Review of King of Chess (1991) by Richard T — 18 Jun 2009

Kind of an odd film, but a pretty nice experience. I really admired the choice to integrate the two time periods and gave the film a good deal of political relevance that was communicated effectively even to someone like myself who only has limited knowledge of the time. I have read Mao's Little Red Book, but my extent of the Cultural Revolution is not incredibly high so having the film show the rise and the current world during the time was pretty great. It did help a ton with character motivation as well. The direction was pretty good and mostly standard though there were a few sequences here and there that were masterfully done. The performances were all solid, but nothing actually stood out all that much and I cannot say that any of the actors impressed me immensely with the obvious exception of Tony Leung as Wang. While watching the film I was able to appreciate the whole past aspect, but when it came to entertainment, aside from the train ride, the snake eating, and the final chess match I kind of wished that the film stayed in the present. The disjointed narrative was not incredibly difficult to follow and I think that it did add a nice layer to the film, but at the same time it did not heighten the tension as much as it drew attention to it and made some of the scenes seem slow and frustrating as I waited for the film to get back to the action. The end is pretty cool as well and mighty pretty, but it did confuse me for a bit at first, though I think that the subtitles on the DVD were a bit off, or at least seemed awkward during this sequence. Either way, it was a poignant wrap up. The film has a few lower production points that provide unintentional comedy, but the story is pretty engaging and all that, and it's a nice little film to watch, just nothing that is really spectacular.

B or 3.2982140321456356023.