Dangerous Moves (1984)

During the Cold War, the World Chess Championship clashed complete opposites - personal and political.

Director:

Richard Dembo

Writer:

Richard Dembo

Stars:

Michel Piccoli, Alexandre Arbatt, Liv Ullmann

Won 1 Oscar. Another 3 wins & 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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

Storyline

Two masters of chess duel each other not only in their game but also in their different ideologies. The veteran Akiva is a Soviet Jew and ferocious Communist, master of his game but also dealing with a declining health while the young and restless genius Pavius has defected to the West to escape from the Communism tentacles. Their differences will be put to test while they're both competing in the World Chess Championship, with a huge prize at stake just as much as the political ideologies behind those characters.

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Plot Keywords:

chess | jew | escape | communism | communist | 

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Taglines:

The drama of two men fighting the supreme battle of the mind.

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Genres:

Drama | Sport | Thriller

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Did You Know?

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.

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Goofs

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.

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Quotes

Pavius Fromm: Check. Check.
Akiva Liebskind: Mate! Mate!
[wins one match]

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Connections

Featured in The 79th Annual Academy Awards (2007)

User Reviews

A Smart Rocky?

Two masters of chess duel each other not only in their game but also in their different ideologies. The veteran Akiva is a Soviet Jew and ferocious Communist, master of his game but also dealing with a declining health while the young and restless genius Pavius has defected to the West to escape from the Communist tentacles.

I love that this is billed as the "thinking man's Rocky". First, this assumes that "Rocky" is not for thinking men, which is not necessarily true. It may not be high art, but it's still a good movie. But that aside, I find it interesting to compare a film about a boxer with one about chess players.

Anyway, whether we accept that marketing or not, it really is a good film. I'm curious about how accurate the subtitles are (they notoriously changed "eight" to "ten" in an early scene) but even if the film was silent, it is quite visually appealing.

Details

Country:

France Liechtenstein Switzerland

Language:

French

Release Date:

24 May 1985 (USA)

Also Known As:

Dangerous Moves

Filming Locations:

Asnières-sur-Oise, Val d'Oise, France

Box Office

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$2,500,000

Company Credits

Production Co:

La Cécilia, Michael Arthur Films, Ministère de la Culture

Technical Specs

Runtime:

110 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1