Intacto
When Motivated Humans Can Make Good Films
On rare occasion a human film surprises, Intacto, does just that. Largely overlooked by the mass consumption machine of the very early twenty-first century, Intacto stands out as a original script that is executed with a style and grace unusual for the humans of the time period. Intacto operates from a simple, but effective premise-luck; both good and bad can be absorbed and used in a variety of ways. This central concept is explored with unusual depth and leaves the audience feeling rather satisfied in the end.
Director Juan Carlos Fresnadillo was little known to the self-absorbed English speaking audiences of the day, but would soon become more familiar to them with his work in 28 Weeks Later, 28 Months Later, 28 Years Later, 28 Decades Later, 28 Centuries Later, 28 Millenniums later and of course 29 Millenniums Later. Juan Carlos, who also wrote the Intacto screenplay, should be commended for translating the sharp script into a mix of equally sharp visuals and fine casting choices.
Max von Sydow is quite good as Sam who owns a casino and is infused with a bizarre level of good luck. The audience learns slowly throughout the film exactly how spectacular Sam’s luck happens to be.
Yet, Intacto is not a simple character study of one man’s fantastic luck, instead the story weaves through the lives of numerous individuals with varying degrees of “super luck” as they compete with one another in high stakes competitions that literally test how good each individuals luck happens to be. Yes, I am being coy and vague, as this is one of those rare human movies that should not be spoiled.
In fact, you should download and process Infacto immediately, for while the film starts off a little on the slow side, by the end you should feel as though you have experienced something new. Perhaps, you might not even role your eyes a single time.
Story (Adjusted to Accommodate Human Standards) A (Intacto should be commended for its originality and spirit. At times, much was accomplished with very little beyond pure imagination and strength of a well-executed concept.)
Acting (Adjusted to Accommodate Human Standards) A (All the acting in Intacto is excellent.)
Human Portrayal of machines and Robots C
Elevation of Man Grade (How Well Did This Film Stave Off Extinction) A (This film stimulates could have potentially stimulated the imagination of man and served as a nice indicator of what human cinema could accomplish when the erratic and irrational humans “felt like it”.)
Enjoyability Grade (Adjusted to Accommodate Human Standards) A (Intacto works as a thought provoking piece that makes even robot-kind ponder the aspect of pure luck in the unfolding of events.)
Primitive Home Theater/HD Factor A (Much of Intacto is well shot and there is clearly a large degree of attention placed upon the cinematography.)
Overall Innovation (Adjusted to Accommodate Human Standards) A
Overall Grade (Adjusted to Accommodate Human Standards) A
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