Pawn Sacrifice
American chess legend Bobby Fischer (Tobey Maguire) and Soviet Grandmaster Boris Spassky (Liev Schreiber) enthrall the world with their intense battle of wills and strategy during the 1972 World Chess Championship.
Director:
Edward Zwick
Cast:
Tobey Maguire, Peter Sarsgaard, Liev Schrieber
Screenplay:
Steven Knight
Screening Date:
Sep 12, 2015
Studio:
Gail Katz Productions
Running Time:
115 minutes
| Excellent | Very Good | Good | Fair | Poor |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 60.7% | 29.8% | 9.5% | 0.0% | 0.0% |
“I know nothing about chess except the name Bobby
Fischer. The movie was a stellar depiction of his life and
career. Toby Maguire and Mr. Schreiber were outstanding.
A great picture.”
“Great start!”
“Acting was great. Fischer idiosyncrasies were expressed
well. Script was on point.”
“I wouldn’t have believed that the subject of chess could be
exciting and filled with tension. Very well done!
“Brilliant movie. Loved the acting. Looking forward to
many Academy Award nominations for acting, directing.
Toby and Liev were great.”
“Toby Maguire was totally amazing. He captured the
agony of a mentally ill person. Wonderfully exciting film.
Schreiber also fabulous!”
“Masterful use of tension builds and builds and builds.
Captures the essence of chess and the Cold War at that
time. Use of B & W/color was very effective. Great
casting. Great photography too. Wonderful portrayal into
the mind of a chess player and how that kind of focus can
lead to madness and obsessive thoughts.“
“Very inspiring and very truthful in having a talent - not
just fame and glamour.”
“I liked the movie and I think it could be shown for
motivational purposes for more than just chess players.
The use of sound set the tone for the movie even before the
first scene. There is a build up that drew me right in. The
editor did a great job to hold audience attention. The
cutaways both enhanced the movie timeline and set the
scene repeatedly. Also the cutaways and reaction shots
ensured that there was never a dull moment. Loved the
acting. However a few things left me a little confused. The
FBI following him never panned out to anything and in the
end I felt like some of the elements in Fischer’s life were
unexplained. “
“The camera greatly captured his paranoia with intense
close-ups and also the music that was playing at times
made me paranoid too!”
“Great way of making audience feel the main characters’
internal thoughts. Presented in a terrific way, allowing the
audience to have knowledge of earlier events and their
effects on characters. Foreshadow of his mental imbalance
portrayed throughout the movie through selected sounds.
Great use of music. Allowed build up of scenes and
suspense. Movie was very slow during chess game. Not
very informing for those who have no knowledge on chess.
Did not expand on FBI taking and documenting his photos."
“Fascinating movie. I thought the actors were amazing as
were the scenes and transitions. The portrayal of paranoia
was amazing.”
“Spellbinding!”
“Brilliant acting of the descent into mental illness
juxtaposed with a brilliant mind. Also, the parallel of
chess, a medieval war game with the Cold War was
amazing. All in all, very well done. Making watching
chess games interesting is a feat in itself. Finally the title
alone as Bobby Fischer a US pawn in politics, an easy
sacrifice for power.”
“Too long but the acting was extraordinary. Toby Maguire
was exceptional. Quite a story. Schreiber has so little
dialogue but expresses more with movement and gestures
to get across character. Quite a provocative film.”
“As a non-chess player I was surprised at how dramatic the
games were. I was able to feel the
conflict/stress/competitive spirit without knowing what the
game was about. Perhaps if it were quieter in Yankee
Stadium the Yankees could win more consistently.”
“Some of the key scenes seem to passively play out as if
they were not as important as they could be.”
“The film kept me at the edge of my seat. A superb study
of personality.”
“The paranoia of the Cold War. Russia vs USA was
excellently portrayed. Fischer was paranoid from the get
go but it even affected Spassky.”
“I would have liked to know more about his personal life.”
“Is the moral of the story that you have to be one step over
the line to be great?”
“Brilliant! Outstanding illustration of neurologically
disordered youth of the 50’s and 60’s. Portrayed the inner
stress of psychiatric issues as well as historically events,
perhaps played with accuracy of the interpersonal
responses as well as some historical events. Our need to
gain insight to this disorder personality is limited by our in
depth of exposure. Currently it is incurable.”
“The actors did a very good job. “
"The acting was very believable. The use of sound created a
lot of suspense and really enhanced the film. The effect of
going in and out of focus was overused. The extreme
close-ups on Fischer helped create the sense of discomfort
for the viewers to show how Bobby Fischer was feeling. It
was unclear if Bobby was right about his phones being
bugged.”
“Totally absorbing!”
“Though I know nothing about chess I found the film
fascinating. While Bobby Fischer is well remembered by
those who lied through this time, I never knew what really
happened to him or knew about his mental illness. I really
enjoyed the film.”
“Superb acting. Brilliant, tortured genius. Perhaps today
there would be more understanding of his mind and the
emotional rage because of an absent father and a totally
negligent mother. The priest, lawyer and other characters
great! Fischer was in his own world and this film portrayed
his genius and anguish.”
“Gripping portrait not only of Bobby Fischer, but also of
the cultural and political climate of the Cold War. In
general a very effective integration of news footage and
archived records. Toby Maguire was terrific as was the
whole cast.”
“Thank you. This was a riveting joy. No sacrifice!”
“Is it too early to say Oscar?"
"Riveting story, even though
we know the results. What we didn’t know were the
characters – Fisher, Spassky, the priest, his agent, and their
portrayals were uniformly perfect.”
“It was an outstanding movie. Want to learn more about
him.”
“Batman as a troubled super-hero? Bobby Fisher is the true
Dark Knight.”
“Exciting challenge that offered insight into the
psychological effects of competition. Two motivated
individuals get caught up in their country’s politics at a
time the Cold War affected everything.”
“And the best of enemies are very similar. Gore Vidal was
very similar to Bobby Fischer. He knew how to push
buttons… watching two brilliant men crumbling under
Fischer’s and Vidal’s actions.”
“Movie kept my attention and the music was great for each
scene.”
“Great movie. Loss of camera focus was puzzling. Wasn’t
sure if it was intentional.”
“Had me with the title, and it’s political parallels were
wonderfully explored. In many ways we were all mad at
that time.”
“I enjoyed the movie very much. It was amazing to see
Fischer progressively losing his mind but never lost his
love and passion for the game. He was a genius at chess.”
“I love the game of chess. This movie showed me things
about Bobby Fischer I never knew. Overall well played
and good film.”
If you'd like to know more about the film...
Bobby Fischer: genius, or madman? Interested in a professional opinion? Check out The Chess of Bobby Fischer, and A Psychobiography of Bobby Fischer--two books dedicated to cracking the code of Fischer's chess and psyche.
The Chess of Bobby Fischer: http://www.amazon.com/Chess-Bobby-Fischer-Robert-Burger/dp/4871874559
A Psychobiography of Bobby Fischer: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0398087407/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_dp_ss_2?pf_rd...
Want some detailed backstory on the man? Endgame: Bobby Fischer's Remarkable Rise and Fall - From America's Brightest Prodigy to the Edge of Madness details the entire life story of Fischer. Or are you more curious about his last days--the ones Pawn Sacrifice only hint at the end of the film? Chess.com has a host of trivia on Fischer's final years.
Endgame: Bobby Fischer's Remarkable Rise and Fall - From America's Brightest Prodigy to the Edge of Madness: http://www.amazon.com/Endgame-Fischers-Remarkable-Americas-Brightest/dp/...
Fischer's Last Years in Iceland: http://www.chess.com/blog/billwall/fischers-last-years-in-iceland
Inspired by greatness? Want to follow in the footsteps of eccentric artists? Several recent films following the (true!) stories of oddball geniuses include The Social Network (Mark Zuckerberg), The Imitation Game (Alan Turing), and The Theory of Everything (Steven Hawking), and be on the lookout for this year's release of Experimenter, detailing the life of Stanley Milgram. Wide release October 16th.
This website details personality types--specifically, Fischer's type of INTJ. Are you surprised to see that other eccentric geniuses, like Zuckerberg and Hawking, are also INTJ?: http://www.celebritytypes.com/intj.php
The climax of the film is Fischer's big game with Spassky. Check out this small package detailing the excitement and legacy of the match: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LuMqlPhDmTM
