VENICE 2021: The Card Counter
VENICEThe controversial and constantly provoked writer and director Paul Schrader returns behind the camera with his much eagerly anticipated follow-up to the critically acclaimed environmental existential crisis First Reformed with the equally as thematic and brilliantly produced The Card Counter.
Granted, while Schrader's latest takes its turn to dish out the existential value of internalised warfare of conscience and soul, it is never too far removed from the Ethan Hawke starring feature in 2017, almost acting as a spiritual successor of sorts. While First Reformed is undeniably objectively greater produced, The Card Counter is an equally exhilarating, compelling and striking watch.
Following the stoic and elusive William Tell, played by Oscar Isaac, The Card Counter, while on the surface puts forward a conventional tale of the outcast loner, soon descends into a morally ambiguous and methodical discussion on existentialism and morality. Detractors will ultimately point out such themes for being excessive, not so much in nature or conviction but in its inclusion. It does, in the moment, feel somewhat left-field and in conviction of Schrader wandering narrative eye. Nevertheless, slowly but surely, such a subplot begins to engross and dictate everything The Card Counter begins to assess, and it's an attribute in Schrader's film that works no doubt in being effective (aesthetically speaking on a literal level here) but thematically crafts significant weight.
Its secondary plot of counting cards and the aurora of celebrity gambling, in which Schrader utterly compels his audience. Slow, precise and intensely operatic, in each spiralling showcase of green tables and piercing eyes, Schrader puts forward an intense and foreboding energy that grips the screen. Compelling due to Alexander Dynan's composition and ruling cinematography that dictates mood, a particular sequence of a light show will easily be the highlight and pulled iconography. Yet, it is also the utterly intoxicating and moody body language presented in Isaac's performance that has the viewer gripped. The actors intense and brooding approach not only intensifies proceedings, but that very enigmatic nature brings about thick layers of unspoken depth. The concoction is a fascinating and brilliant exercise in physicality and visual performance with the actors' range.
Nevertheless, there are a few surprises within The Card Counter. One of Schrader's conventions being ironically that of being unconventional is casting Tiffany Haddish in a relatively straight-laced and dramatic role of La Linda. To put it bluntly, Haddish is one of the standouts. It is not a performance that demands too much in terms of range. Still, there are sequences involving significant emotional depth in which the actress does an exemplary job of producing and crafting an immersive central relationship with involved parties. The director equally does not put the actress out to dry, Schrader incorporates Haddish’s techniques in comedy to craft comedic intent in places of pause and gives the film, and the audience for that matter, moments of relief.
Nevertheless, with all Schrader features, there are missteps and inevitable dips. First and foremost, judging that of Tye Sheridan, it is pretty clear that the projected starlet has not entirely found a solid foundation. The actor repeatedly struggles with providing enthusiasm or charisma for emotional or immersive connection between his characters and audience, and his performance here is no different. More problematic is that Sheridan's role is more or less the connective tissue that not only prolongs The Card Counter but fuses narratives and thematics together, and for that further elevated emotional depth, it is a performance that severely lets slip.
That being said, detractors of Schrader's First Reformed and his filmography, in general, will be hard-pressed to find a connection within this piece of work, but as is The Card Counter stands as not only a solid follow up to a magnum opus but continues Schrader's unofficial trajectory of sin in a blended form of sensual moral brevity - crafting a spellbinding brooding treat for audiences to feast.
