Intacto

Juan Carlos Fresnadillo, Spain, 2001, 108 minutes

It must be wonderful to be lucky. To win the lottery, to find a beautiful partner, just to see the sun rise every morning, right? Well, what if luck really does shine on some more than others - and what if some people can steal it? This film is a must for public and gamblers alike. Telling the tale of Tomás, a survivor of a Jumbo Jet crash (making him one of the luckiest 17 people in the world) being “hired” in order to win luxurious prizes, from fast cars to mansions. The games, however, are absurd; the pinnacle of which has to be a dozen such “lucky” people running through a pine forest blindfolded with their hands tied behind their backs. The winner (that is, the one who makes it out the other side without running at full pelt into a chuffing great pine tree) takes all the prizes.

Of course, someone gets nervous at this new breed, and it’s got to be the luckiest man alive. Samuel (played by Max Von Sydow), a World War Two holocaust survivor, has survived infinitely more near death experiences than you or I will ever share, making him one lucky, lucky man.

This film is exciting, gripping, and above all, lets you leave the theatre thinking “to be fair, I’m lucky to be alive”. And who can disagree with that?

Review by Niko Ovenden
Written for EUFS Programme Spring 2004