Main Cast: Michel Piccoli, Alexandre Arbatt, Leslie Caron, Liv Ullmann, Daniel Olbrychski
Release Year: 1984
Country: FR/CH
Run Time: 96 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG
Plot
Michel Piccoli plays Akiva Liebskind, a Russian chess genius in the Swiss-filmed Dangerous Moves. He is pitted against Soviet exile Pavius Fromm (Alexandre Arbatt), who, since childhood, has dreamed of nothing but defeating Liebskind. Both men soon become obsessed with winning. Already suffering from a weak heart, Liebskind courts a coronary, while the increasingly paranoid Fromm is convinced that his opponent is spying on him from every corner. The KGB enters into the game by attempting to sabotage Fromm, hoping that by doing so they will discredit everyone who's ever publicly opposed the Soviet government. Dangerous Moves was the 1984 recipient of the Best Foreign-Language Picture Academy Award. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Michel Aumont - Kerossian; Serge Avedikian - Fadenko; Pierre Michael - Yachvili; Pierre Vial - Anton Heller; Wojciech Pszoniak - Felton; Jean-Hugues Anglade - Miller; Hubert Saint-Macary - Foldes; Bernhard Wicki - Puhl; Jacques Boudet - Stuffli; Sylvie Granotier - Judge Dombert; Yaseen Khan - The Magic Hindu; Constantin Melnik - Colonel of the KGB; Benoit Regent - Barrabal; Alain Rimoux - Dr. Randelier; Mathieu Schiffman - Journalist; Olivier Beer - Journalist; Guy Braucourt - Journalist; Jean-Paul Eydoux - Carsen; Piotr Kaminski - Journalist; Willy Nicoidsky - Prof. Polotin; Albert Simono - Dalcroze; Marcel Tassimot - Protazanov
Credit
Ivan Maussion - Art Director, Pierre Albert - Costume Designer, Richard Dembo - Director, Agnès Guillemot - Editor, Gabriel Yared - Composer (Music Score), Dominque Piez - Makeup, Raoul Coutard - Cinematographer, Arthur Cohn - Producer, Richard Dembo - Screenwriter
Dangerous Moves is a 1984French languagefilm about chess, directed by Richard Dembo and starring Michel Piccoli and Alexandre Arbatt. Its original French title is La diagonale du fou ("The Fool's Diagonal", referring to the chess piece called the bishop in English but the fool in French). The film was a co-production between companies in France and Switzerland. It tells the story of two very different men competing in the World Chess Championship Games. One is a 52-year-old Soviet Jew who holds the title, and the other is a 35-year-old genius who defected to the West several years earlier.
