Tarot (1973)

Director: José María Forqué
Writers: Rafael Azcona (screenplay), Rafael Azcona (story)
Stars: Sue Lyon, Fernando Rey, Gloria Grahame

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.

… "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.

More in My Blog