February 18 – March 10, 2022
Country: Germany
Year: 2021
Runtime: 112 min
Age Rating: 12
Genre: Drama
Director: Philipp Stölz
This novel adaptation is set in 1938 shortly before the Second World War, just as the Wehrmacht is invading Austria. The lawyer Josef Bartok (Oliver Masucci) and his wife Anna are planning to escape to the USA. Shortly before the escape succeeds, however, Joseph is arrested by the Gestapo. When he refuses to cooperate and hand over all information regarding the accounts of the nobility and clergy, he is placed in solitary confinement. The only item he manages to smuggle into detention with him happens to be a chess book.
Over the next few months, he learns all the game constellations and plays imaginary games in which he mentally moves both the black and the white pieces. This duality soon causes a split in his ego and personality. Lost games suddenly evoke the desire for revenge...
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