That song is 'World on Fire' by Michael Been, which contains those very lyrics: ' I trust my life to providence / I trust my soul to grace.' Not coincidentally, Been's son, Robert Levon Been, is the composer for The Card Counter and Dafoe plays antagonist Gordo.īut there's an in-universe meaning beyond Schrader simply nodding to his own earlier work. In that movie's opening sequence, Willem Dafoe's protagonist, John LeTour, is chauffeured around New York City at night while a moody rock song plays. It reads, ' I trust my life to providence, I trust my soul to grace.' Its meaning is layered, both in the narrative of The Card Counter and in a meta-referential way. In the latter way, it's a reference to Light Sleeper, one of director Paul Schrader's best-known works and what is essentially a spiritual predecessor to The Card Counter. Beneath is carefully controlled demeanor and his monkish existence, that nightmare of his past is still buried within, as evidenced by the tattoo spreading across his shoulder blades. Related: The Card Counter Cast & Character Guideīill does a fair bit of time in a military prison for his crimes, but the shame and horror he feels never leave him. Isaac's Bill is shown slowly losing his humanity and eventually participating in some of the worst acts as a former soldier stationed at Abu Ghraib. Army and CIA at Abu Ghraib. Prisoners were detained indefinitely and subjected to torture including sexual abuse and sodomy, sleep deprivation, humiliation, physical beatings and more. Initially covered up, it was brought to light by investigative reporters who revealed the war crimes and crimes against humanity unfolding in the early days of the Iraq War at the hands of the U.S. While Bill is a fictional construct, Abu Ghraib is not, and it was the scene of one of the most horrific military scandals in U.S. That dark turn is slowly unpeeled in flashbacks, which reveal that William 'Bill' Tell (Oscar Isaac) was a former prison guard at the infamous Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq.

It's likely not what general audiences are expecting from the trailers, which could account for the 86% to 40% discrepancy between critical review ratings and audience score on Rotten Tomatoes. A shot in Paul Schrader's The Card Counter reveals protagonist, Bill, has a massive tattoo across his upper back, but what does it mean? Those familiar with Schrader's work will no doubt recognize his familiar beats, but those who aren't may be surprised at the extremely dark turn the movie takes.

Never back down tattoo