Pawn Sacrifice

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Harvey Williamson
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Pawn Sacrifice

Post by Harvey Williamson »

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xFHvH9FtACg[/youtube]

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It’s been a long road – in 2009 Steven Knight’s Pawn Sacrifice script made a Hollywood list of the best unproduced screenplays, in 2010 David Fincher (Seven, Fight Club, The Social Network) was announced as the director, in 2013 filming actually took place with Edward Zwick taking over, in 2014 it was shown at the Toronto Film Festival and now finally a trailer has been released ahead of its September premiere:

Although the film covers familiar ground – most recently seen on the big screen in Liz Garbus’ 2011 documentary Bobby Fischer Against the World – it’s unlikely chess fans will mind another retrospective on the career of arguably the most brilliant and enigmatic figure in chess history.

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The film features flashbacks to when Fischer was just starting out

What gives the Fischer story wider appeal, of course, is how it chimed with the Cold War atmosphere of the time, with the trailer including the half-cliché of, "a poor kid from Brooklyn against the whole Soviet empire."

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Fischer: "I want to play the Russians..."

In a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly the director explained how Fischer’s international fame was a relatively new phenomenon, describing the American star as “a pre-punk hero”:
Edward Zwick: Those of my generation who grew up in the midst of the cold war had a very, very strong awareness and very much were sort of influenced by the demonization of the Soviet Union, whether that was through the Cuban Missile Crisis or duck-and-cover, or any of those things that so affected us then. But the other thing you have to realize, the idea of international celebrity was relatively new. The Beatles had come to America a couple years before this, and [Fischer] was one of the first, I would call him a pre-punk hero. He was in some ways unruly and he was unpredictable. He was anti-authoritarian in certain ways. He was also kind of stylish and great looking and homegrown, so all of these conspired to give him this cache. We were all aware of him.

Jeff Labreque: Bobby Fischer was all those things, but pardon my language, but he was also an a–hole.

Absolutely. That’s the pre-punk thing. There’s a certain amount of a–holery that came to be a very important part of his character in popular culture.
The task of portraying Fischer from his late teens onwards fell to Tobey Maguire, who shot to stardom by playing the lead role in the Spider-Man trilogy from 2002-2007.

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The film shows the match in Reykjavik, but in this first trailer the whole emphasis is on how the crowd and cameras worked on Fischer's nerves
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Steve B
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Post by Steve B »

Thanks Harvey

Looks Fantastic!
had no idea this movie was being made

Saving up for the DVD Regards
Steve
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Cyberchess
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Post by Cyberchess »

:) Thanks for sharing!

One can never have enough money or films on chess.

Waiting On Pins And Needles Regards,
John
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Post by pr1uk »

Thanks for sharing,

Looks great


Peter
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Post by paulwise3 »

Thanx for sharing indeed!

Hope this movie will come to the Netherlands regards,
Paul
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Post by Monsieur Plastique »

OK, now due for US cinema release 18th September. Anyone going to watch it at the cinema? I'll wait till it comes to Foxtel pay TV here in Australia which coincides to the day of the local DVD release.
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Post by Cyberchess »

Here are some vintage photos (circa early 1972) for sale of the late GM Bobby Fischer training for the ultimate showdown at the long defunct Grossinger’s Resort in Liberty, NY.

Enjoy!

Sound Body Sound Mind Regards,
John
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Post by pr1uk »

Well tonight i searched my media box and there it was the film that i have been waiting for what seems like ages. Pawn Sacrifice is well worth watching such a genus but with such a tormented mind but it will have you looking back over the Spassky games and playing them again.
Great film recommended for all Chess enthuses



Peter
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Post by fourthirty »

pr1uk wrote: Great film recommended for all Chess enthuses
I agree Peter. I saw the film a few months back when it was in the theater. While it received mixed reviews from the critics, I thought that Tobey did an outstanding job of portraying Bobby.

Greg
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Post by Murat »

I enjoyed the movie greatly.

It made me reread the first 30 pages the book I had since the seventies. Fischer Gegen Spasski by Rudolf Teschner. It tells the story quite well.
I recommend it.
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Post by pr1uk »

Oh i agree the actors played the parts very well and i have since played the games again it got me so interested. The 6th one was fantastic and you can imagine Spassky standing and applauding Fischer after the end of the game. I saw it at home and liked it so much i downloaded it for future viewing :-)



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Post by mclane »

A pity, I did not see the movie yet,
I hope I will do one day,


In the moment there is a big hype about Star Wars,
With earth Vader etc.

Bobby Fischer fought his own war against the evil.

64 bits. 64 squares. 64 years.

How he must have felt when he was alone, his sister died,
His mother died. And he stranded in asyl on island.

He was alone his whole life.

A little child. With the chess pieces.
The strongest player of the world.

Only God could have stopped him.

But even God let him alone.

His disease made him a complete loner, running around in the world telling his partners about nazi conspiracies and the evil empires trying to catch him.

She fought them all.
He fought the king.
He fought the USA.
He fought the Jews.
He fought all.

He even fought with the dead.
Not willing to take therapy.

64 years,
64 squares.
The life of Bobby Fischer.
What seems like a fairy tale today may be reality tomorrow.
Here we have a fairy tale of the day after tomorrow....
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Post by mclane »

After watching the movie.

The movie was IMO not bad.

Of course real life was better.
The movie only shows a very small part of Fischers life.

I was a little disappointed how abrupt the movie ends with a few scenes from Fischers real life.

IMO this movie needs a continuation of the time after the match and also more material from before.

I wonder if Fischer or Spassky really said "check" loud when they played.
Seems to me a little like Hollywood drama.

The movie gives a very tiny insight about Fischers mind.
A glimpse of his complex behavior and how mad he behaved.

I would like to see more movies about this.
In the end Fischer died because he refused to go to the doctor.
And his whole life he repeated all over those strange antisemitic conspiracies
Bobby got from books he carriers around,
There is also too little material about Bobby and girls and what he did in all those years he escaped.

IMO Bobbys life gives enough topics to make at least 2 more movies.

Was lombardy asked about details ?

I am missing Bobby.

He gave chess the unexpected. Kind of laskers:
The philosophy of the unattainable.

I think they would have been good friends.
What seems like a fairy tale today may be reality tomorrow.
Here we have a fairy tale of the day after tomorrow....
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Post by paulwise3 »

Last week I saw the movie. At the end, I wondered if parents having seen this movie get reluctant to teach their children chess...!?
It was a good movie, but I missed (of course being a Dutchman) the great job of Max Euwe keeping the match going.
Furthermore, I always liked Boris Spasski, a great sportsman, one of the most sympathetic russian players. And the movie confirms my feelings.
Fischer may be the best player ever, Spasski was/is the greatest in his sportsmanship.
2024 Special thread: viewtopic.php?f=3&t=12741
2024 Special results and standings: https://schaakcomputers.nl/paul_w/Tourn ... 25_06.html
If I am mistaken, it must be caused by a horizon effect...
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