In the eighties it was the-thing-to-do to make a mixed tape (like an mp3 but touchable, always in need of a pencil and definitely cooler). On it you would make a little playlist of all the cool songs. Now the trick was to make each song correspond with the rest of the tape. In this post I will try to do the same with movies.
Every once in a while I will select a general topic and select movies to accompany it. As you can see the more child-friendly movies are at the start of the day, but when night falls: ‘here be monsters’. Please feel free to give suggestions of other unknown movies.
One rule though: Auteur themes like ‘Shakespeare’ or ‘James Bond’ are not allowed. ‘Spy-movies’, naturally, are.
Theme: Chess
I named this little blog of mine the Chessboard factory. The reason behind it wasn’t me trying to pretend to be any kind of intellectual.
Rather I reasoned that those 64-squared things have to be made somewhere. Meaning: an item representing awe-inspiring-intelligence or ‘elite’ was probably made in some factory by a guy named Kevin (looking at the clock for his next break-time).
Still, to stay with the title of this blog I wish to name some movies dealing with the game of chess. And, as I’m sure you’ll notice, chess is –in these movies- just a metaphor for bigger things.
08:00-10:00
Long live the Queen - A sweet little Dutch movie about a girl (without a father) who is forbidden to play chess by her mother. So obviously she does. In this fantasy world, she creates for herself -to understand the game- A white queen. This Queen teaches the girl some valuable lessons and…everything will be right in the end –as a kids movie should be.
10:00-10:30
Geri’s game - A short one but too hilarious to exclude. Two old men who look alike play chess. Who will win and, more importantly, what is the prize? And, Yes, Geri looks a lot like the toymaker from Toy Story 2 (1999)
10:30-12:00
Harry Potter and the philosopher’s stone - I just had to include this one. Only videogames allow the player to walk a chessboard (like ‘Knight moves’ or ‘Battle Chess’). Only videogames dare to show the player that chess is actually a rather brutal game. The first Harry Potter showed it firsthand. With Ron on the knight he proved to me that he is a brave boy willing to lay down his life for his friends to stop the villain.
It is also interesting to note that a logical game of chess shouldn’t have any place in the Wizarding World (Wizards don’t ‘do’ logic).
12:00-14:00
The thief who came to dinner – I mentioned this movie in another mixed tape; but I think the movie is too darn good to leave out of this list as well. A playboy burglar leaves chess pieces and moves around as a signature of his crimes (and no other criminal copies him in this fiction). Then the cops decide to challenge him to a game against a chess-master. If he loses he has to give himself up. But out hero the burglar cheats.
14:00-16:00
Searching for Bobby Fisher - Being a chess protégée is a terrible fate. Just imagine your brain being terrifyingly good at one thing but not others. This movie shows the ordeal in a sweet, caring manner. Being good at something doesn’t mean you have to accept it.
16:00-18:00
Pawn Sacrifice – The Bobby Fisher documentary is better. The reason I put this movie on the list is twofold; first because I love how Live Schreiber played his character (all in Russian, mind you). The whole movie is about that ONE move Fischer made against Spassky and the applause it got him. But, as movies do, the leading up to it is part of the fun. Second because I think one should combine this movie with the documentary which is coming up next
18:00-20:00
Bobby Fisher against the world – The documentary. Many think about chess as an elite, high intelligence, game. But at what cost? The persona of Bobby Fisher wasn’t a nice man; but the question here being: is it chess that destroyed his mind or was it his destroyed mind that made him good at chess?
20:00-22:00
The seventh seal – The classic. If you play against death
you play chess (not Clue!: Bill and Ted!). The knight, here goes his path and
finds his followers (like chess pieces) until death comes to him.
22:00-00:00
Uncovered – Chess is a game of planning and brainpower. So, obviously, a chessboard fits perfectly in a crime tale. Uncovered is such a crime tale that use the mystery of a painted chessboard as the major clue. The idea is great, the execution a bit lesser. But still it’s a fun whodunit.
00:00-02:00
Die Schachnovelle – I read the book and watched the movie (the book is better). The brain games chess offers can save a life. But, in the end, it might almost destroy you. This movie is an early attempt of German cinema to come to terms with their monstrous past. Maybe it was a bit too early; but it stays an intriguing tale nonetheless.
02:00-04:00
Knight moves – A murderer wants to play chess and he’s using victims as pawns. If the world is a chessboard how do you win against a brilliant player? The ending might be a bit dark but until then you are in for a thrill ride as Lambert plays our hero under suspicion.
This movie shaped my life; I watched this movie too early in my life and was left me wondering. Chess, to me became the game of the most intellectual minds of the world. As I grew older I realized that this isn’t the case. Just some people playing games.
When your knight is cornered you attack!.
Honourable Mentions:
Computer Chess – The whole idea of a computer beating a grandmaster at chess was, for a long time (before Deep Blue at least) unfathomable. Nowadays it’s a reality and computer are getting even smarter by the minute.
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