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----- Forwarded message from spklein52@hotmail.com -----
Date: Mon, 22 Aug 2005 13:08:33 -0400
From: "Sandy P. Klein" <spklein52@hotmail.com>
Reply-To: SPKlein52@HotMail.com
Subject: The Luzhin Defence ...
your approval (81 lines)
------------------ The Luzhin Defence
http://www.reel.com/movie.asp?MID=131692&Tab=reviews&CID=13#tabs[1]
Sunday 2005-08-21, Reel (English)
THE LUZHIN DEFENCE (2001)
STARRING: John Turturro[2], Emily Watson[3]
DIRECTOR: Marleen Gorris[4]
SYNOPSIS: A Russian chess champion falls in love with a British
beauty, but his obsession for the game threatens their relationship.
RUNTIME: 110 minutes
MPAA RATING: PG-13 - for some sensuality and thematic elements.
GENRE: Drama[5]
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: United Kingdom
[6]
[7]
Privacy Policy Click to hide product formats
DESCRIPTION: FORMAT: BUY:
LUZHIN DEFENCE, THE DVD [8]
LUZHIN DEFENCE, THE [CC] VHS [9]
REEL REVIEW - Rod Armstrong
The Luzhin Defence[10] (2001)
_Like its chess-playing main character, The Luzhin Defence_ loses its
game in the middle, but rouses itself to a bravura finale. While
author Vladimir Nabokov might not have approved of the sentimentality
of screenwriter Peter Berry's adaptation of his masterful novel, he
very likely would have been impressed by its dramatic finesse.
Marleen Gorris[11]' film is handsome and well-acted (aside from
Stuart Wilson[12]'s overly dastardly villain), with all the
appurtenances of a Merchant/Ivory effort, but with none of that
filmmaking team's longueurs.
Aside from a series of flashbacks, Berry has conflated the action to
a Grand Masters chess tournament taking place at an Italian resort in
the late 1920s. The favorites of the competition are Alexander Luzhin
(John Turturro[13]), a ramshackle genius; and a dapper ladies' man
named Turati (Fabio Sartor[14]).
While the other players spend their time schmoozing and partying,
Luzhin spends most of his time furiously writing down chess moves and
attempting to court Natalia (Emily Watson[15]), a pretty young Russian
aristocrat on holiday. When she first notices the hopelessly dressed,
distracted gentleman, she points him out to a friend as
"unfortunate," but soon his unique charms begin to win her over. "You
have no small talk," she tells him, "it allows me to breathe."
Even though Natalia's reciprocation of his romantic pursuits cheers
Luzhin, the stress of the impending competition leads to flashbacks
of his troubled childhood, where the reason behind some of his
misfortunes and his obsession with the game is revealed.
Once the match begins, Gorris' film loses some steam. The
displeasure of Natalia's mother (played with pursed-lip snobbery by
Geraldine James[16]) at her daughter's new boyfriend plays out
predictably and the villainy of Luzhin's former teacher Valentinov
(Wilson) is inadequately explained. Chess aficionados are likely to
be additionally disappointed in the lack of screen time devoted to
the game itself.
Matters pick up as the contest heads into its final round, and our
hero toward a nervous breakdown. The very fine closing scene,
different from Nabokov's novel, is elegiac and moving. Turturro is a
bit too twitchy as Luzhin and Watson is a bit too old to play the
husband-hunting Natalia, but their performances are still effective.
Watson, in particular, impressively conveys the tricky reasons why
her character would be attracted to such an oddball. While the moves
Gorris makes in _The Luzhin Defence_ are not quite those of a master,
she certainly proves herself to be an agile player.
ROD ARMSTRONG
-------------------------
CRITICS ROUNDUP
Roger Ebert
Reel.com
New York Times
Los Angeles Times
Some film critics do not provide a rating system using stars.
Reel.com's editors closely read those critics' reviews and then
attribute a star rating that approximately reflects each critic's
general opinion.
Links:
------
[1]
http://www.reel.com/movie.asp?MID=131692&Tab=reviews&CID=13#tabs
[2] http://www.reel.com/filmography.asp?SFor=2&NMID=91745
[3] http://www.reel.com/filmography.asp?SFor=2&NMID=92663
[4] http://www.reel.com/filmography.asp?SFor=3&NMID=95240
[5] http://www.reel.com/reel.asp?node=categories/drama
[6] http://www.hollywoodvideo.com/storelocator/
[7]
http://www.reel.com/movie.asp?MID=131692&buy=closed&Tab=reviews&CID=0
[8]
http://www.reel.com/reelcart/xt_orderform_additem_multi.asp?PID=10094832&FSKU=B00005N91D&L=5&F=DVD
[9]
http://www.reel.com/reelcart/xt_orderform_additem_multi.asp?PID=10094833&FSKU=B00005NBAY&L=5&F=VHS
[10]
http://www.reel.com/movie.asp?MID=131692&buy=open&Tab=reviews&CID=13#tabs
[11] http://www.reel.com/filmography.asp?NMID=95240&SFor=3
[12] http://www.reel.com/filmography.asp?NMID=93303&SFor=2
[13] http://www.reel.com/filmography.asp?NMID=91745&SFor=2
[14] http://www.reel.com/filmography.asp?NMID=113187&SFor=2
[15] http://www.reel.com/filmography.asp?NMID=92663&SFor=2
[16] http://www.reel.com/filmography.asp?NMID=79415&SFor=2
----- End forwarded message -----
Date: Mon, 22 Aug 2005 13:08:33 -0400
From: "Sandy P. Klein" <spklein52@hotmail.com>
Reply-To: SPKlein52@HotMail.com
Subject: The Luzhin Defence ...
your approval (81 lines)
------------------ The Luzhin Defence
http://www.reel.com/movie.asp?MID=131692&Tab=reviews&CID=13#tabs[1]
Sunday 2005-08-21, Reel (English)
THE LUZHIN DEFENCE (2001)
STARRING: John Turturro[2], Emily Watson[3]
DIRECTOR: Marleen Gorris[4]
SYNOPSIS: A Russian chess champion falls in love with a British
beauty, but his obsession for the game threatens their relationship.
RUNTIME: 110 minutes
MPAA RATING: PG-13 - for some sensuality and thematic elements.
GENRE: Drama[5]
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: United Kingdom
[6]
[7]
Privacy Policy Click to hide product formats
DESCRIPTION: FORMAT: BUY:
LUZHIN DEFENCE, THE DVD [8]
LUZHIN DEFENCE, THE [CC] VHS [9]
REEL REVIEW - Rod Armstrong
The Luzhin Defence[10] (2001)
_Like its chess-playing main character, The Luzhin Defence_ loses its
game in the middle, but rouses itself to a bravura finale. While
author Vladimir Nabokov might not have approved of the sentimentality
of screenwriter Peter Berry's adaptation of his masterful novel, he
very likely would have been impressed by its dramatic finesse.
Marleen Gorris[11]' film is handsome and well-acted (aside from
Stuart Wilson[12]'s overly dastardly villain), with all the
appurtenances of a Merchant/Ivory effort, but with none of that
filmmaking team's longueurs.
Aside from a series of flashbacks, Berry has conflated the action to
a Grand Masters chess tournament taking place at an Italian resort in
the late 1920s. The favorites of the competition are Alexander Luzhin
(John Turturro[13]), a ramshackle genius; and a dapper ladies' man
named Turati (Fabio Sartor[14]).
While the other players spend their time schmoozing and partying,
Luzhin spends most of his time furiously writing down chess moves and
attempting to court Natalia (Emily Watson[15]), a pretty young Russian
aristocrat on holiday. When she first notices the hopelessly dressed,
distracted gentleman, she points him out to a friend as
"unfortunate," but soon his unique charms begin to win her over. "You
have no small talk," she tells him, "it allows me to breathe."
Even though Natalia's reciprocation of his romantic pursuits cheers
Luzhin, the stress of the impending competition leads to flashbacks
of his troubled childhood, where the reason behind some of his
misfortunes and his obsession with the game is revealed.
Once the match begins, Gorris' film loses some steam. The
displeasure of Natalia's mother (played with pursed-lip snobbery by
Geraldine James[16]) at her daughter's new boyfriend plays out
predictably and the villainy of Luzhin's former teacher Valentinov
(Wilson) is inadequately explained. Chess aficionados are likely to
be additionally disappointed in the lack of screen time devoted to
the game itself.
Matters pick up as the contest heads into its final round, and our
hero toward a nervous breakdown. The very fine closing scene,
different from Nabokov's novel, is elegiac and moving. Turturro is a
bit too twitchy as Luzhin and Watson is a bit too old to play the
husband-hunting Natalia, but their performances are still effective.
Watson, in particular, impressively conveys the tricky reasons why
her character would be attracted to such an oddball. While the moves
Gorris makes in _The Luzhin Defence_ are not quite those of a master,
she certainly proves herself to be an agile player.
ROD ARMSTRONG
-------------------------
CRITICS ROUNDUP
Roger Ebert
Reel.com
New York Times
Los Angeles Times
Some film critics do not provide a rating system using stars.
Reel.com's editors closely read those critics' reviews and then
attribute a star rating that approximately reflects each critic's
general opinion.
Links:
------
[1]
http://www.reel.com/movie.asp?MID=131692&Tab=reviews&CID=13#tabs
[2] http://www.reel.com/filmography.asp?SFor=2&NMID=91745
[3] http://www.reel.com/filmography.asp?SFor=2&NMID=92663
[4] http://www.reel.com/filmography.asp?SFor=3&NMID=95240
[5] http://www.reel.com/reel.asp?node=categories/drama
[6] http://www.hollywoodvideo.com/storelocator/
[7]
http://www.reel.com/movie.asp?MID=131692&buy=closed&Tab=reviews&CID=0
[8]
http://www.reel.com/reelcart/xt_orderform_additem_multi.asp?PID=10094832&FSKU=B00005N91D&L=5&F=DVD
[9]
http://www.reel.com/reelcart/xt_orderform_additem_multi.asp?PID=10094833&FSKU=B00005NBAY&L=5&F=VHS
[10]
http://www.reel.com/movie.asp?MID=131692&buy=open&Tab=reviews&CID=13#tabs
[11] http://www.reel.com/filmography.asp?NMID=95240&SFor=3
[12] http://www.reel.com/filmography.asp?NMID=93303&SFor=2
[13] http://www.reel.com/filmography.asp?NMID=91745&SFor=2
[14] http://www.reel.com/filmography.asp?NMID=113187&SFor=2
[15] http://www.reel.com/filmography.asp?NMID=92663&SFor=2
[16] http://www.reel.com/filmography.asp?NMID=79415&SFor=2
----- End forwarded message -----