A witty and engaging documentary on the great names in international chess--and what makes them tick. With commentary by playwright Fernando Arrabal, the film touches on the political, religious, psychological and sexual interpretations of the motivations guiding these thoroughly eccentric individuals. A lively use of great chess scenes from feature films--including The Seventh Seal and Elizabeth the Queen (Bette Davis and Olivia De Havilland)--keeps this documentary moving apace. Village Voice critic J. Hoberman writes: “You needn't have prior knowledge of the game of kings--only an interest in human nature--to be captivated by Gilles Carle and Camille Coudari's film.... The Great Chess Movie touches lightly on street chess and computer chess, chess history, chess and the Jews, chess and the Russians, chess and the Russians and the Jews. The film's focus is on three fascinating personalities--Karpov (known in chess circles as ‘the fetus'), Korchnoi, and the specter who haunts the World Chess Federation, Bobby Fischer. The rivalry between Karpov...and Korchnoi...is a classic cold war confrontation, heightened by each man's reliance on gurus and paraphysics. As Arrabal puts it, however, ‘the martyrdom of Bobby Fischer belongs to the realm of legend.'.... As a comedy of tormented maleness, The Great Chess Movie is an apt follow-up to the (New York) Film Forum's last attraction, Jeanne Dielman.”