Pawn sacrifice (2014)

	Also Known As: Bauernopfer, Le prodige
	Year of first release: 2014
	Director: Edward Zwick
	Actors: Tobey Maguire, Liev Schreiber, Peter Sarsgaard
	Country: USA
	Genre: Drama, Thriller
	Conditions of visioning: 21.03.2016, Schauburg, OV Sneak Preview, English version
Synopsis: In 1970, Bobby Fischer (Maguire) began a new effort to become World Champion. His dramatic march toward the title made him a household name and made chess front-page news for a time. He has been supported by father Lombardy (Sarsgaard). He won the title in 1972 against Spassky (Schreiber), but forfeited it three years later.
Review: The originality of the movie is to show the solitude, the paranoia and the obscurity of Bobby Fischer's mind. The supposed Cold war on a Chess board is a question of point of view. This kind of evolution in the psychosis is a rare topic (e.g. Memento), while this is often mixed within a thriller with no view into the mind of the character. By luck there is no conflation of his fight à la Don Quichotte (against his own ghosts) and the fight of American way of life against Soviet one as it was presented in the media at that time. Maguire plays his role with a lot of professionality. The confusion, the concentration, the paranoia, the obsession for learning about chess and especially Russian chess. Good to know that he can play much more than Spiderman. Promising. The camera driving and image composition enhance the different moods of Bobby Fischer without being arty, just classical and effective. I liked the shots starting as still life and then the sudden reactions of Bobby Fischer. This was good.
Rating: 6 /10