Tarot (1973)

Director:

José María Forqué

Writers:

Rafael Azcona (screenplay)
Rafael Azcona (story)

Genre:

Horror | Thriller

Plot:

A beautiful young woman marries a blind old man for his money. She carries on an affair with her husband's valet, but soon finds herself in the middle of a murder-for-money plot involving the household servants. |

Cast

Sue Lyon	...	Angela
Fernando Rey	...	Arthur
Gloria Grahame	...	Natalie
Christian Hay	...	Marc
Julián Ugarte
Mara Goyanes
Anne Libert
George Rigaud
Barta Barri		(as Barta Barry)

Also Known As:

Angela (France)
Autopsy (USA) (video title)
The Magician (UK)

Country:

Spain | France

Language:

Spanish

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Company:

Comptoir Français du Film Production (CFFP)

It was in the cards!

First I would like to make clear that I'm commenting on the Spanish film "Tarot", released in English under the title "Autopsy". There is an Italian giallo called "Macchie solari" that was also released under the title "Autopsy". This caused a lot of confusion.

"Tarot" (Autopsy) is starred by Sue Lyon, Fernando Rey and Gloria Grahame and directed by Jose Maria Forque.

"Tarot" is one of of those typical European thrillers of the 60s/70s that describe a world in which ambiguity, amorality and corruption prevail. Angela (Sue Lyon) is an American girl who is traveling Europe looking for... (?). She's not your typical tourist going places carrying Traveler's checks or credit cards. Angela meets a rich old man, Arthur (Fernando Rey). He falls for her. It seems that Angela has discovered a gold mine. There are other people living around Arthur - his good-looking valet Marc (Christian Hay), the housekeeper Natalie (Gloria Grahame) and the maid Rosa (Mara Goyanes). Angela, from the very beginning, feels attraction for the handsome valet Marc.... The tarot cards tell that pain, suffering and maybe even worst may cross her path....

"Tarot" may not be a very original film, but it's certainly fun to watch and it doesn't pass judgement on the characters. Sue Lyon (so brilliant in "Lolita"), 11 years later, acts in a role that has a faint resemblance to Lolita. Even the film itself has a slight Nabokovian touch. Some scenes from the film could have been extracted from "Laughter in the dark" by Nabokov. But these are only appearances, because "Tarot" tells a completely different story.

Fernando Rey has also worked in similar roles (in "Viridiana", he is the old uncle who falls for his niece, and in "Cet Obscure Objet du Desir", he falls in love for a beautiful young woman that happens to be two different women or maybe a mirage). And there's also Gloria Grahame (a big star of 50s noirs). Christian Hay is also very effective, as well as the rest of the cast, but I was particularly surprised by Sue Lyon's acting. Her joy, fears, perplexity and tears seem heartfelt.

As I said before, even if "Tarot" is not very original, it 's surely entertaining. The theme of the innocent American woman traveling in "corrupt" Europe, entering what seems a harmless game and suddenly finding herself caught in a spider's web, had been explored before by Umberto Lenzi and others. Don't expect too much and you'll like the film.