Film Review
In one of his more accessible films, acclaimed Indian
filmmaker Satyajit Ray offers an ironic take on the fall of India to the
British in the 19th Century.
The Chess Players
is one of Ray's more visually striking films, its rich composition belying its subtle complexities.
Like much of this director's cinema, the film demands several viewings to fully appreciate its worth
and see beyond the surface impressions.
The title is aptly chosen.
The high level political manoeuvring, which sees Queen Victoria's representatives usurp the
native king from a strategically important province, resembles a game
of chess in its intricacy and display of cunning. This connects
nicely with a second story stand involving two wealthy landowners who
are driven to increasingly desperate measures to continue their chess
playing in peace.
In Ray's mind, the two chess playing noblemen represent the complacent
ruling class of India, who allowed the British to take control of their
country. So obsessed are these two with their game of chess that
they completely lose touch with the world around them. One fails
to notice he is neglecting his wife; the other is ignorant of the fact
that his wife is cuckolding him with his own nephew. In the end,
they become passive bystanders, unable to do anything but watch as the
British troops turn up and take their kingdom away from them.
The Chess Players is an
atypical film for Ray in many respects. It is one of the few
films he shot in Technicolor and the only one of his films containing
dialogue in Hindi and Urdu, rather than his own Bengali. It also
includes a big name British actor, Richard Attenborough, which helped
to make the film a greater international hit than it might have
been. Attenborough was such an admirer of Ray's work that he
instantly agreed to waive his fee when the part was offered to
him. Whilst he found the experience of working in India in the
summer extremely arduous, Attenborough gave what is widely considered
one of his finest performances, as the conniving but not entirely
unsympathetic General Outram.
Whilst the film is stylistically quite a radical departure from much of
Ray's previous work, it bears its author's signature in both the sheer
excellence of the mise-en-scène and the authenticity of its
characterisation. Surprisingly, given its subject, there is no
bitterness in this film, just a suggestion of regret that India gave in
so easily to British rule. Indeed, Ray risks being accused of
treating the subject too lightly. A Terry Gilliam-style cartoon
makes fun of Britain's bulimic colonialism, whilst one of the two main
story strands comes dangerously close to Pythonesque farce on more
than one occasion. (Actually, the sequence in which the two chess
players try, unsuccessfully, to resume their game in the house of a
dying acquaintance is funnier than anything the Python team ever came
up with.)
The Chess Players is not only
an entertaining, superbly crafted piece of cinema, it is also highly
informative, giving a rare insight into a period of British and Indian
history which is too easily overlooked today. The film also
has a message for today's generation, since it offers
an effective allegory on the dangers of political
indifference. Closing your eyes seldom makes the world a better
place; indeed it merely makes the job of the dictator and the bandit
much, much easier. For anyone who feels daunted by Ray's
monumental reputation, there can be no better introduction to his work
that this sumptuous film.
© James Travers 2010
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Next Satyajit Ray film:
The Elephant God (1979)
Film Synopsis
In 1856, Oudh is one of the last provinces in India that has not
entirely succumbed to British control. Owing to concessions made
to the British government some years ago, it remains an independent
Muslim kingdom, ruled by the popular monarch Wajid Shah. But the
situation is about to change. The British now intend to take
control of Oudh to strengthen their position in India. General
Outram is sent by the Governor General, Lord Dalhousie, to find a
pretext for Wajid's dethronement. The Shah's love of poetry,
dance and women are interpreted by Outram as signs of a frivolous and
hedonistic temperament, something which makes him unfit to be a
king. Meanwhile, unaware of these political machinations, two
wealthy friends, Mirza and Mir, are fully occupied playing chess.
Mirza is so absorbed in his game that he neglects his wife. She
reacts by hiding the chess pieces, but the two friends continue
playing, with nuts and vegetables. Tired of his wife's
antagonism, Mirza persuades his friend to continue their game at his
house. This suggestion pleases Mir but not his wife, since she
has been having an affair with his nephew in his absence...
© James Travers
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.