Chess Story

Name: Chess Story
Genre: Drama, Thriller, War
Released: January 13, 2023
Duration: 110 min
Rating: 80
Cast: Anton Rattinger, Aron Eichhorn, Birgit Minichmayr, Dieter Bernhardt, Elias Gabele

2023

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Generally favorable reviews based on 5 Critic Reviews

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Movie Details & Credits

Film Movement | Release Date: January 13, 2023 | Not Rated

Starring: Anton Rattinger, Aron Eichhorn, Birgit Minichmayr, Dieter Bernhardt, Elias Gabele, Isa Hochgerner, Johannes Zeiler, Maresi Riegner, Oliver Masucci, Rafael Stachowiak

Summary: Vienna, 1938: Austria is occupied by the Nazis. Dr. Josef Bartok (Oliver Masucci) is preparing to flee to America with his wife Anna when he is arrested by the Gestapo. As a former notary to the deposed Austrian aristocracy, he is told to help the local Gestapo leader gain access to their private bank accounts in order to fund the NaziVienna, 1938: Austria is occupied by the Nazis. Dr. Josef Bartok (Oliver Masucci) is preparing to flee to America with his wife Anna when he is arrested by the Gestapo. As a former notary to the deposed Austrian aristocracy, he is told to help the local Gestapo leader gain access to their private bank accounts in order to fund the Nazi regime. Refusing to cooperate, Bartok is locked in solitary confinement. Just as his mind is beginning to crack, Bartok happens upon a book of famous chess games. To withstand the torture of isolation, Bartok disappears into the world of chess, maintaining his sanity only by memorizing every move. As the action flashes forward to a transatlantic crossing on which he is a passenger, it seems as though Bartok has finally found freedom. But recounting his story to his fellow travelers, it's clear that his encounters with both the Gestapo and with the royal game itself have not stopped haunting him.… Expand

Director: Philipp Stölzl

Genre(s): Drama, Thriller, War

Rating: Not Rated

Runtime: 110 min

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Critic Reviews

Kyle Smith

Jan 12, 2023

Chess Story is a nerve-scraping exercise in grand deception. Read full review

Benjamin Franz

Jan 13, 2023

Chess Story is a subtle, soft-spoken killer of a film. It’s absolutely worth your time if you like World War II-era dramas. Seek it out. Read full review

Michael Rechtshaffen

Jan 19, 2023

Although the blandly nondescript title doesn’t exactly suggest the promise of deep intrigue, Philipp Stölzl’s Chess Story masterfully confounds expectations as a tautly calibrated, intricately constructed Chinese puzzle of a period drama set during Nazi Germany’s annexation of Austria. Read full review

William Repass

Jan 9, 2023

Philipp Stölzl craftily melds the genres of period drama and psychological thriller, not for the purposes of reheated nostalgia, but to shed a cold light on the recursions of historical trauma. Read full review

Movie Nation Roger Moore

Jan 9, 2023

That’s what Chess Story is, mournful and just cryptic enough to leave you guessing what you just saw, but touched, engaged and intrigued by it, comfortable in realizing that over-explaining is not necessary and would spoil some of the fun. Read full review

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