[Il cartaio](2004)
Reviewed By-Kit Gavin Directed by Dario Argento Starring Liam Cunningham, Stefania Rocca, Antonio Cantafora and Fiore Argento. Released through: Arrow Films [United Kingdom] (2004) Region 0 PAL
Amongst most cult movie fans the simple uttering of the name Dario Argento was one to be revered. The films of the one time writer for Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, and protégé of Mario Bava [although he was later to deny it], would spell style over substance, elaborate set pieces, bizarre camera angles, much blood lettering and suspense, usually combined with a pounding score. This was certainly the case from the mid 0’s through to the mid 80’s, with numerous Italians recognising his genius and flocking to see his movies in cinemas across the country. Overseas sales were not quite as dramatic owing to bad marketing ploys and re-edits and retitlings. However after Argento’s separation from his girlfriend and mother of his second child, Daria Nicolodi, the tone and mood of the films seemed to change. Granted, Argento had made stylish films before his relationship with Nicolodi (the so called "Animal Trilogy), but after their last film together, OPERA, in 1987, many fans seemed to think and to feel that Argento had somehow lost something, and his films started to deplete more and more in quality, coupled with Argento’s seemingly unhealthy fetish for his young daughter, Asia. Also a couple of his films being shot in the United States [TWO EVIL EYES, TRAUMA] with a mostly American, as opposed to European, cast were met with rebuttal from the fans, and his latest releases such the STENDAHL SYNDROME (much criticised and the frankly pathetic PHANTOM OF THE OPERA lead fans to believe that the maestro had truly lost his touch. However there was some hope raised with his penultimate project, released to English markets as SLEEPLESS and the hope that Argento was returning to his roots of the stylish giallo. Certainly the film onder review here lacks any of the flamboyance and arthouse values which marked Argento during his golden era.
As with most of Argento’s films, THE CARD PLAYER being no exception, the storyline and characterisation of the players is usually on the thin side. There is also a timeless quality to the majority of his films as well, however here the attempt is to be up to date and bringing modern ideas into Argento’s world. The premise behind the storyline is totally 21st century. The story starts of in a police station in Rome, where one of the police inspectors, Anna Mari [Rocca] receives an e-mail challenging her to a bizarre game of on-line poker by an anonymous individual simply called the Card Player. In the email he challenges her to a game of online poker, however as jackpor he has kidnapped a tourist, Christine Girdler, whom he has bound and gagged on a webcam, and should the police win she will go free, every round the police lose the killer will cut something off, and finally, should the police fail, she will die. Foolishly the threats of the Card Player are dismissed and Christine is killed on screen in front of everyone. The next day her body is found. As a result, John Brennan [Cunningham], an Irish cop is sent to Rome by the British Embassy, after he accidentally killed two civilian hostages whilst on duty in a budged up rescue operation. However he is highly proficient at his job and is taken under the wing of the Italian police. Also a relationship of sorts develop between him and Anna. More women are kidnapped and used as the jackpot for the police, and as the police are terrible at playing poker and the victims are piling up, they employ a young card sharp and whiz by the name of Remo, to win the games for them. The killer however gets wise to their tactics and the stakes are upped, and he kidnaps the daughter of the police commissioner [Fiore Argento].
Much has been said about this latest release from the Argento cannon, a lot of disdain and grumblings on the European side of the world, and much mixed reponse on the American side of things. Certainly, THE CARD PLAYER is most unlike any other Argento film which has been made before. One frequent criticism levelled at the film is at the lack of stylish set pieces involving murder and blood letting. When one of my friends, a huge Argento fan, saw the box, all he said was "Oh dear. 15" (referring the 15 certificate on the box, roughlyu translating as PG-13 in the US). With the lack of gore which would appeal to a majority of Argento and giallo/horror fans, THE CARD PLAYER from the outset seems to be playing a doomed hand. Added to this, the film has been slammed for the drop in budget as much as in the directors usual style, the film displaying none of the trade mark camera flourishes or saturated bright colors but employing a darker, grainier more realistic approach.
What fans of these films seem to forget is that a director is supposed to be versatile in his approach although he tends to employ trademark motifs and this is what makes a following come into play. However, should a director chose not to follow his usual style or method, the film is either exalted (such as in the case with Argento collaborator, Luigi Cozzi, in his superb giallo L’ASSASSINO E COSTRETTO AD UCCIDERE ANCORE/THE KILLER MUST KILL AGAIN – a superb forthcoming DVD from Mondo Macabro USA) or criticised and panned as is the case here.However directors can equally make a film which is different in substance and style from their other films and still receive acclaim, the most obvious to me is Mario Bava, with RABID DOGS, a violent drama, shot in real time, which is wholly different from his other beautiful brightly colored, fog shrouded masterpieces. If Argento’s THE CARD PLAYER is approached by his fans in a similar way to Bava fans approaching RABID DOGS, then the film is certainly worthy of some merit – although never quite escalating to the heights of films like DEEP RED, SUSPIRIA and TENEBRAE.
What is lacking in THE CARD PLAYER which made Argento’s films so popular before, outside the splashing of the red stuff, is the intensity of the action on screen as much as the ingredients which have been discussed earlier. The killings of the victims take place off-screen, which given that the art of gruesome special effects has gradually diminished from Italy and been replaced by badly constructed effects or CGI, it perhaps is no great loss. However this was part of what made Italian cinema and Argento great in the fans eyes. There are moments however, the autopsy sequences are somewhat icky and squirm inducing, and there is a moment of some suspence when Anna is being stalked in her apartment by the killer. The film has been shot with a somewhat dull and washed out mood to it, a complete contrast to the bright saturated Technicolor dreamscape of SUSPIRIA. The film, again to draw a parallel with Bava’s masterly RABID DOGS, has a greater sense of cinema verité about it, with naturalistic lighting, and situations, and a more plausible concept and tighter reasoning and storyline behind the killers motives for slaying than his earlier gialli. Also the film has a much more, dare I say it, mainstream feel to it, which may entice new viewers to Argento’s world but at the same time alienate and diminish Argento’s still relatively strong fan base further. The film plays more like a semi-psychological thriller as opposed to one of the director’s previously efforts, such as the outré gialli or horror films he pioneered.
The film is well served by its players and their performances. Stefania Rocca, playing a role originally penned for Asia Argento, possibly a continuation from the policewoman she played in THE STENDAHL SYNDROME. The pale, not unattractive Rocca performs well, and couldn’t be further in performance and look and mood from Asia. Here she dubs her own voice and her command of English, though heavily accented, is discernable. Opposite Rocca is Irish actor Liam Cunningham, who appeared in the low budget British horror REVELATION which struck a love/hate chord with the fans (much like this film), and in a supporting role in the recent MESSIAH III, a highly regarded instalment in well made British television drama/thrillers. In fact, THE CARD PLAYER plays much like another episode of MESSIAH or CSI MIAMI. Both leads are for more likeable and more dimensioned and faceted than Argento’s leading characters in the past, having personality as opposed to being merely ciphers and aspects of personality, although both have been stylishly dressed by top fashion gurus and designers (such as Prada and Fendi), something which real life cops could never afford. Another unusual element in the film is that some of the characters are heavily overdubbed by highly unsuitable voices, and others have been left with their natural real voices, which adds an warped sense to the film. The young card buff, Remo, is dubbed by a weak voice, and Fiore Argento, who speaks with a perfect command of English, has been looped as well. That said, the dubbing which has taken place here is markedly better than that of Argento’s penultimate effort, SLEEPLESS. Whilst looping is not unusual in Italy, it adds an unusual feel to the film.
Supporting players in the film are none too bad, such as Dario Argento’s firstborn daughter as a kidnapped victim of the Card Player (who mercifully isn’t depitated as she was in her father’s PHENOMENA 20 years before), as well as players familiar from 1960’s and 70’s films - Adalberto Maria Merli as the police captain, and Antonio Cantafora, the hero Peter Kleist from BARON BLOOD show up as police captains.
THE CARD PLAYER has had a troubled history from it’s conception in the early part of the century which many fans dismissive outright of the notion of the director making a film about card playing and poker. However, there has been an attempt to link up some earlier ingredients from Italy’s history of the horror film, mixed in with some modern mainstream television drama to make the film win over a new fan base and audience. The camera work and not is not true of the same ilk as the true Argento of his fans, but there are moment, such as that of the black gloved killer and a slight feeling of unease in proceedings. Production values are quite high, though not as rich as usual with Argento’s cycle, but this is mainly owing to the different mood and feel being captured by the director, one would hope. Of note too, in the film is the score by former Goblin member and frequent genre cinema composer Claudio Simonetti who’s score serves the film well. Again much like THE CARD PLAYER is a departure in mood from Argento’s usual film making technique, Simonetti has departed from his usual heavy bass sound tracks and preferred to opt for a more techno-dance orientated soundtrack which actually seems to compliment the modern feel of the film, yet has an underlying presence of Simonetti’s trademark themes. A portion of the actually quite catchy soundtrack are played over the main menu on the DVD.
The film has been nicely put together and presented by Arrow Films, and here Arrow come up trumps with the work they have done on the film. The film is presented in English only, but there seem to be licensing issues behind this rather than Arrow not wanting to release the film in dual language tracks. Likewise, the domestic release in Italy through Medusa was in Italian language only, so this leads credence to the theory that licensing issues were at play here with the international market place. The film can be viewed in 5:1 stereo or in 2.0, and sound is clear and crisp, despite only being available in English (hence the low rating here). Also the film is presented in a nice clean anamorphic print, with better picture quality than other releases such as the widely distributed Czech DVD release which seemed to err on the darker side, or the grossly over priced Japanese release. Rather than opt for cheapo static menus, Arrow have opted for designing some quite catchy interactive menus and included some nice special features as extras. There is the trailer, which should be taken as a given for DVD releases. There is also a promo for the film. Also included is a contemporary documentary about the making of the film, featuring interviews mostly conducted in Italian with Argento, the cast and crew, with optional English subtitles.
In conclusion, the film is unusual and given a chance should appeal to Argento fans as much as to a mainstream audience, although the use of that word "mainstream" might spell the kiss of death on the film for many fans. It won’t win over everybody for it’s lack of style of lack of gruesome special effects and style but is not overlong at just under 100 minutes. For die hard fans of Argento the title is certainly worth picking up and having as part of the collection, equally for fans of dark psychological thrillers and for those unfamiliar with Dario Argento’s work (what are you doing here?!?), however the storyline, and the lack of the usual visual punches and panache usually found in the director’s work, and not present here, may act as a deterrent to potential buyers.
Audio: 3.5 BITCH SLAPS Video: 4.5 BITCH SLAPS Extras: 3 BITCH SLAPS Story: 3 BITCH SLAPS Overall: 3.5 BITCH SLAPS For more info on this DVD visit Arrow Films
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