Lost in the Shuffle

It's difficult to hold your poker face while watching Lost In The Shuffle. Definitely targeting fans of the films like National Treasure and Now You See Me, this search for historical truths revealed though an item that almost everyone has in their home is extremely entertaining.

At first I was concerned that the card trick designers, as these magicians call themselves, would reveal some of their secrets to the audience. Sure, some may believe they want to know how a trick is done, but once you reveal the mystery, you surrender your sense of wonder as well. As luck would have it, the filmmakers keep all the tricks up the designer's sleeves, concentrating on following the breadcrumb trail that Shawn Farquhar, a professional magician and two-time World Championship of Magic winner and narrator of the film, deposits along the road. A possible royal coverup of a 500-year old MURDER!!!

Farquhar first takes us into his own home and gives us a little of his personal history. He explains a few of the mysteries behind his magic. For example, each deck of cards he, or any other magician uses, is prepped for a different trick. We accompany Farquhar across the globe to follow his unravelling of the saga, meeting other card trick designers along the way, who show us their specialities.

We're treated to a bit of history in the film. An antique, but still working, printing press is displayed, used to print decks of cards when the pasttime became so popular the creating them by hand simply was too time consuming. China is credited with inventing not only the first paper money, but also the first paper playing cards. The filmmakers take us to other cities, illuminating the story of a singular deck that was considered quite risque for their time. When lighting is placed behind each card, depictions of sexual acts are revealed. Imprisoned soldiers utilized playing cards during wartime, inserting cut up maps between the leaves of the cards, which, when removed and re-assembled, provided the soldiers with a escape route. Even Tarot cards, if you're familiar with them, take their origin from playing cards.

As to the intent of the film - here's the mystery that the filmmakers wish to expose. Examine almost any deck of 52 playing cards. You'll see that the King of Hearts has a sword pushed into the rear side of his noggin. What is that?? The original story goes that these picture or 'court' cards all represent royals and this one represents King Charles VIII, way back in 1498 France. He dies under mysterious circumstances. Historians say he bumped his head in a subbasement of his castle after watching a tennis match. Accompanied by his Queen, he falls to the ground, goes into a coma and never leaves the subbasement alive. But is that what really happened to the victim, or was a palace intrigue afoot? Has there been a royal cover-up?

The film takes us on an examination of the history of the region at that time, disecting the wars and even the clothing worn by regents. Is the truth hidden in plain sight within the deck? Imagine the identical details that have been captured and recaptured for 500 years on decks of cards, internationally. The same tale, under all our noses, which hasn't been investigated till now.

Playing cards are multinational, as is magic. You can be any age, sex or race and partake in multiple games of skill or chance with these same 52 identical pieces of paperstock. You will get swept away by a magician's illusions, regardless of whether you speak their language or not. So I invite you to watch Lost in the Shuffle. I believe you'll be captivated in spades by its sleight of hand, even if you fail to agree with Farquhar's deductions.

Lost In The Shuffle will appear on these VOD platforms: ITUNES/APPLE TV, YOUTUBE, MICROSOFT/XBOX and FANDANGO AT HOME.

I'd probably give this a higher review- six or maybe a seven-if not for one thing: ALL the ten stars reviews here are by people who have never written a review on IMDb before. This often means that someone had people log on and write ten star reviews to boost the film's rating and credibility. There are two reviews that don't fit this description, the authors of which gave the film an eight and a nine respectively. These are worth reading. Another person gave it four stars. I do think it deserves better than that, but at least I know this opinion came from someone not associated with the film. [BTW, I'd issue the same warning about films that receive a lot of one star reviews from people who haven't reviewed anything else. This can often be enemy action.] As for my own opinion, I think the film has some very good aspects. It's always fun to watch magicians at work, and some of the history is interesting. But the film's main claim is based on too much supposition to be of any value in academic history circles. Correlation does not imply causation, as the saying goes. The film is well put together and not a total waste of time, but take everything it says with a grain of salt.

10/10: LOST IN THE SHUFFLE is an engaging mystery in which the clues and the cards are costantly moving and the boldness drops your jaw. The real puzzle, hidden in plain sight for five hundred years, is the centerpiece of this documentary in which we investigate a real-life whodunit... and leaves the cards on the table for you to draw your own conclusions!

Get close up, close in, and close to the vest. For those who have never seen Shawn Farquhar before, this is a powerful introduction to both him and some of his most amazing peers in the industry. For those who have, this proves there is no other performer out there quite like him.

Either way, you'll never pick up a deck of cards the same way again.

And what it feels like to be in the company of ones. What differentiates them from engineers and people in scientific trades. The value and the heartfeltness of truths for all factions and for all types of people. The value and place of story telling. And still all the aspects it takes to become a performer in your own right.

With good editing.

The final big time and place cut I was sceptical on, but upon the second viewing - it fits and brings the (not so obvious) story arc to its intended finish.

Whats especially well done is, that it stays truthful to the audience throughout, while it tells them everything to know to understand whats happening before their eyes in an analytic way also -- and yet in its credit sequence it ends with the most easy thing you can do to an audience - mislead them, but in a way - that if you listen to it closely you'll understand, that it is misdirection in a very fundamental way. Yet still truthful. And for certain, no big mystery, because you've been told how it works by one of the magicians in the first third of the movie.

And yet the movie is not about any of these things. Its about the sense of wonder, the heart, the comfort and the story telling, that Shawn Farquhar brings and brought to magic -- and about being entertained by a shockingly probable murder mystery. And at least in my interpretation, how he hands over his understanding of the craft to future generations.

This is an excellent movie! Lots of interesting facts, a mystery and tons of fantastic magic. Be sure and check it out. We have seen it a few times now. Each and every time we watched it we saw something a little different. The most famous card manipulators in the world are in the movie and they each bring something to the "table". We got out a deck of cards just to see if the mystery was in our deck. It is neat to learn something new that we did not realize before. We will never look at the deck the same again. Thank you for making this excellent movie readily available for everyone to enjoy!