Themes: Tortured Genius, Opposites Attract, Haunted By the Past
Main Cast: John Turturro, Emily Watson, Geraldine James, Stuart Wilson, Christopher Thompson, Orla Brady
Release Year: 2000
Country: UK/FR
Run Time: 108 minutes
Plot
A lush historical drama from Dutch director Marlene Gorris, The Luzhin Defense is set in Como, a gorgeous northern Italian lakeside town located at the foot of the Alps. The year is 1929, and Alexander Luzhin (John Turturro) is a talented Russian chess player travelling to Como by train for the World Chess Championship. Also on his train is Natalia (Emily Watson), who is journeying to Como to meet her mother Vera (Geraldine James) at their posh lakeside hotel. Vera wants Natalia to settle down with the right -- meaning rich -- man, and duly tries to set her up with Jean (Christopher Thompson), a French count. However, Natalia instead sets her sights on Luzhin, who returns her affections, and the two embark on an unusual and unpredictable love affair. Adapted from one of Vladimir Nabokov's lesser-known novels, The Luzhin Defense also features the talents of Mark Tandy and Kelly Hunter as Luzhin's parents -- seen in flashback -- and Orla Brady as his young aunt. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, All Movie Guide
Review
Marlene Gorris' The Luzhin Defence is less about chess than it is about the existence of a person obsessively devoted to a single pursuit. John Turturro gives a great performance as chess great Alexander Luzhin. He looks and acts like a cross between Harpo Marx and Geoffrey Rush's portrayal of David Helfgott in Shine. Unable to walk smoothly, his body seems to be at fighting a losing war with his mind. When he meets Emily Watson's Natalia, his love for her alters the way he moves, a change most memorably presented in a scene where the pair dance ecstatically with each other. This relationship offers him an escape from the obsession that has controlled him most of his life. The performances are all strong, but it is Turturro's show. Romantic, haunted, and quirky, this character is the cerebral equivalent of Nicholas Cage's alcoholic writer in Leaving Las Vegas, a man who glimpses happiness and peace as he speeds towards his sad fate. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
Fabio Sartor - Turati; Peter Blythe - Ilya; Mark Tandy - Luzhin's Father; Kelly Hunter - Luzhin's Mother
Credit
John Hill - Supervising Art Director, Celestia Fox - Casting, Leo Pescarolo - Co-producer, Eric Robison - Co-producer, Tommy Gormley - First Assistant Director, Marleen Gorris - Director, Michael Reichwein - Editor, Jody Patton - Executive Producer, Alexandre Desplat - Composer (Music Score), Tony Burrough - Production Designer, Bernard Lutic - Cinematographer, Stephen Evans - Producer, Louis Becker - Producer, Philippe Guez - Producer, Caroline Wood - Producer, Peter Glossop - Sound/Sound Designer, Craig Irving - Sound/Sound Designer, Peter Berry - Screenwriter, Vladimir Nabokov - Book Author
Director Marleen Gorris' The Luzhin Defence is a tale of illicit and tragic love set against an international chess match played at the Italian Lakes in the late '20s. Thus, composer Alexandre Desplat, conducting the London Symphony Orchestra, had the task of providing musical accompaniment to two kinds of conflict: romantic and intellectual. He does so with a score that alternates between lush sections full of long melodic lines and sharp passages of quickly played, percussive notes. On the one hand, his music is full of feeling; on the other, it seems meant to accompany complicated analysis. On a soundtrack album, that makes for sounds that can be soothing one moment, stimulating the next. Despite the dichotomy, the music is of a piece, except for the intrusion of "Waltz No. 2 From Jazz Suite No. 2" by Dimitri Shostakovich (played by the City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra and conducted by Paul Bateman), which for some reason appears twice on the album. ~ William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide
Simon Chamberlain (Piano), Simon Chamberlain (Soloist), Graham Chambers (Music Preparation), Frederic Petit (Cello), John Timperley (Engineer), John Timperley (?), David Walters (Assistant Engineer), Gareth Williams (Mastering), Reynold da Silva (Executive Producer), David Stoner (Release Coordinator), Paul Bateman (Conductor), Colin Parker (Design), Sue Mallett (Orchestra Supervision), Tom Jenkins (Assistant Engineer), James Fitzpatrick (Producer), James Fitzpatrick (Executive Producer), James Fitzpatrick (Editing), James Fitzpatrick (Sequencing), Jan Holzner (Assistant Engineer), John Alley (Piano), Dominique Lemonnier (Violin), Catherine Edwards (Celeste)
The chess position they play for the final between Turati and Luzhin is already a winning position for Black (Luzhin), even though Black is down on material. By playing 1. Kg4? (as opposed to 1. Kf2) White walks into a forcedcheckmate with a rooksacrifice:
1. Kg4? f5+
2. Kg5 Kg7
3. Nd5 Rh3!
4. gxh3 h6+
5. Kh4 Bf2#
If White plays 1. Kf2 instead of 1. Kg4 this leads to a heavy material loss for White and an easy game for Black:
1. Kf2 Rxc3+
2. Ke1 Rxc1+
3. Kd2 Rg1
4. Bxa6 Rxg2+
5. Kc3 Rxh2
and Black is up by a rook.
In the film Luzhin's final moves were made by the fiancee. The tournament had been paused after Luzhin had a breakdown. He had written down his last moves on a piece of paper.
Chess error
Unfortunately, the film is slightly marred in chess terms by Luzhin's previous game where he is shown checkmating with an illegal move (see rules of chess). As White, Luzhin plays an apparently brilliant combination culminating in a queen sacrifice followed by Rd1-d8+.
Luzhin - Unknown
Black to move
However, it is not hard to spot that White's rook on the d1 square is pinned against his king in the corner at h1 by black's rook on c1, so the checkmate is unplayable. He is nevertheless shown playing the illegal move to wild applause from the audience.
Luzhin has just played his rook to e8 (check) although it is not clear if this was a capture or not. Play continues:
