James Wan
Saw - L'Enigmista

A filthy bathroom, two men chained by their ankles at opposite corners of the room, and in the center, the corpse of a man who has likely committed suicide with a gunshot to the head. This is the chilling scenario presented to us in the opening scenes of the film.

The two protagonists, the young Adam and Dr. Lawrence Gordon, are nothing more than the latest victims of the sadistic game of the Jigsaw, a madman who subjects his victims to macabre games where life or death is at stake, because he cannot stand people who do not appreciate the gift of life. And what's paradoxical is that Jigsaw cannot be defined as a serial killer, since he has never directly killed anyone, as the victims themselves are the ones who decree their own death. Throughout the film, we understand what kind of "games" are involved, like the one described by the only survivor, the drug addict Amanda: tied to a chair with her face enveloped by a mechanism that, after a certain time, activates and literally shreds everything it encloses (in this case, the victim's skull). The device can be opened and removed only with a key, which is situated inside the stomach of Amanda's drugged roommate, who is alive but unable to move. I'll let you imagine how she managed to save herself... But let's get back to the film.

What is immediately noticeable is the contrasting character traits between the two protagonists: Dr. Gordon is a calm and rational man who, despite the tragic situation, always tries to stay calm; Adam, on the other hand, is an impulsive and somewhat naive young man. Since the two do not know each other at all, one might hypothesize that the only thing they have in common is not having 'appreciated the gift of life,' but as the film progresses, it becomes clear that this is not the only thing they share. The game Jigsaw has set up for them is simple: within 6 hours, Lawrence must kill Adam, or else his wife and daughter will be killed along with him.

Saw (meaning 'saw,' an object that plays a key role in the finale) is a horror disguised as a thriller, 'seasoned' with some splatter scenes (which are truly minor compared to the subsequent chapters of the saga, filled with blood and deaths). Gradually, as the minutes pass (and with the clues found by the two), the story that led the two characters to that situation becomes clearer: throughout the film, the pace is quite slow, as it reconstructs the events that occurred up to the day of their 'abduction.' However, in the last 20 minutes, there is a surprising shift in pace. The six-hour mark hits, everything becomes fast and thrilling, in a vortex that first drives Dr. Gordon to madness and then leads to the final plot twist, which reshuffles all the cards and decrees the end of the game, and the film.

Personally, the first Saw struck me profoundly, and for this reason, I consider it a great film. Nothing to do with Saw 2, a film decidedly not up to par and without any trace of the brilliance of this first chapter.