THE ROYAL GAME sees director Philipp Stölzl reinterpreting Stefan Zweig's timeless literature classic. The famous story of the man who survives captivity and mental torture with the help of a chess book becomes an intense game of deception in the new adaptation.
Vienna, 1938: Austria is occupied by the Nazi regime. The lawyer Bartok is arrested and taken to the Hotel Metropol, the Gestapo's headquarters, shortly before he can flee with his wife to the USA. As an asset manager for the nobility, he should now provide the local Gestapo chief Böhm with access to the accounts. But Bartok is sent to solitary confinement since he refuses to cooperate. He remains steadfast for weeks and months, but becomes increasingly desperate – until he chances upon a chess book.
Source: German Films Service & Marketing GmbH
Philipp Stölzl was born 1967 and lives in Berlin. His work as a director has a very wide range including feature films, commercials, music-videos as well as opera and theater productions. Starting out as a set designer for theater, he crossed over to music-videos in his late twenties. After having some international success in this genre, he extended his work as a film director to commercials and feature films. Lately the theater has come back into his life. Stölzl is now directing (and stage designing) operas and theater plays in addition to his ongoing film work. His films include: NORTH FACE (2008), GOETHE! (2010), DER MEDICUS (2013), WINNETOU (2016), and I’VE NEVER BEEN TO NEW YORK (2019).
The remake of the "The Royal Game" is one of the rare cases in which the film has not only managed to leave the original behind, but to surpass it.
SZ
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