THE CARD PLAYER

By BRIAN THOMAS     August 31, 2005

This 2004 Italian thriller represents both a step forward and a return to form for writer/director Dario Argento. In recent years, fans of the Poe of Cinema have been wanting him to return to the kind of giallo thrillers with which he first made his mark beginning with 1970's BIRD WITH THE CRYSTAL PLUMAGE, and with his last couple of features he's been getting ever closer. In THE CARD PLAYER, he again incorporates a Black Gloved Killer in a puzzle of murder and mayhem, but he updates the setting to take advantage of modern technology, while exploring the public's recent fascination with forensic investigation.



Anna Mari (Stefania Rocca, who starred in a DRACULA TV miniseries a couple years ago available on DVD in the USA as DRACULA'S CURSE) is a Rome police detective assigned to a new that employs a lot of computers. While trying to trace a missing person, she receives a mysterious email from someone claiming to have abducted the young woman they're looking for. He challenges the police to a video poker game in a secure online chat room, with his captive's life as the prize. Although the game includes a webcam focused on the victim for proof, Anna's boss refuses to let them play, and the woman's throat is slit while they watch.



While running down clues, Anna gravitates toward a new team member, stereotypical hard-drinking Irish cop John Brennan (Liam Cunningham), and the two eventually become lovers. Meanwhile, the killer strikes again and again. Anna and John find a teenager adept at video poker to play for them, and he eventually wins a game, saving the life of the chief's daughter. But this victory only seems to enrage the killer more, and he strikes again even closer to his pursuers.



CARD PLAYER out-grosses shows like CSI when it comes to disgusting autopsy footage, with the Italian f/x artists delivering some truly gruesome remains, but the comparative lack of blood in the murder scenes may disappoint some fans. This is a more mature Argento at work, and though the film is visually interesting and has a competent score by Claudio Simonetti, the filmmakers aren't out to draw too much attention to themselves with a lot of grandstanding. Argento eschews his Technicolor stylization to shoot in natural light, focusing on his story and characters and drawing you in with building tension.



Past Argento films suffered from awkward dubbing, but he sidesteps that problem somewhat by filming in sync, with only some minor characters dubbed in. This replaces the awkward dubbing with awkward English from some of the Italian cast, and one may wonder why the Rome polizia all speak English, but it's an improvement over unconvincing dubbing. This is especially important to the lead performances. Cunningham is solid as the flawed sidekick, but the spotlight is on an excellent performance from Rocca. She's not one of the doe-eyed teens that Argento so often uses as his heroines - one can't help but think of daughter Asia's too-young detective of STENDHAL SYNDROME - and she makes Anna strong and experienced enough to be believable, but complex enough to be vulnerable.



With this in mind, it comes as little surprise to learn on Alan Jones' commentrak that CARD PLAYER originated as a sequel to STENDHAL, evolving in a different direction when Asia Argento's star ascended in the West. Jones, author of PROFUNDO ARGENTO and the upcoming ROUGH GUIDE TO HORROR MOVIES, clearly knows his stuff, and not only uses inside info gleaned from being on set for several Argento films to pep up his talk, but uses his own natural critical talents to analyze each scene as it comes up. In addition to the commentrak, Anchor Bay's DVD provides a fine, crisp transfer, video and print interviews with the director, an interview with composer (and frequent Argento collaborator) Claudio Simonetti, some behind-the-scenes footage and theatrical trailers for several Argento films available on ABE DVD.



Argento's still not back to the creative level of his SUSPIRIA or DEEP RED, but CARD PLAYER is an expertly made thriller, an entertaining exercise that shows he's not wasting his time either.



Copyright © 2005 Brian Thomas, author of the massive book VideoHound's DRAGON: ASIAN ACTION & CULT FLICKS.

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