Chempion mira

A superb movie based-on a real chess event, one of the best made, if not the best, on the 1978 Baguio City World Chess Championship between Anatoly Karpov and Victor Korchnoi.

• (+) Wonderful acting by almost all the cast, especially the two rivals who shone unequivocally.

• (+) Very believable atmosphere throughout, being chess-wise or depicting emotions.

• (+) Very true to the real events, from minute one (introduction) up to the last.

• (+) Masterful depiction and development.

• (+) Great VFX combined with classic camera work.

• (+) Loved Anatoly's father (Evgeniy) and love interest (Veronika) acting. Brought tears to my eyes.

• Nothing negative to my eyes, besides wanting it to have a longer runtime, as in a series!

Recommended of course to all people. Chess lovers and not!

• Screenplay/story: 8.5
• Development: 9
• Realism: 9
• Entertainment: 9.5
• Acting: 9
• Filming/cinematography: 8.5
• Visual/special effects: 9
• Music/score: 9
• Depth: 9
• Logic: 8.5
• Flow: 9
• Drama: 9
• Ending/closure: 9.

Good sport biopic, much better than "moving up" and others SB for last years. Excellent game of Khabensky and very neat to real events. So, don't miss.

Chess!

Went to the cinema with big doubts!

Even without that, it was always clear to me that any film relating to the era of the USSR is an anti-Soviet craft with plasticine heroes and a far-fetched plot. Fortunately, this time a completely different case, although, of course, it could not have done without anti-Sovietism. Quote: "If the KGB finds out that we met, you will be sent to the Gulag!".

Firstly, few people in the modern generation probably know, but the GULAG is the Main Directorate of Camps, you can get into the camp, and not into the administration, and secondly, they really laid eyes on Karpov after this meeting, but no more, his meeting with the American did not remain unnoticed. In general, the film does not create an unnecessarily negative image of the USSR and its leaders, which pleases.

The picture tells, as it should - about chess and everything connected with them.

Probably there have never been films in the world cinema that so vividly destroy the myth that chess is not a sport. Nerves heated to the limit, undercover fighting, mental influence and exhausting the enemy by any means, all for the sake of victory, in war all means are good.

Special thanks and respect to K. Khabensky, who, I think, played one of his brightest roles in his entire long career, Yankovsky is also cool!

The only downside to this movie, in my opinion, is the length of time.

And so super!

The trailer was initially hooked, because the film has an incredible cast. The young Ivan Yankovsky as Anatoly Karpov, the incredible Konstantin Khabensky as Korchnoi, and the beautiful Diana Pozharskaya (I like her from the Hotel Eleon series) as Karpov's wife. And of course, the joint life of the actors fueled interest in the film.

The film is, of course, biographical, but there are some inconsistencies, and the authors showed their version and their view of those events. Together with the wrestling of chess players, we saw a stagnant system in the USSR, when a step to the left, a step to the right, was tantamount to execution. Of course, under the Soviet regime, they worked for the result, but they did not always take into account the interests of the people. Apparently, therefore, Karpov's opponent Korchnoi decided to emigrate abroad. Of course, there were pluses and minuses, but it is not for us to judge, because we did not live in that country and we have nothing to compare.

This is one of the few great chess game films that also gives a good outlook on what the soviet society was doing to people's behaviour. This movie is slow, smart and very, very intelligent. I really enjoyed it, but you have to be very patient and attentive to appreciate it.

One thing I found inappropriate was the disturbances created by Karpov opponent to affect Karpov's sleep which did not make much sense. Other than that, I think the plot was interesting enough to keep me interested for the entire 2 hours and 24 minutes.

Whoever likes chess and psychology of complex characters will be interested by this movie. People who like action movies, just skip this one, it is too slow for action seekers.