifyingly awesome game in which contestants run full speed, blindfolded and with hands bound, through the woods. The last one to avoid smashing into a tree wins. Intacto rounds out its story with a sub-plot involving a police detective, Sara (Mónica López), who is on Tomas' trail. We learn that she also has the touch - she once sucked her family's luck away, killing them all in a car crash.

    Intacto has very interesting ideas that captivates the audience's attention from the very beginning. Even more important is Fresnadillo's decision not to tell whether the "gift" of his protagonist is indeed some sort of supernatural force or simply combination of statistics of self-fulfilling prophecies. This answer is left to the viewers, who also can enjoy the stylish atmosphere of a world which is surreal and banally realistic at the same time. Cinematography by Xavi Giménez (The Machinist) and Lucio Godoy's music help a lot in creating such effect. Fresnadillo also shows great talent in setting up some memorable scenes, showing great deal of - self-confessed - admiration towards the work of David Lynch.

    The questions Intacto raises aren't entirely original. Can luck be given, taken, stolen? Does winning, like surviving, exact a toll of guilt? If someone wins, must another lose? Intacto noodles around big, vague ideas, then stirs them into a baroque swirl of imagery linked in its very Spanish decorative style to such striking Iberian whoppers as Julio Medem's Lovers of the Arctic Circle and Alejandro Amenábar's Open Your Eyes. Any similarity to films like Unbreakable are superficial at best (in fact, I found Intacto to be somewhat superior). Somewhere in this broody ''Twilight Zone''-ish story about magical thinking (and the lure, to filmmakers, of garish casino culture) is a provocative and maybe even shocking thought on the Holocaust as an enterprise. But, thankfully, the odds in Fresnadillo's first feature favour the stylish over the serious. A very cool, polished thriller.
  • June 30, 2006
    The concept behind this film is very interesting and is slightly resemblant to Shyamalan's "Unbreakable", although it chooses a different path to explore the idea of luck. The premise is simple: some people have more luck than others, and those who do, also have the power to take...( read more) it away from the people they come in contact with, so usually good luck for them means bad luck for those who are near them. Luck can be taken away through a simple handshake, and it all becomes a matter of who has more luck, so the "lucky ones" play all sorts of dangerous games to decide which is...ahem...luckier. The person who came up with the idea for the script is obviously a bit paranoid, but also quite clever. I feel that there was room for some more in-depth exploration of the subject, but maybe keeping things "mysterious" was part of the plan. Definitely an interesting idea, with some very good acting, and a direction that leaves me wanting to see more of J.C. Fresnadillo's work. Well worth watching, but be warned, it might freak you out a bit. OK, i'm becoming paranoid...
  • June 28, 2008
    Interesting premise, in which luck is an actual gift that some people possess, who then compete against each other in a series of challenges to determine the luckiest person on earth. At the same time, a wanted criminal is being chased by a cop who possesses this same gift. The...( read more) games of luck are fun to watch, and there is always the looming question of which of the characters is actually the luckiest. Not a lot of substance beyond the basic premise.
  • October 9, 2007
    A truly original film, in all levels. A must see.
  • November 27, 2009
    Segun "Intacto" hay gente con mas suerte que otras. Algunos tienen muy buena suerte, como Tomas quien es el unico sobreviviente de un accidente de avion.
    "Intacto" tiene un intrigante premisa. Aquellos con mas suerte entran en competencias donde se juegan la suerte de otras per...( read more)sonas. Las actuaciones son convincentes y la pelicula resulta ser un thriller muy entretenido e ingenioso.
    Junto a cintas como "Tesis" o "Los Cronocrimenes" es prueba del talento español para producir thrillers de gran calidad. Es de aquellas cintas originales que a Hollywood le encantaria hacer un remake (lo cual espero que no pase). Por lo mientras recomiendo "Intacto" como una propuesta original y envolvente.
  • July 6, 2009
    interesting concept...i think prodigy has a video similar with this movie...voodoo people
  • June 19, 2009
    Great spanish movie.
  • June 8, 2009
    Spanish- Written by Juan Carlos Fresnadillo who also did "28 Weeks Later". Puts you in the middle of a world where luck isn't all luck. Excellent Camera Work!
  • February 28, 2009
    Unengaging, hard to process film.

Critic Reviews


February 21, 2003
Liam Lacey, Globe and Mail

Nothing if not hip, but its questions are more coffee-shop hypothetical than genuinely profound. full review

February 21, 2003
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

I admired Intacto more than I liked it, for its ingenious construction and the way it keeps a certain chilly distance between its story and the dangers of popular entertainment. full review

January 30, 2003
Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer

Its use of the thriller form to examine the labyrinthine ways in which people's lives cross and change, buffeted by events seemingly out of their control, is intriguing, provocative stuff. full review

January 3, 2003
Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle

An intellectual exercise, but with not much intellect and too much exercise. full review

December 13, 2002
A.O. Scott, The New York Times

Thought-provoking and stylish, if also somewhat hermetic. full review

View more Intacto reviews at RottenTomatoes.com

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