Another wonderful movie from
SBS. This psychological thriller from Juan Carlos Fresnadillo revolves around luck - how people gain it, how they use it, how they lose it. The
film starts off by introducing us to Federico. He's an earthquake survivor who works at this obsure casino owned by Samuel, another extremely lucky guy. Federico doesn't have to do much in the casino. When someone is having a lucky streak at the tables, Federico touches the person lightly, and takes away his good fortune. Later on he got tired of his work, and bids goodbye to Samuel. Samuel doesn't approve of his plans, so he takes away Federico's gift and throws him out into the streets. Federico vows revenge, so he goes about looking for a lucky guy to partner with. Seven years later, he finds Tomas Franz, a bank robber who is the sole survivor of a plane crash that left all other passengers dead. It seems that being the sole survivor, Tomas acquires the collective luck of all those who perished. Federico proceeds to train and hone Tomas' luck by entering him into some bizarre gambling games where participants put molasses on their hair and a giant praying mantis decides who is the lucky one. Another game involves the participants being blindfolded and running through a dense forest at full speed, and see who is left standing. The winner of this game gets the chance to proceed to Ucanca and challenge the luckiest of them all, Samuel Berg "The Jew". Tomas lost his concentration and smacked into a tree. So the matador Alfredo went on to Ucanca, where he is shot dead by Sam in a game of Russian roulette.
Apparently, Samuel and another guy Daniel were the only survivors in a Nazi concentration camp. Daniel later got killed, and his luck passed on to Sam. For 30 years, Sam's reign as the "God of Chance" was never successfully challenged. With Alfredo dead, it's now Tomas turn. He fired at Sam, and it turned out to be the empty chamber. Sam spins the barrel again and prepares to shoot Tomas. At this point, Sarah the lucky policewoman, who has been investigating the gambling underground, barges into the room. Sam points the revolver at her and shoots. Another blank. Everybody starts shooting at each other. After the smoke has cleared, only Tomas was left standing (sitting, actually). He holds the dying Sarah, and she says, "I don't love you anymore," which is a way to pass on your luck to another person. This was also how Tomas saved his girlfriend from certain death.
For me, the movie seems to say that luck is fleeting and uncertain. Who's to say that what you consider lucky will not be the cause of a misfortune in the future? For example, Tomas lost the woodland race, so it was Alfredo who went to Ucanca. Because of that, Alfredo was the one killed in the Russian roulette, not him. Then again, if Tomas had taken Alfredo's place, who knows maybe the bullet will miraculously become a blank. Or maybe there really was a bullet intended for Tomas, but when lucky Sarah showed up, the bullet became a blank? Hard to say, these things.
Another wonderful movie from SBS. This psychological thriller from Juan Carlos Fresnadillo revolves around luck - how people gain it, how they use it, how they lose it. The film starts off by introducing us to Federico. He's an earthquake survivor who works at this obsure casino owned by Samuel, another extremely lucky guy. Federico doesn't have to do much in the casino. When someone is having a lucky streak at the tables, Federico touches the person lightly, and takes away his good fortune. Later on he got tired of his work, and bids goodbye to Samuel. Samuel doesn't approve of his plans, so he takes away Federico's gift and throws him out into the streets. Federico vows revenge, so he goes about looking for a lucky guy to partner with. Seven years later, he finds Tomas Franz, a bank robber who is the sole survivor of a plane crash that left all other passengers dead. It seems that being the sole survivor, Tomas acquires the collective luck of all those who perished. Federico proceeds to train and hone Tomas' luck by entering him into some bizarre gambling games where participants put molasses on their hair and a giant praying mantis decides who is the lucky one. Another game involves the participants being blindfolded and running through a dense forest at full speed, and see who is left standing. The winner of this game gets the chance to proceed to Ucanca and challenge the luckiest of them all, Samuel Berg "The Jew". Tomas lost his concentration and smacked into a tree. So the matador Alfredo went on to Ucanca, where he is shot dead by Sam in a game of Russian roulette.
Apparently, Samuel and another guy Daniel were the only survivors in a Nazi concentration camp. Daniel later got killed, and his luck passed on to Sam. For 30 years, Sam's reign as the "God of Chance" was never successfully challenged. With Alfredo dead, it's now Tomas turn. He fired at Sam, and it turned out to be the empty chamber. Sam spins the barrel again and prepares to shoot Tomas. At this point, Sarah the lucky policewoman, who has been investigating the gambling underground, barges into the room. Sam points the revolver at her and shoots. Another blank. Everybody starts shooting at each other. After the smoke has cleared, only Tomas was left standing (sitting, actually). He holds the dying Sarah, and she says, "I don't love you anymore," which is a way to pass on your luck to another person. This was also how Tomas saved his girlfriend from certain death.
For me, the movie seems to say that luck is fleeting and uncertain. Who's to say that what you consider lucky will not be the cause of a misfortune in the future? For example, Tomas lost the woodland race, so it was Alfredo who went to Ucanca. Because of that, Alfredo was the one killed in the Russian roulette, not him. Then again, if Tomas had taken Alfredo's place, who knows maybe the bullet will miraculously become a blank. Or maybe there really was a bullet intended for Tomas, but when lucky Sarah showed up, the bullet became a blank? Hard to say, these things.
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