Joueuse

An inspiring chess movie because the democratic essence of the game prevails even when overcoming such obstacles as gender and class bias. But too, the story is as much about battles of all kinds as it is about chess.

We find in this film that a cleaning women's life changes because she says, "I exist, too. I have an interest. I will work at it because it matters to me." She learns, as we all do, that if you take a risk you may lose, but if you do not take risks you will lose.

Beautiful and subtle, yet appropriate, soundtrack and cinematography. Dialogue simple yet profound. Acting - spot on.

Again, foreign studios seem to be outclassing LA and NY - not even close. Well, OK, we have bigger CGI effects' computers and budgets.

"Queen to Play" is a sweet, small, powerful film about a cleaning woman's discovery of passion and dignity through chess. Sandrine Bonnaire plays Helene, a 40 something cleaning woman on the tourist island of Corsica. She's got a nice, handsome, construction worker husband, a snotty teenage daughter struggling through growing pains, an imperious boss at a resort hotel, and a quiet, reasonable, low-rent life.

One day Helene picks up the game of chess, and everything changes. Chess engages her mind and passion. For the sake of learning more about the game, she does things she never would have done, otherwise. She asks a man she cleans for, Dr. Kroger (Kevin Kline) to play with her. The grouchy older man rebuffs her at first, but she offers to clean for free, and he accepts. "Do you always look at people as if your life depended on their answer to your question?" Dr. Kroger asks her.

In fact Helene's life does depend on her newfound passion for chess. Helene demands time to learn about the game. She is distracted in conversations were before she might have listened more sympathetically or joined in petty, local gossip. She schedules hours alone with a man. She answers back to demanding customers at the resort. She snaps at her family, "Would it kill you to cook your own dinner for one night?" Just who does Helene think she is? She is, after all, only a cleaning woman, the chess club president reminds her. His arrogance will not serve him well when he butts up against Helene.

"Queen to Play" is a small film. The script is spare. The film is lovely but not spectacular. Sandrine Bonnaire's great beauty and her performance are its best special effect. I wish there had been a bit more depth and development. But what is here is really powerful. We've gotten so used, in the US, to thinking of injustice and prejudice as being, primarily, about black versus white. "Queen to Play" shows how being a cleaning woman is itself a handicap in society, how expectations can squash a human being, and the price people pay for even the most simple gesture of coloring outside the lines of others' expectations. I admire and like Helene as I do few other film heroines. And I'd love to see Bonnaire play a saint someday. Her face is made for it.

There are movies about baseball and swimming and even pool and poker. This one is about chess. And it is a superb film, one of the few I've rated ten. Where to start? The rich photography and the stunning scenery? The captivating, believable characters? The subtleties that Europe does so well but Hollywood doesn't even understand? Perhaps the thing I liked best was the wonderful facial expressions. Anyone can learn a line. It takes much more talent to convey a story with a raised eyebrow, a cunning smile, an expression of shocked surprise. The movie is a winner even if you don't know the difference betaken a pawn and a rook. But if you play chess and understand its culture, it is especially engaging. Chess is wrongly regarded as a slow and boring game. Here it has the excitement of a bobsled run. Just a heluva great movie!

On some levels this movie works. Its' slow paced, languid, and the characters draw you in – particularly Sandrine Bonnaire. It's about the addiction of the game of chess and its appeal. So if you feel nothing for the game then you have been warned! The scenery on the island of Corsica is very colourful.

However it's also a somewhat self-indulgent film – it's about addiction after all. There are many long and lingering shots of Sandrine and Kevin staring at each other and then at chess pieces. Sandrine's family is so very much accommodating to her new found passion. There is certain lack of logicality – it takes years with many different chess partners to become a solid player and then participate successfully in a tournament. Still the movie does dreamily captivate.

I largely agree with what others have said here. But there is one flaw that nobody seems to have noticed: not one game of chess in this movie ends with a draw. As everybody with some knowledge of the game is aware of, draws are the rule among advanced players of chess, so a tournament such as the one shown in the movie that works by elimination (quarterfinals, semifinals, final), with only one game between a pair of contestants, is simply not realistic. (The tie could be broken through a game of fast chess, but this is not shown either.) It goes without saying that the whole dramaturgy of the movie would be significantly altered by the sheer possibility of draws. To sum it up, I consider chess a poor choice for communicating the message of this movie. Choose a game that does not permit draws and the problem is solved--although then the somewhat heavy handed symbolism of the queen as the strongest piece would have to be sacrificed.