The Card Player

Let me say from the outset that I am a great admirer of Dario Argento's work. Thus, I approached The Card player with some anticipation - despite having read several negative reviews. To be sure, this film is different from the bulk of Argento's oeuvre. The gore quotient is very low - nearly non-existent, in fact. Also, the odd - but always fascinating - Argento camera angles are in short supply here. The question is, does this make The Card Player a bad movie? Not in this writer's opinion. The use of natural light photography provides a certain sense of realism unique to Argento movies. Instead of brilliant (often garish) colors' the world that is on display here is often murky with many dark spots which make it difficult, at times, to discern exactly what is happening. This is supposed to be a mystery and, for my money, the approach works quite well. I offer the scene with the killer in Anna's apartment or, better yet, the nightmarish chase sequence with Remo as ample evidence thereof. The central plot of the film, concerning a serial killer taunting the police to play video poker for the lives of prospective victims, is riveting and suspenseful. The WebCam images of the bound and gagged victims during the poker sessions are quite disturbing. However, the actual poker sequences themselves leave a bit to be desired. In an attempt to crank up the suspense, the presentation of Remo as something of an "expert" player is almost laughable. Having played my share of video poker over the years, I feel qualified to say that Remo does nothing during these sessions that any poker player would not do. Another weakness of the film stems from the telegraphing of the identity of the killer very early on. There are some nice touches such as the seeds found on the victim's bodies and Claudio Simonetti's techno score. The attitudes and behavior of the police are pretty believable. The death scenes are well executed (pardon the pun) and unsettling yet, as I noted earlier, remarkably devoid of gratuitous gore and blood. The restraint shown by Dario in this regard hearkens back to some of the past masters of the thriller - especially Jacques Tourneur who very ably demonstrated the great sense of dread and horror which could be generated by suggestion and little or no "in your face" shock effects. The acting, despite some pretty poor dubbing with the secondary leads and minor characters, is pretty good in comparison with most of Argento's other films. Stefania Rocca succeeds on all levels as the most engaging protagonist since Daria Nicolodi in Profundo Rosso. Also worthy of kudos are Liam Cunningham and Silvio Muccino. So the question remains, is The Card Player worthy of Dario Argento? Absolutely, this represents a new direction for this talented director. Although not his best work, I rate it 4 Stars (out of 5).

Is this director *really* the same Dario Argento who made creepy, stylish movies like Profondo Rosso and Suspiria? After watching Il Cartaio, it's difficult to believe it. A serial killer kidnaps young women and challenges the police to video poker games on the internet; if he wins, he kills the victim. Cops Anna (Silvia Rocca) and John (Liam Cunningham) try to stop the murderer with the help of young poker player Remo (Silvio Muccino). Il Cartaio is cheap, dull, badly acted. Silvia Rocca is an attractive woman and usually also a decent actress, but her performance here is awful. In some scenes she is stiff, in others she overacts, then she occasionally seems to forget her character and acts like a chirpy schoolteacher. Cunningham is a solid actor and passes through this silliness more or less unscathed. Muccino is typically awful, mumbling every line with the delivery of a chimp munching peanuts. However, when he is on-screen Il Cartaio is suddenly a hundred times funnier and, since the movie works better as a comedy, this is a good thing. Surprisingly, visuals are weak, tension lacking: again, if you watch Profondo Rosso - which oozed an oppressive sense of menace - and then this, it seems impossible it's the work of the same director, even years later. It's as if Brian De Palma made I Still Know What You Did Last Summer. 4/10

THE CARD PLAYER (Il Cartaio) Aspect ratio: 1.85:1 Sound format: Dolby Digital Detectives in Rome search for a serial killer who forces officers to play online poker games to determine the fate of his/her victims. A step backwards for Dario Argento following the artistic and commercial success of SLEEPLESS (2000), THE CARD PLAYER represents a deliberate return to the harsh modernism of THE STENDHAL SYNDROME (1995), wherein the director's familiar obsessions are structured around the ultra-contemporary phenomenon of the Internet. Stefania Rocca and Liam Cunningham are the detectives charged with finding the killer, who mocks them with his/her technological savvy until they hire a street punk (Silvio Muccino) whose own technical skills afford them some degree of leeway, however briefly. There's very little on screen violence, though Argento indulges some unpleasant forensic detail as Cunningham examines various corpses (stunningly realized by effects artist Sergio Stivaletti) for clues to the killer's identity, and the set-pieces are largely routine, except for a startling sequence (recalling a similar scene in OPERA) in which Rocca is stalked through her darkened apartment by the lurking maniac, and Cunningham's stroll through a beautiful garden which may - or may not - belong to the killer, photographed with dream-like precision by cinematographer Benoît Debie. Most of the actors speak English throughout, but some of the performances are compromised by post-synch dubbing: Rocca comes off as a little stiff, and crucial supporting players like Claudio Santamaria (as the fellow detective who harbors romantic feelings for Rocca) and Antonio Cantafora (the police chief whose daughter - played by Fiore Argento - becomes a potential victim) are poorly served by the English dubbing. Only Cunningham emerges with any degree of authority, largely because he uses his own voice throughout. Sadly, despite an eventful screenplay - co-written by Argento and exploitation veteran Franco Ferrini - the movie doesn't really amount to very much, with indifferent plot developments and half-hearted set-pieces. In fact, the entire production is undermined by its central conceit, which involves static confrontations between killer and police via the Internet, and the climactic showdown between Rocca and the killer is further compromised by having Rocca's fate decided on the outcome of yet *another* online poker game! Perversely, the film is much more satisfying than "Stendhal" (the Argento movie it most resembles), but the director has fallen victim to his own success: The technical innovations he pioneered throughout the 1970's and 80's have now been incorporated into mainstream features, pitting him in direct competition with filmmakers whose own work is inspired by Argento's cinematic legacy. SLEEPLESS proved he could rise above such challenges, but THE CARD PLAYER is a step in the wrong direction. (English version)

For anyone, like me for instance, who thought that Dario Argento's previous movie, "Sleepless", went overboard with violence, it's nice to see a more restrained Argento where the impact comes not so much from gore as from the suggestion of gore (though there are a couple of scenes, like the close inspection of dead bodies, that are not for the squeamish, even if you know they're just mannequins!). In fact, apart from not having a great actor like Max Von Sydow in its cast, I found "The Card Player" superior to "Sleepless" in nearly all respects. Argento still knows how to create suspense and play with the audience; Stefania Rocca is a very capable lead, a REAL WOMAN, instead of some supermodel posing as a cop; and Liam Cunningham bears a striking resemblance to Jean Reno. I would have given this film an even higher rating, if it weren't for two things: 1) The most obvious (after a point) suspect turns out to be the killer; what happened to the good old red herrings? 2) The climax walks a fine line between the suspenseful and the ludicrous, and probably falls to the side of the latter. (***)

This movie deserves a bit more credit - it is not the best Argento film but it is certainly better than Phantom of the Opera. I think the main complaint that an Argento fan could have about this film is it is very un-Argento - it feels a bit more like a gory Ruth Rendell. However the plot is quite tight, the poker playing serial killer is a new concept that I quite appreciated, the main actress I thought was excellent, she reminded me a lot of Franka Potente. Definitely give this one a watch, its not the usual Argento style but it is still a good thriller. Do not watch this one if you are not a fan of Agatha Christie/Ruth Rendell/Inspector Morse and are expecting Argento's usual slightly bizarre edge - this is a pretty ordinary "detective trying to catch serial killer" flick.

In Rome, after the abduction of a British tourist, the police inspector Anna Mari (Stefania Rocca) is contacted by the criminal, who self-entitles The Card Player, challenging the police department to dispute a video poker with him where the prize would be the life of the victim. The Chief of Police refuses to participate and the victim is tortured and killed in front of an internet web cam. The British detective John Brennan (Liam Cunningham) is assigned to investigate the case and when another woman is kidnapped, they invite the addicted player Remo (Silvio Muccino) to play for the police. Anna and John lead the investigation trying to disclose who might be the serial-killer. In a condition of fan of Dario Argento, I am completely disappointed with "The Card Player". The screenplay is silly, full of clichés and plot holes, there are some terrible support actors and I do not understand why the DVD is dubbed in terrible English, without the option of the original language. The biggest holes are: (1) the motives for the serial-killer to torture, kill, play card and provoke the police are never explained, and the only justification that the murderer gives is that he loves Anna. (2) How could be a tape of the game, if the other player selects the card to hold and to discard? How could the maniac anticipate the movements and have the timing of the opponent? Sorry, but it is impossible and not feasible. The gorgeous Stefania Rocca and Liam Cunningham have good performance, but unfortunately Dario Argento was careless and lazy with his story and script. My vote is six. Title (Brazil): "Jogador Misterioso" ("Mysterious Player")

Il Cartaio is certainly different than anything Argento has ever done. Not quite a giallo, this felt more like a police-procedural movie. Instead of focusing on a character who is drawn into the investigation of a killer, Il Cartaio's main protagonists are policemen and women. This gave the film a quite different feeling for an Argento that quite pleased me. The main character, Anna Mari along with Irish policeman John Brennan and young gambler Remo must figure out the identity of the mysterious Card Player, a madman that forces the police to play Internet video-poker with him. If the police loses he kills a young woman in front of them via webcam by slitting her throat with an X-Acto. While Argento's movies are all quite violent, the murders in Il Cartaio are more suggested than seen. Hearing the horrible sound of the flesh being cut open and the struggling of the victims are more than enough to make the kills visually stunning. On a directing level, Argento's classic style is quite present. Lots of lovely shots in there. The beautiful Roman scenery is quite beautiful and Argento use the landscape to great effect. The lighting which was made with natural lights only gives the film an unique look that please the eye. The acting is also awesome especially by the killer. The maniac is quite a hoot to watch once his identity is revealed. Also the video-poker aspect is really well handled and highly realistic. The game looks quite fun to play...except the torture and murder of young women of course! The only downside is the fact that the film is too fast paced near the end. The first half of the film concentrate on the Internet murders but the latter half where they finally finds clues just goes to fast. Main characters dies and their deaths are then quickly forgotten and such...too bad. As a whole I'd give Il Cartaio a solid ****/*****. A really good and entertaining film.

After "Non ho sonno" I hoped that Argento career could be again at a positive rising point, but after seeing this mess I'm sure that I was really wrong: bad acting, derivative and insane plot, terrible dubbing (yes, this Italian movie was shot in English and dubbed in Italian with terrible results), not a single moment of tension from the genius of giallo during the Seventies; like Stendhal's Syndrome, we have another time a policewoman at the helm of the story (the beautiful and normally good actress Stefania Rocca, here in one of her worst performances of her career) and the result is a confused story, with a not single spark of brilliance in devolpment of the character or of the motivations of the maniac. Do not watch this movie: preserve your remembrances of a director that once was really the best, but now should be forced to retire

What can I say about this film? It certainly is not a typical Argento film (and I mean that in a very broad sense - there are some things you expect from an Argento film, like gore, tension and a certain visual style), but is it really bad? Well, it's not a terrible movie but from the man that gave us Suspiria, Deep Red and Tenebrae I expected much more. First of all it's not giallo but more of a run of the mill detective story. Now, this wouldn't be bad if it was a good detective story, but it's not. The identity of the killer was predictable and some parts of the story did not make any sense. On top of that, the acting was not very good and the music was at best tolerable. And the final scene was just bad and did not make much sense. The only good things about the movie were some great shots of Rome, and a couple of good, powerful scenes (like the first 2 murders) that reminded me a little of Argento's better films. It's not a very bad movie, it's just a mediocre one. But since it's an Argento movie I expected much more. I give it 5 out of 10.

I have the good fortune to be working in Italy now and, as Dario Argento is my favorite filmmaker, I saw 'Il Cartaio' as soon as it came out here. Like 'Nonhosonno' it's a tense, unnerving urban thriller with a number of flaws but enough sublime moments to make it stand out above pretty much everything else playing at the moment. Gorehounds will be disappointed though, as 'Cartaio' eschews the over-the-top bloodshed of almost every previous Argento film. But most giallo buffs should find plenty of nerve-wracking thrills and intriguing plot twists to hold their attention.There are also sympathetic characters and great location-shooting in Rome. I enjoyed Simonetti's electronic score, although I felt it was slightly overused in the second half of the film. It sets the scene nicely during the opening credits and is used to great effect in the 3rd murder sequence, a truly tense scene which really had my pulse-rate running! On the subject of the murder sequences, they rely on suggestion rather than visceral impact, but are mostly effective for the electrifying and perverse tension they exude. Of the numerous killings, two of the poker-game sequences (the second and the fourth) went on for too long and the victims' shrill screams started to get annoying.The other murders, though, were wonderfully timed and quite shocking, especially since the characters are surprisingly sympathetic and better-developed than in many other Argento films. Argento has never used such a minimalist approach before, and in my opinion it works, because when those creepy camera movements, stylistic flourishes, and visual enigmas do actually occur, they have all the more impact. I'm happy to see that Argento is continuing to mature and metamorphose as a film maker. But I also admit a desire that he'll return to the all-out gory shocks and high-baroque style of his earlier masterpieces. I give 'Il Cartaio' an 8/10, just below 'Nonhosonno'.