"The Card Counter" is a film by one of the great filmmakers of American social conscience. Paul Schrader has made a career of peering into the dark side of American culture. This film is one of his finest.
As a quiet character study, Schrader's razor-sharp camera lens focuses on the mild-mannered William Tell (a.k.a., William Tillich) interpreted brilliantly by actor Oscar Isaac. William spent eight-and-a-half years in the Leavenworth military penitentiary. It is eventually revealed that he was one of the patsies who was held up as an example for the commission of war atrocities at Abu Ghraib.
Through the relationship of William and his young friend, Cirk Baufort, it is clear that the low-level military staff were carrying out orders from superiors and decision-makers who were untouchable. Cirk identifies the toxicity not so much as the "bad apples," but rather the "bad barrel." A brief documentary film clip offers a glimpse of Donald Rumsfeld, plus voiceover narration of the strategy to "Gitmoize" black sites globally.
Cirk fantasizes about taking revenge on John Gordo (a.k.a., John Rogers), whom he blames for the death of his father, who worked alongside William at Abu Ghraib. During his time at Leavenworth, William studied the "Meditations" of the Stoic philosopher Marcus Aurelius, as well as perfecting his card counting. The phrase tattooed on William's back ("I trust my life to Providence") is the creed of the Stoics.
Some of the best scenes in the film are the poker matches in various casinos. William wants to win enough money to enable Cirk to pay off his student loans and bail out his mother, who is also in debt. He is assisted by one of the most dynamic characters in the film, La Linda, who serves as William's manager.
As good as William is able to "read" other poker players, his ability to understanding his young protégé is a dismal failure. Cirk takes the money and, instead of visiting his mother, pays a trip to the home of John Gordo, then botches his revenge plan and is killed. A self-destructive William then forgets the dispassionate stoicism that he has adopted and seeks revenge on Gordo himself.
The film has a strong allegorical subtext in which the story of William Tell is a metaphor for the horrors of Abu Ghraib. That experience serves as a coda to the failure of the American Century, a ghost still haunting a nation that bankrupted its financial hegemony and its democratic ideals in exchange for a superficial sense of revenge.
As a quiet character study, Schrader's razor-sharp camera lens focuses on the mild-mannered William Tell (a.k.a., William Tillich) interpreted brilliantly by actor Oscar Isaac. William spent eight-and-a-half years in the Leavenworth military penitentiary. It is eventually revealed that he was one of the patsies who was held up as an example for the commission of war atrocities at Abu Ghraib.
Through the relationship of William and his young friend, Cirk Baufort, it is clear that the low-level military staff were carrying out orders from superiors and decision-makers who were untouchable. Cirk identifies the toxicity not so much as the "bad apples," but rather the "bad barrel." A brief documentary film clip offers a glimpse of Donald Rumsfeld, plus voiceover narration of the strategy to "Gitmoize" black sites globally.
Cirk fantasizes about taking revenge on John Gordo (a.k.a., John Rogers), whom he blames for the death of his father, who worked alongside William at Abu Ghraib. During his time at Leavenworth, William studied the "Meditations" of the Stoic philosopher Marcus Aurelius, as well as perfecting his card counting. The phrase tattooed on William's back ("I trust my life to Providence") is the creed of the Stoics.
Some of the best scenes in the film are the poker matches in various casinos. William wants to win enough money to enable Cirk to pay off his student loans and bail out his mother, who is also in debt. He is assisted by one of the most dynamic characters in the film, La Linda, who serves as William's manager.
As good as William is able to "read" other poker players, his ability to understanding his young protégé is a dismal failure. Cirk takes the money and, instead of visiting his mother, pays a trip to the home of John Gordo, then botches his revenge plan and is killed. A self-destructive William then forgets the dispassionate stoicism that he has adopted and seeks revenge on Gordo himself.
The film has a strong allegorical subtext in which the story of William Tell is a metaphor for the horrors of Abu Ghraib. That experience serves as a coda to the failure of the American Century, a ghost still haunting a nation that bankrupted its financial hegemony and its democratic ideals in exchange for a superficial sense of revenge.