Chess Story

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1:57

Chess Story

2023

1h 52m

History

Drama

War

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

88%

Tomatometer

8 Reviews

79%

Popcornmeter

Fewer than 50 Ratings

Vienna, 1938: Austria is occupied by the Nazis. Dr. Josef Bartok (Oliver Masucci) is preparing to flee to America with his wife Anna when he is arrested by the Gestapo. As a former notary to the deposed Austrian aristocracy, he is told to help the local Gestapo leader gain access to their private bank accounts in order to fund the Nazi regime. Refusing to cooperate, Bartok is locked in solitary confinement. Just as his mind is beginning to crack, Bartok happens upon a book of famous chess games. To withstand the torture of isolation, Bartok disappears into the world of chess, maintaining his sanity only by memorizing every move. As the action flashes forward to a transatlantic crossing on which he is a passenger, it seems as though Bartok has finally found freedom. But recounting his story to his fellow travelers, it's clear that his encounters with both the Gestapo and with the royal game itself have not stopped haunting him. Adapted with opulent attention to period detail by filmmaker and opera director Philipp Stölzl, CHESS STORY brings Stefan Zweig's stirring final novella to life.

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Michael Rechtshaffen

Los Angeles Times

“Chess Story” masterfully confounds expectations as a tautly calibrated, intricately constructed Chinese puzzle of a period drama set during Nazi Germany’s annexation of Austria.

Jan 19, 2023

Full Review

William Repass

Slant Magazine

Philipp Stölzl craftily melds the genres of period drama and psychological thriller, not for the purposes of reheated nostalgia, but to shed a cold light on the recursions of historical trauma.

Rated: 3/4

Jan 8, 2023

Full Review

Lael Loewenstein

FilmWeek (LAist)

It's extremely well-directed and one of the best uses of sound design I've heard in a while.

Feb 11, 2023

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Lee Jutton

Film Inquiry

Despite boasting great performances and lavish production values, the film also feels unnecessarily messy, as though its makers were somewhat overwhelmed by the prospect of adapting such a lauded piece of literature.

Jan 28, 2023

Full Review

Kyle Smith

National Review

Chess Story is a diabolically knotted psychological thriller... The film isn’t really about chess but about the human spirit.

Jan 13, 2023

Full Review

Benjamin Franz

Film Threat

Chess Story is a subtle, soft-spoken killer of a film. It’s absolutely worth your time if you like World War II-era dramas. Seek it out.

Rated: 8/10

Jan 13, 2023

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Sofiya K

As I love Stefan Zweig booksI was hoping to see a more subtle Chess Novella -- about the deamons in the head, about this fascinating idea on how you play agains yourself. Seeing Nazis at their horrible but well known tricks was not too exciting - we had seen it all... Extra people around and a well formed ending was also not in the spirit of Chess Novella...

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

01/23/23

Full Review

Michael W

This psychological drama was great. Oliver Masucci, Albrecht Schuch, Birgit Minichmayr, and the rest of the cast did a great job in this movie. The plot of the movie was dramatic, dark, and shocking. It's about doing whatever you can to stay sane and never give in. If you haven't seen this movie yet, check it out sometime. It's worth watching.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

10/13/24

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Irene M

unfortunately I preferred the short story to the film adaptation.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

07/03/23

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huck d

Wow. I saw this in a theatre, and after it ended, no one in the audience could even move or speak. This was the most compelling psychological thriller perhaps ever to hit the screen. Oliver Masucci gives a harrowing portrayal of a man who stubbornly refuses to give his secrets to the Nazis by escaping from his inhuman torturous captivity into a psychologically complex escape fantasy engendered from an instructional book on chess he purloined by chance. The director masterfully weaves an intricate plot together that shifts both in time and in and out of reality. And the musical score was the perfect accompaniment to lift you from your seat and into the brilliant unyielding darkness of Masucci's mind. This was a unqualified masterpiece.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

04/23/23

Full Review

Avindu G

Chess story or the Royal Game is a masterpiece comprising with a truly wonderful storyline. Sufficient amount of visual effects beautify the Bartok's odyssey. Cinematography is of highest degree capturing even the tiniest of emotions and progressive deterioration of Bartok's mind. Excellent arrangement of the story to make the tragedy of Bartok's life a heartfelt one for the viewers. Performances are exquisite enacting every incidental emotion masterfully. It's a different view on the lives of Europe during the WW2 era and a memoir that's extremely artistic which is of absolute worth of the time.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/12/23

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Richard Kurtz

Interesting film that tied together at its conclusion well acted and involving

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/18/23

Full Review

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Philipp Stölzl

Director

Oliver Masucci

Dr. Josef Bartok

Birgit Minichmayr

Anna Bartok

Albrecht Schuch

Franz-Josef Böhm

Moritz von Treuenfels

Schutzmann Erich

Carl Achleitner

Herr Faber

Chess Story: Trailer 1

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Synopsis

Vienna, 1938: Austria is occupied by the Nazis. Dr. Josef Bartok (Oliver Masucci) is preparing to flee to America with his wife Anna when he is arrested by the Gestapo. As a former notary to the deposed Austrian aristocracy, he is told to help the local Gestapo leader gain access to their private bank accounts in order to fund the Nazi regime. Refusing to cooperate, Bartok is locked in solitary confinement. Just as his mind is beginning to crack, Bartok happens upon a book of famous chess games. To withstand the torture of isolation, Bartok disappears into the world of chess, maintaining his sanity only by memorizing every move. As the action flashes forward to a transatlantic crossing on which he is a passenger, it seems as though Bartok has finally found freedom. But recounting his story to his fellow travelers, it's clear that his encounters with both the Gestapo and with the royal game itself have not stopped haunting him. Adapted with opulent attention to period detail by filmmaker and opera director Philipp Stölzl, CHESS STORY brings Stefan Zweig's stirring final novella to life.

Director: Philipp Stölzl
Producer: Tobias Walker, Philipp Worm, Danny Krausz
Screenwriter: Eldar Grigorian
Distributor: Film Movement
Production Co: ARD Degeto Film, Bayerischer Rundfunk (BR), Walker Worm Film
Genre: History, Drama, War
Original Language: German
Release Date (Theaters): Jan 13, 2023, Limited
Runtime: 1h 52m
Aspect Ratio: Scope (2.35:1)

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