La Diagonale du fou (1984) - film review

Young grandmaster Pavius Fromm confronts reigning world chess champion Akiva Liebskird in a prestigious chess tournament in Geneva.  Both men come from the Soviet side of the Iron Curtain, but whilst Liebskird is loyal to the Soviet regime, Fromm is a notorious dissident living in exile in the West.  Fromm’s lack of discipline and apparent contempt for the rules both angers and unnerves his opponent and a fierce battle of wills ensues.  However, away from the chessboard, the two men suffer traumatic experiences.  Liebskird’s health is failing and Fromm is becoming paranoid that his Soviet opponents are using his wife to engineer a mental collapse.  All too late, the two chess players realise that they are no more than pawns in a dangerous game of politics...

The first film from Swiss director Richard Dembo is an enticing psychological thriller which develops from a game of chess into something much more substantial and frightening.  The film has both the structure and feel of a tense, highly charged world chess championship, conveying the power and intrigue which a truly great game of chess can unleash.

The film’s main strength lies in the strong performances of its two lead actors, Michel Piccoli (a stalwart of French cinema for he past two decades) and the charismatic Alexandre Arbatt.  The face-to-face confrontations between the two are utterly compelling, providing some moments of supreme drama, such as those you would expect to witness between two arch-rivals in a great chess tournament.

Raoul Coutard’s photography is, as ever, a great asset.  This, together with strong acting performances and an ingenious yet understated plot, makes this a disturbing and compelling work.  The film won an Oscar in 1984 in the best foreign film category.

© James Travers 2001

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