Primarily focusing on the infamous 1972 Fischer-Spassky world chess championship match in Iceland, the film uses archive footage, old and new interviews to give insight into the turbulent life of the great American chess player.
Informative, moving and humorous the film is well crafted with insightful commentary from the various participants involved. Non-chess players need not worry about being alienated as the film is not overtly concerned with the mechanics of the game, but rather deals with the obsession that overwhelmed Fischer leading to his paranoia and eventual fall from favour.
I first became aware of Fischer due to my interest in 'Chess' the musical where the character of the American player is often cited to be based on Fischer. Whilst aspects of Fischer's personality are clearly visible in the American character this documentary clearly shows how far more extreme, complex and self-destructive the real person was. Tim Rice chose, wisely, to only use the appropriate aspects of Fischer in his creation of the fictional American for the musical, using his own imagination and other sporting figures to round out his creation. Fischer, as shown in this film, was clearly more repulsive a person than Rice could ever wish to create.
My only criticism with the film is that I wish they'd tried to look further into that period of Fischer's life, following his gaining the championship through to his re-emergence for a re-match against Spassky, where he simply vanishes for a decade.
But, regardless, the film is a fascinating look at the man, his life and the lessons to be gained from his failure as a socially productive human being.
If you get a chance go and see this film. There are worse things you can do, after all.
No comments:
Post a Comment