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.”

“La Linda’s game is like pimping without the sex; she has a lot of personality and her job is to make money for her investors.  I felt as a comedian — since my job is to tickle people’s souls and convince them to go on a journey with me as I tell them a story — that I could bring the necessary charisma and personality to get audiences aboard for this ride.”

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.”

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