La Partie d'échecs (1994)
Directed by Yves Hanchar

Film Review

The sublime weirdness of Yves Hanchar's debut feature, La Partie d'échecs, is at once apparent in its mind boggling principal cast comprising Pierre Richard, Catherine Deneuve, Denis Lavant and James Wilby. Actually, the casting turns out to be the sanest thing about the film, which resembles a Tolkienesque fairytale which revels in its peculiar whimsy like a dipsomaniac in a vat of vintage wine.

Pierre Richard is virtually unrecognisable, discarding his familiar comedy persona that made him an icon of French cinema in the 1970s (through such films as Le Grand blond avec une chaussure noire (1972)) and immersing himself in a character role, of the kind towards which the actor would gravitate in this advanced phase of his career. Richard's chess-addicted protégé turns out to be Denis Lavant, the male lead in the overblown romantic drama Les Amants du Pont-Neuf (1991) which nearly finished of director Leos Carax's career. James Wilby presumably welcomed the opportunity to escape (however briefly) from the stiff-collared period drama he risked being condemned to in perpetuity following Maurice (1987), and of course he isn't remotely typecast as an arrogant English aristocrat. And then there's Catherine Deneueve, apparently reprising her role from Jacques Demy's Peau d'âne (1970). The casting is perfectly logical if you thing about it, which is more than can be said of the plot.

In contrast to Hanchar's subsequent films, particularly his affectionate nostalgia piece Sans rancune (2009), La Partie d'échecs is a pure flight of fancy, and a strangely beguiling one at that. The chess motif extends into the main drama, with each of the protagonists resembling a piece in a cosmically controlled game of chess. Hanchar doesn't make as much of the idea as he might but he still manages to craft an original and engaging piece of cinema - not the daftest film to be made by a Belgian filmmaker in this heady decade but it comes fairly close.

Film Synopsis

One day, a preacher, Ambroise, saves a young orphan, Max, from killing himself.  When they sit down to play chess, Max is revealed to have an unnatural skill in the game.  Years later, Max is a chess grandmaster, and he is to play a tournament with the reigning world champion, at a country mansion owned by a wealthy marquise.  Max's opponent is the arrogant Englishman, Lord Staunton, who hopes to win the marquise's daughter, Anne-Lise, by winning the match.   However, Anne-Lise appears not to be keen on this outcome, and urges Max to beat his opponent.  Max falls under the young woman's charms, without realising that he has offered himself up as a pawn in a very deadly game of social politics.