‘The Card Counter’ is a crime series based on guilt and harassment and highlights the sharp eye of the director with compelling myths that go hand in hand with the human conscience.
The movie focuses on William Tell as Oscar Isaac, a former military detective who was traumatized by his past and a gambling addict. He gets a chance to be rescued by looking for a young man to take revenge. If you are interested in learning more about the inspiration behind ‘The Card Counter.
Is ‘The Card Counter’ Movie a Real Story?
No, ‘The Card Counter’ is not based on a real story. The movie is based on the original idea from Paul Schrader, who also wrote the screenplay. Schrader was fascinated by people who frequent casinos and gambling every day. He got a job like a zombie and wished to explore why anyone would choose to live such a life. This led him to create a complex backstory of the main character influenced by the elements of the real world.
The most prominent of these real-world influences is the interaction of the main character with Abu Ghraib. The city is located in the Baghdad Governorate of Iraq and is known as the Abu Ghraib prison. It opened in the 1950s and was run as a high-security prison.
Abu Ghraib Prison is notorious for the cruel treatment of its inmates who were forced to live in extreme conditions and were tortured. In the 1980s, the prison was used by Saddam Hussein and then used by US political prisoners until its completion in 2014.
In this The Card Counter movie, William is trained in ways to torture Major John Gordo as Willem Dafoe in Abu Ghraib Prison. It also has some really disturbing sequences that show prison abuse. In an interview with GQ, Schrader explained the reason for his decision to file harassment scenes.
“It’s a nightmare, so this is a memory disorder. And I needed something in the story to raise the stakes for everything because the viewer started to find out how effective this is. I had no desire to compete with films made by Abu Ghraib. But I needed to show the viewer this memory. ”These scenes add a layer of humanity to William’s character and help us connect with his feelings of guilt and remorse.
While the actor was not inspired by any real statistics, Schrader revealed that he learned about the life of Charles Graner while researching the film. Graner, a former member of the US Army, was convicted of torturing prisoners while being sent to Abu Ghraib Prison.
“So I did not quote from him, individually, but the fact that there was such a person, gives you the kind of freedom to think, unlike someone who says, it would not have happened,” Schrader said in a similar interview.
Finally, ‘The Card Counter’ is a fictional story based on a piece of human history. Extensive character research that uses gambling as a metaphor for a man who has done unforgivable things. His journey to redemption makes the narrative more emotional, while the past shows the darker side of our society.
Related – Is ‘Malignant’ Movie Based on a Real Story?
