Jack and I enjoyed this story of Hélène, a hotel chambermaid who takes up chess after seeing a couple playing on the balcony of their room. It's clearly sexy to the couple, and Hélène becomes passionate about the game, buying a set for her husband and practicing on her own. Set on the beautiful Mediterranean island of Corsica (until now I thought it was Italian, but it's French) there are some magnificent vistas that, unfortunately, we couldn't appreciate, since what we saw in the theatre, three weeks after its New York premiere and in its first (and only) week here, was a crappy pixelated video. This is no problem for you, dear readers, as you can wait for the May 31 DVD release in this country, or buy it now in Europe or Canada.
Delicate and intense Sandrine Bonnaire (so familiar, but none of her titles rings a bell) is terrific as Hélène. Jennifer Beals, with a sly smile, is half of the American chess-playing couple, and Kevin Kline plays it straight as a professor (named Kröger--why the umlaut? I have no idea. His accent is clearly American) whose house Hélène cleans. This is Kline's second role speaking French, although in French Kiss (1995) his accent was intentionally laughable (imdb and some reviewers are saying it's his first. Again, I'm baffled as to why) (I have so many Kline favorites, and choose, in addition to French Kiss, A Fish Called Wanda (1988), which won him his Oscar, as well as his debut Sophie's Choice (1982), The Big Chill (1983), Grand Canyon (1991), Dave (1993), The Ice Storm (1997), In & Out (1997), Life as a House (2001), The Anniversary Party (2001), De-Lovely (2004) as Cole Porter, and he lent his trademark humor to No Strings Attached). Mention must be made of the good performances of Francis Renaud and Alexandra Gentil as Hélène's husband and teenage daughter.
This is the feature directorial debut of Caroline Bottaro who adapted Bertina Henrichs’s novel The Chess Player, despite not much familiarity with the game (she consulted some experts). I know almost nothing about chess either but that didn't detract from my enjoyment. With locations in the Red Rocks in the Piana region in South Corsica and original music by Nicola Piovani (many credits, including Oscar winner for Life is Beautiful) this will be a lovely diversion for you in your home next month.
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