The Card Counter (2021)
The Card Counter
Focus Features
Release date: 09/10/2021
#whatonwhatsgood Fan Club Rating: 71%
Directed by
Paul Schrader
Written by
Paul Schrader
Produced by
Braxton Pope, Lauren Mann, David Wulf
Starring
Oscar Isaac as William Tell
Tiffany Haddish as La Linda
Tye Sheridan as Cirk
Willem Dafoe as Major John Gordo
Alexander Babara as Mr. USA
Bobby C. King as Slippery Joe
Cinematography
Alexander Dynan
Edited by
Benjamin Rodriguez Jr.
Music by
Robert Levon Been
Director/Writer Paul Schrader discusses "The Card Counter"
“Over the years I’ve developed my own genre of films, and they typically involve a man alone in a room wearing a mask, and the mask is his occupation. He could be a taxi driver, a drug dealer, a gigolo, a reverend, and I take that character and run him alongside a larger problem, personal or social, like the environmental crisis in First Reformed. In The Card Counter, William Tell is alone in his room with a mask on — that of a professional poker player, who happens to be a former torturer for the U.S. government. He’s a nexus between the World Series of Poker and Abu Ghraib.”
“What if someone had done something that he cannot forgive himself for? He’s been to jail, and while society may have forgiven him, he hasn’t forgiven himself. He did a terrible thing, and now he’s living in a kind of purgatory. How does he work through it? For The Card Counter, I had to come up with a profession for someone who is waiting, and who is living a sort of non-existence. Gambling felt like the perfect milieu.”
Tiffany Haddish discusses "The Card Counter" and her role of gambling agent La Linda
“This world is so full of mystery, and there’s so many different types of people and personalities passing through these casinos. Gamblers are fascinating people if you take the time to sit down at the table and talk to them. They come from all walks of life — and the one thing they have in common is they’re out to win.”
“La Linda’s like a vulture or an owl, watching its prey to see how they move and maneuver. She’s watched Bill play, she knows he can count cards, and she knows that’s going to make her, and her investors, some money — so she moves in for the kill. But then she wants more; his heart.”
Oscar Isaac discusses Director/Writer Paul Schrader and his character William Tell in "The Card Counter"
“Schrader investigates trauma in such an interesting way, and it’s something he’s done consistently throughout his career. The way he’s able to capture thought in isolated characters that don’t have the ability to express themselves in conventional ways — I’m grateful to finally have had the chance to embody one of his indelible characters.”
“William Tell is someone who has chosen to remain in a state of limbo, learning to count cards in prison and choosing low-stakes gambling to get by in life. He’s not in any hurry. Men have such a hard time expressing themselves, and some are so damaged inside they don’t know how to open the gates. In William’s case, he’s done something so bad that you have to ask yourself how this person deserves any kind of empathy at all. But the investigation into his workings is fascinating.”
“This is another in Paul’s ongoing series of man-alone-in-his-room movies and I dove right into the character of William Tell. I came to appreciate how Paul writes into his screenplays the space for thought, subtext and subconscious exploration — things that maybe seem like they make sense, but really don’t in a logical way. You have to do some work when you grapple with his movies. But you come to realize after multiple reads or viewings that the human mind doesn’t always work logically — which is essential to understanding both William Tell and Paul’s work in general.”
Comments
Post a Comment