An unusual choice of a Tarot deck in a film. :-)

[WillGraham]

I saw something slightly amusing recently - I rewatched 1995's "Hideaway" for the first time in many years. It's a goofy yet entertaining thriller, based on Dean Koontz's book (although Koontz hated it and disowned it, since it turned his grim horror novel into something of an action film).

At any rate, there is a scene in which the protagonist visits a medium to try explaining odd visions that he has been experiencing. She senses the presence of a powerful entity about him, and then realizes that there is another presence, sinister and malevolent, following him and quickly closing in. She uses a Tarot deck in the scene, and since "Hideaway" is a US film, there was a 90% chance that the deck used would be a Rider-Waite-Smith one... but, to my surprise, it turned out to be something very different: a large Cary-Yale Visconti deck.

It was quite surprising to see a film use a deck that would be known essentially only to those versed in Tarot's history.

(The cynical and industry-knowing part of me realizes that all it most likely meant was that the film's prop mistress went to a store and said: "I need a Tarot deck that has an angel and a devil, and that is large and detailed, so that it will film well" - but it was still a fun sight. 🙂)

 

Edited November 27, 2020 by WillGraham

[gregory]

Also it could be who was prepared to license them for film use - you can't just film one without permission. I remember seeing that move with the Lo Scarabeo deck in and it was in the credits at the end- was it the Illusionist ? I just cannot remember now... That does look like the LoS majors only LARGE Visconti.

 

The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus - features the LoS Ancient Italian Tarot (Della Rocca)

Edited November 27, 2020 by gregory