Tarot in Movies

Metafizzypop

shaveling said:
I just watched Edmond on DVD. It's a 2005 drama, adapted by David Mamet from his play, and starring William H. Macy. Early in the movie, Edmond Burke (Macy) goes to a storefront fortune teller for a reading. She lays out a CC with many threatening cards (RWS), and heavy background music, and portentous looks, and then because it's a Mamet script, she says something unexpected, which pretty much sums the theme of the film.

Various cards from the spread turn up through the movie, and apparently their choice was thought out by the writer, or someone he consulted. I can't exactly describe the layout because the way the scene was shot, I wasn't sure which cards were reversed. She did use a significator, the Knight of Wands, which fit Edmond's character well.

I wasn't crazy about the film as a whole, though it was interesting as a collection of individual scenes. But it was the most Tarot I've ever seen in a movie, and the best integration of Tarot into the story I've seen, as well.
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I hope it's OK to dredge up a post from 3 years ago, but I just saw this movie the other night. "Edmond" is a strange flick. I can't figure it out. Or at least, I can't figure out what the main character's motivations are for doing the things he does.

He appears to be a straight-laced business-type person. He gets a tarot reading, and then afterwards sinks down to the lowest, basest levels of humanity -- for no particular reason that I can tell.

But the movie does do a good job of showing us how the reading "comes true," to to speak. It was a Celtic Cross, and some of the cards that showed up were the classically bad ones. But one interesting card was the Hierophant. Believe it or not, it winds up representing a trip to a strip joint. Interesting............

A Rider-Waite was used for the reading, but there is also a brief scene where we see a Marseille-style deck.
 

Moonson

HudsonGray said:
Tarot Totes put a collection together at: http://www.tarottotes.com/item.asp?iid=36
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i just went on that site and found a movie called: "Monster in law", with Jenifer Lopes and Jane Fonda. It's a simple comedy where boy meets girl, fall in love bla bla... and Jane Fonda plays a "dear" neurotic mother in law for Jen's caracter that made me laugh! It's really fun to watch.
Pitty is, the tarot scene is too short... :(

Going to look for another one!
That's what happens when you are on vacation and have nothing else to do!! :D

Edited to ask: that site lists old movies... does anyone know of more recent ones?
 

MrAndrewJ

Lord of Illusions comes to mind for me first and foremost. The scene in which the reading appears is considerably graphic. I actually owe that movie a lot toward me becoming interested in sleight-of-hand style magic.
 

Samarial

The 78th Fool said:
Probably the most famous use of tarot in a movie was the James Bond film "Live and Let Die" starring Roger Moore and Jane Seymour. The deck now known as the "Tarot of the Witches", published by US Games was expressly designed for this film, although Rider Waite and Albano Waite cards are also featured from time to time. The cards are not merely incidental but form an important and ongoing part of the plot.

Believe it or not, I discovered the Tarot when I saw this film as a thirteen year old. The Tarot of the Witches is still one of my favourites to this day!

Chris. xx
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My mom gave me her Tarot of the Witches. I love the Major Arcana pictures
 

Moonson

i followed MrAndrewJ's tip, and seen "Lord of Illusions"!
i kind of regreat i watch it now!! Used to watch these kind of creepy and bloody movies all the time, but now they just have a bad effect on me... guess i've changed a lot in the last years in movie tastes...

Anyway... the reading scene is really bloody...
you can see a 10 card spread on the table with (what i guess) it's a waite-smith deck.
In a closer shot you can clearly see a bit of the 3 of swords card and then later the leading character unfolds the last card of the reading a 10 of swords.

Can't understand if the reading has anything to do with the development of the plot... well, the movie really begins when they kill one of the characters, but other then that... i only see the recreation of the 10 of swords card in an illusion show, pretty creepy right?

ugh... i'm going to find myself some comedy now... to "wash off" the creepy images...
 

MrAndrewJ

Moonson said:
i followed MrAndrewJ's tip, and seen "Lord of Illusions"!
i kind of regreat i watch it now!! Used to watch these kind of creepy and bloody movies all the time, but now they just have a bad effect on me... guess i've changed a lot in the last years in movie tastes...
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Ack! I'm sorry. I did try to say that scene was graphic. Even in my younger days of watching a lot of horror, that flick really made me uncomfortable.

These days you'll probably be more likely to find the even more graphic unrated director's cut, too.

I am sorry, and would like to reiterate that even by my standards Lord of Illusions is a visually difficult movie to watch.
 

Moonson

ah no worries MrAndrewJ! :)
I tell you, i willl remember the image of that reader... ugh...
Ah thanks for the tip, but i'm NOT going to look for the director's cut, the normal cut was "good" enough for me! :D
 

Metafizzypop

Speaking of graphic movies that are hard to watch, I wanted to mention Dead Alive, a comedy-horror flick directed by Peter Jackson. It's from 1992, so it's before his Lord of the Rings fame.

There's an old grandmother who does tarot card readings in the movie. She uses the Thoth, which I wouldn't expect from a grandma, I'm not sure why. But I think they used it in the movie because it has titles/keywords, so it makes it easy for the viewer to know what the cards mean. Like Oppression, Failure, Debauch, stuff like that. It's a horror movie, so of course all the bad-sounding cards came up in the readings. And yeah, of course, Death, too.

The movie was really gross and disgusting, by the way. I wouldn't have mentioned it all if it weren't for the tarot in it.
 

Vechernitsa

Monster In Law

I am so glad that someone has mentioned the Monster in law movie. Funny one that one, but...
My question is: Does anyone know what deck is used in the beginning of the movie? I think the Deck is really pretty and would like to find one.
Here is a link to a screenshot I made during the move so you guys can see what I am talking about:
http://i200.photobucket.com/albums/aa127/radinasorc/MonsterinLawTarotcards.png
 
Mystic Mondays Tarot App Can't remember the name of this RWS book!