La diagonale du fou (1984)

User Rating:

6.6/10   

Director:

Richard Dembo

Writer:

Richard Dembo (writer)

Release Date:

24 May 1985 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Thriller

Plot Keywords:

Driving Car | Game Of Go | Shirtless Male | Chess Master | Doctor

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 3 wins & 3 nominations

Cast

Michel Piccoli	...	Akiva Liebskind
Alexandre Arbatt	...	Pavius Fromm
Liv Ullmann	...	Marina Fromm
Leslie Caron	...	Henia Liebskind
Wojciech Pszoniak	...	Le grand maître Felton - l'équipe de Fromm
Jean-Hugues Anglade	...	Miller, l'équipe de Fromm
Daniel Olbrychski	...	Tac-Tac, l'équipe de Liebskind
Hubert Saint-Macary	...	Foldes
Michel Aumont	...	Stepan Ivanovitch Kerossian - l'équipe de Liebskind
Pierre Michaël	...	Yachvili
Serge Avedikian	...	Fadenko
Pierre Vial	...	Anton Heller
Bernhard Wicki	...	Pühl
Jacques Boudet	...	Stuffli
Benoît Régent	...	Barabal

Also Known As:

Dangerous Moves (USA)

Runtime:

France:110 min | Switzerland:95 min | USA:100 min | Argentina:102 min

Country:

France | Switzerland

Language:

French

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Argentina:13 | UK:15

Company:

Arthur Cohn Productions

Trivia:

In the final game, Pavius and Akiva play the French Defence / Paulsen Attack. The moves are as follows: 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. c3 Nc6 5. Nf3 Qb6 6. Be2 cxd4 7. cxd4 Nh6 8. Nc3 Nf5 9. Na4 Bb4+ 10. Bd2 Qa5 11. Bc3 b5 12. a3 Bxc3+ 13. Nxc3 b4 14. axb4 Qxb4 The film ends here; at this point, it is much too early in the game to determine who will win.

Goofs:

Factual errors: Early in the film, Liebskind describes a move as "Rook to G-10". There is no G-10 on the chessboard; the numbers only go to 8. This error is in the subtitles only and was a mistranslation; the actual line ends with "huit", French for eight.

Movie Connections:

Featured in The 79th Annual Academy Awards (2007) (TV)

Terrific Little Political Thriller

"Dangerous Moves" is filled with great political intrigue that will please fans of these types of movies. It revolves around a heated chess championship in which two Russians – one a Soviet citizen, one living in exile – compete for the top price. The simple tournament becomes a battle of ideologies. I don't know how to play chess but I found the film absorbing, very entertaining. The international cast is wonderful. Michel Piccoli and Alexandre Arbatt play the Russian rivals. Leslie Caron is Piccoli's long-suffering but understanding wife. Wojciech Pszoniak also shines in a key supporting role. Liv Ullmann, in a great cameo, plays Arbatt's mentally unstable wife. It is not great cinema but it is very entertaining. I imagine it is even more enjoyable if you know how to play the game. It won an Oscar for Best Foreign Film.