Hey folks, Harry here... While Quint has been sleeping in Bus Shelters in Los Angeles recently, he came across Lucky McKee (director of the amazingly super-spectacular MAY) and he had also apparently seen Argento's THE CARD PLAYER and was raving about to our scurvy seaman! So - another damn fun flick from Argento... Let's hope so! Here ya go...
Hey Harry,
I just got back from the American Film Market screening of Dario Argento's new film THE CARD PLAYER, and I'm pleased to report its a wonderfully suspenseful police-vs-psycho thriller that delivers lots of fun and solid tension.
This is easily my favorite Argento film in a long time. Much better than Sleepless and Stendahl Syndrome.
First of all, The Card Player is a classy, great looking movie. The cinematography is sharp and vibrant in a way that many of Argento's films haven't been lately. This is an icy, gleaming movie, lots of shine and reflection, lots of cold, clear lighting.
The camera moves fluidly, gracefully, and the shot compositions are always interesting. One of the major problems I had with Sleepless was how ugly it looked. The images were muddy and poorly lit. The Card Player is Argento's best looking film in many years. I was impressed right from the opening credits.
The three lead performances are great.
Stefania Rocca is terrific as detective Anna Mari (similar name to Asia's detective character in Stendahl, no?). Rocca projects strength, intelligence, cunning, fear, and vulnerability in her role. She's vibrant on screen. Tough and smart, she reminds me of Franka Potente.
Liam Cunningham is also very good as detective John Brenna. A great villain in DOG SOLDIERS, he's just as good here in a heroic role.
Silvio Muccino is charming as a kid with an unusual amount of luck at poker. He steals all of his scenes.
The acting isn't perfect, however. Some of the supporting actors aren't very good, and some of the dubbing sounds unintentionally comic at times. The "hard-boiled" cop dialogue sounds a bit corny too. But, overall, this is still a major step up in quality compared to recent Argento.
The plot is a clever game of cat & mouse between the police and a killer known as The Card Player. The killer forces the cops to play poker online with him. If the cops lose, the killer murders his kidnapped victim (seen screaming on a live webcam). If the cops win, the victim goes free.
This is a simple, straightforward plot, and it WORKS. Its not one of those insanely complicated Argento stories that ultimately make no sense. This is cops vs madman, pure and simple. Fans of Michael Slade and John Sanford will appreciate the film's attention to realistic police procedural.
On the other hand, the killer's motive is fairly boring. There's a surprising lack of twisted psychology to the villain. Argento usually goes over-the-top in this area, granting his maniacs some wonderfully weird fetishes and twists. This time, he doesn't color the villain enough.
Flaws aside, Argento has staged some truly suspenseful set-pieces here. Each of the deadly poker games is handled beautifully, and the tension builds with each hand. There's a great scene in which one of the victims attempts to escape during the game, while the cops watch helplessly on video. The cross-cutting during this scene is just perfect.
Another stand-out suspense scene finds Rocca menaced in her own apartment. Argento uses reflections and darkness beautifully in this sequence, and the result is genuinely scary.
In classic Argento fashion: characters who we don't expect to die meet gruesome ends, red-herrings abound, corpses hold secret clues, and if only the police could identify that little missing piece of the puzzle the secret identity of the killer would be revealed.
The climax, without giving anything away, is at once silly and exciting. Its the kind of insane scenario that only Argento might dream up. When I realized where it was headed, I decided to just go along with it and enjoy the ride. I'd suggest that other fans do the same. It may not make a whole lot of narrative-logistical sense, but its a whole lot of fun.
There isn't much gore in the film, but Sergio Stivaletti delivers some of the most realistic fake corpses I've seen in quite awhile. The scene in the morgue should have squeamish members of the audience hiding their eyes.
Interesting musical score by Claudio Simonetti. The music changes from classic suspense riffs, to prog-rock pounding, to tension-building techno, and back again. Just like the camera work, the music is alive and vibrant in a way we haven't experienced much of from Argento in recent years.
Again, this is one of Argento's best thrillers in a long time. Not really a HORROR movie, but a suspenseful police-proceedral that delivers some solid scares. Unfortunately, I think its the kind of film that will play much better on a big screen than on video. Distribution being what it is today, I'm not sure if many fans will get a chance to see it theatrically. I'm hoping, though.
That's my review, hope you dig it.
JessFranco!
