Playing the Long Game: Card Sharps and Pool Sharks
Writer and director Paul Schrader’s newest film, The Card Counter, is showing in-person at FACETS February 4-6, 2022. For a double feature, we suggest another film where gaming is a form of confrontation: Robert Rossen’s, The Hustler (1961).
THE CARD COUNTER
DIRECTED BY PAUL SCRADER
Celebrated director/screenwriter Paul Schrader returns to the cinema with The Card Counter, a film exploring two subjects he fixates on in his films and social media posts alike: masculinity and poker.
Oscar Isaac plays William Tell, former soldier and current card sharp, a meticulous gambler making his living off of small scores traveling between casinos. After being pushed to pursue higher stakes by a mysterious financier (Tiffany Hadish), Tell’s military past starts catching up with him in the form of Tye Sheridan’s Cirk. An angry young man with whom Tell shares a common enemy (Willem Dafoe), Cirk reflects a life before endless casino nights. Roped into his protege’s revenge plot, Tell’s hope at redemption soon spirals into confronting his violent past.
Soham Gadre’s review at Film Inquiry said “Schrader flips what initially seems like a more brooding and cynical version of The Hustler (1961)..on its head” as Schrader holds onto the masculine edge but moves away from the existential nature of Rossi’s film. We know what made Tell into the way he is, even as The Card Counter wonders if he’s a man with a history anyone could move past.
Watch The Card Counter in-person at FACETS Cinema February 4-6, 2022.
THE HUSTLER
DIRECTED BY ROBERT ROSSEN
With Gadre’s comparison in mind, we’re recommending The Hustler for a double feature here at FACETS. Robert Rossen’s classic 1961 portrait of a small-time pool player trying to break into the majors on raw talent alone makes for another trip into the liminal spaces of gambling halls. Paul Newman’s recently minted star reached new heights in the role of “Fast Eddie” Felson, a role he would later reprise in The Color of Money (1986) directed by frequent Schrader collaborator Martin Scorsese.
Both films are based on novels by American writer Walter Tevis, whose work broke into the zeitgeist again in the form of the hit Netflix series The Queen’s Gambit. All three works, like The Card Counter, dwell on multiple meanings of the term “gaming” but The Hustler stands out as a companion piece for how it “does remarkable things with mood and pacing” according to film critic Jonathan Rosenbaum. Fans of Schrader’s past work know these are two of his greatest filmmaking strengths, and the connections with both Tevis and Scorsese made The Hustler an irresistible choice to pair with The Card Counter.
Rent The Hustler on DVD from FACETS today.
Richard Hooper is an Editorial Assistant Intern at FACETS and has been working his way through Shōhei Imamura’s filmography during the winter months. He has an MA in the Humanities from the University of Chicago after writing his thesis on intermediality in animated film. He’s worked with film practically and critically, and a piece of his heart will always belong with 35mm projection.