Lost in the Shuffle
Director(s): Jon Ornoy
Writer(s): Jon Ornoy
Cast: Shawn Farquhar, Richard Turner, Alexandra Duvivier, Juan Tamariz and Michael Vincent
Reviewed by: Ian Evans on
Release Date(s)
Sep 10, 2024 - VOD/DigitalSee note below about in-person screenings prior to VOD release.
I had the pleasure of screening Jon Ornoy’s Lost in the Shuffle during the Hot Docs Film Festival earlier this year. It follows magician Shawn Farquhar as he develops a new card trick that also aims to investigate the mystery of the death of the King of Hearts, France’s Charles VIII.
Farquhar loves the sleight of hand and storytelling involved in card tricks. The more he studied the history of cards, the more he fell in love with their design. Though some packs are fancier than others, even the most common of card decks seem to share some common features. For example, why does the King of Hearts have a sword through his head? As he develops his latest card trick, he begins to wonder if the cards themselves hold a secret answer to a 500-year-old cold case. How did Charles VIII die? Was it at the hands of his wife, Anne of Brittany, the Queen of Spades?
The documentary has two sides, just like a card itself. On one side, Farquhar visits with peers and mentors in the magic business in order to discuss his findings and incorporate some of their favourite card elements into his new trick and story. This leads us to meet fellow sleight of hand masters like magicians Richard Turner, Michael Vincent, Alexandra Duvivier, and Juan Tamariz,
From the magical, we go to the historical, and this side of the doc has Farquhar exploring the history of card art through both place and age, where he learns of the common elements that card decks all seem to share. He also visits Amboise, the historical seat of Charles VIII to see if any of his theories about the cause of the king’s death hold up to historians’ scrutiny.
Farquhar is both an entertaining host and an entertaining magician and Lost in the Shuffle holds our attention like a close up magic trick. Farquhar has us captivated by his new card plot and intrigued by a royal death from 1498. Both of those are quite the trick.
NOTE: Though Lost in the Shuffle will be available on VOD/Digital on September 10, there will be some in-person screenings in Vancouver and Toronto where both Jon Ornoy and Shawn Farquhar will be in attendance. Here are the dates:
- August 22 at 6:15PM PT – Rio Theatre, Vancouver
- August 26 at 9:30PM ET – Revue Cinema, Toronto
- August 27 at 6:15PM ET – Revue Cinema, Toronto
Check out the trailer: