Directed by:
Andrew BujalskiScreenplay:
Andrew BujalskiCinematography:
Matthias GrunskyCast:
Wiley Wiggins, Gary Teague, Jonny Mars, Dustin Guy Defa, Gerald Peary, Kevin Bewersdorf, Chris Doubek, Tishuan Scott, Bill Wise, Robin Schwartz, Cyndi WilliamsVOD (1)
Plots(1)
In 1980 a group of software programmers converge on a rundown hotel in Middle America for a weekend in which they will stage the ultimate battle between man and machine. The challenge is to program computer software to take on and defeat a human in chess. Meanwhile another group of new age types has descended on the hotel at the same time for primal therapy and group relations, in the case of one zealous hippy couple. Government agents seem to be monitoring the findings of the software designers on the chance they stumble upon a cutting edge breakthrough. A litter of stray cats wander around the corridors while the more ambitious jostle for recognition among their peers. (Accent Film Entertainment)
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Reviews (2)
Especially in comparison with the flashy American Hustle, Computer Chess makes it apparent how uncanny retro stylisation can be. The analogue camerawork doesn’t draw us into the film’s environment. On the contrary, it constantly reminds us of its technological limitations and thus of its own presence (and the key theme consisting in the conflict between man and technology). Black-and-white, sometimes reminiscent of a low-contrast picture (various shades of grey predominate), 4:3 aspect ratio, smudges, shadows, lines. Like with the Chilean film No, you have the feeling that you are watching a pirated copy of a film (which of course never existed in a different form). The consistent simulation of the visual quality of amateur television shows from the 1970s goes perfectly with the clumsy mumblecore poetics as well as with the awkwardness of the characters, who are a sort of beta version of today’s nerds. Rather than feeling superior, they feel guilty that they understand the language of ones and zeros better than they understand other people. Because society hadn’t yet come up with a specific pigeonhole for nerds, these atypical heroes could seek a balance between the human and the technological, between life in the community and life on their own – their extreme antithesis is the therapy session of a group of hippies running in parallel. Typical of this is the Kafkaesque subplot with Papageorge, who sees himself as more than a nerd and who (therefore) nobody wants to accept. With its shabby form and sarcastic depiction of a particular generation, Computer Chess is reminiscent of Clerks. However, awareness of the transformation that the IT subculture underwent (dehumanisation and – paradoxically – assimilation into the mainstream) makes this film more bitter and timeless. 75%
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This was way more bizarre than I expected. I thought it would be a stylized, sophisticated comedy, but I can’t even pin down the genre. It's far from a straight comedy, though it has some funny moments — mostly absurd, meta-humor that’s hard to grasp. I found many scenes boring, with long and mostly uninteresting dialogues. The whole film felt like one big joke only the director gets. In the second half, it stops even pretending to be coherent, leading to more and more WTF moments. The ending is so transcendent that I’m at a loss for words. While I didn’t enjoy Computer Chess, I was fascinated by its form. Hats off to Bujalski for having the guts to create and release this nerdy art film.
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Gallery (6)
Photo © Film Servis Festival Karlovy Vary
![Computer Chess - Photos](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w663/files/images/film/photos/158/430/158430048_649ad8.jpg)
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