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Le Tournoi, The Tournament – a Chess Film
April 15, 2015
From chess24.com
In two weeks' time the French film "Le Tournoi" (The Tournament) will hit cinema screens. It features a brilliant central character with more than a hint of Magnus Carlsen about him and a bit part for Maxime Vachier-Lagrave.
The plot: A seven-day tournament in a big hotel in Budapest. The favourite, Cal Fournier, is 22 years old, French Chess Champion and an immature genius programmed to win, who shows impressive dominance over his opponents. Detached from the real world, Cal is lost in the game and constant gambling with his girlfriend Lou and his cronies Aurélien, Anthony and Mathieu. But then an opponent like no other comes along and puts an end to that well-oiled routine...
The film’s director, Elodie Namer, says of her actors: All the actors took chess lessons before the film. I wanted to have perfect body language when there were games on screen. Michelangelo, who plays the main character, put a lot into it. He would play six hours a day for nine months and he played in tournaments with grandmasters… And in the end the goal was achieved, since all the players have said it’s impossible to guess that the people in the film aren't genuine players! The whole team caught the bug: Aliocha Schneider, who plays Anthony, has become passionate about it, as has Michelangelo and many of the film technicians. We now regularly have chess evenings among ourselves!
We see Maxime Vachier-Lagrave in the first teaser. Are there any other famous chess players in the film?
No-one quite like that, but I insisted all the players featured were licensed. It would have been impossible to teach everyone how to move the pieces correctly. So the 250 featured are all real tournament players, but of different levels!
There is the trailer at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bIZxY3cS1n4
I would give the link to the film review on chess24.com but it is blocked.
________
It seems there have been a number of films with chess themes in the past year. I can’t recall all the titles. Has anyone been keeping track, who could produce a list?
April 15, 2015
From chess24.com
In two weeks' time the French film "Le Tournoi" (The Tournament) will hit cinema screens. It features a brilliant central character with more than a hint of Magnus Carlsen about him and a bit part for Maxime Vachier-Lagrave.
The plot: A seven-day tournament in a big hotel in Budapest. The favourite, Cal Fournier, is 22 years old, French Chess Champion and an immature genius programmed to win, who shows impressive dominance over his opponents. Detached from the real world, Cal is lost in the game and constant gambling with his girlfriend Lou and his cronies Aurélien, Anthony and Mathieu. But then an opponent like no other comes along and puts an end to that well-oiled routine...
The film’s director, Elodie Namer, says of her actors: All the actors took chess lessons before the film. I wanted to have perfect body language when there were games on screen. Michelangelo, who plays the main character, put a lot into it. He would play six hours a day for nine months and he played in tournaments with grandmasters… And in the end the goal was achieved, since all the players have said it’s impossible to guess that the people in the film aren't genuine players! The whole team caught the bug: Aliocha Schneider, who plays Anthony, has become passionate about it, as has Michelangelo and many of the film technicians. We now regularly have chess evenings among ourselves!
We see Maxime Vachier-Lagrave in the first teaser. Are there any other famous chess players in the film?
No-one quite like that, but I insisted all the players featured were licensed. It would have been impossible to teach everyone how to move the pieces correctly. So the 250 featured are all real tournament players, but of different levels!
There is the trailer at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bIZxY3cS1n4
I would give the link to the film review on chess24.com but it is blocked.
________
It seems there have been a number of films with chess themes in the past year. I can’t recall all the titles. Has anyone been keeping track, who could produce a list?
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