It's sort of unbelievable that Hollywood has adapted a captivating, extraordinary event that submerged the world's attention in 1972 during the rise of the Cold War. "Pawn Sacrifice", is about the world's chess championship match between Bobby Fischer and Russian Boris Spassky held in Reykjavik, Iceland.
Tobey Maguire, best known for the gentle and introspective roles, did an outstanding job portraying the role of Bobby Fischer, an imperious and eccentric chess genius in "Pawn Sacrifice". An article on Deadline insisted that this is definitely his best movie ever, same through with Liev Schreiber who plays the role of Spassky, Fischer's opponent. In addition, Schreiber deserve to be in list of Best Supporting Actor Oscar awards.
The game was the only chess match treated with so much importance, and according to an article on NY Post, the match was even covered on ABC's "Wide World of Sports" for days during those years. Truly, the world watched as Fischer defeated Spassky, being the 'greatest chess game ever played' in history.
According to an article on the LA Times, chess has inspired some filmmakers towards producing the Fischer films and documentaries. And with "Pawn Sacrifice", it served as an impressive and inspiring addition to the Fischer film collection.
The movie was directed by the smart director Edward Zwick and penned by the respectable Steven Knight. The film, as a matter of fact, is a good conveyor of convincingly inspiring experience not only to a sports fan.
So much of the film is played in Maguire's eyes, and it is those silent moments where one gets attached to the story. Zwick and his expert cinematographer Bradford Young (Selma) have made a way to make the cinematography as intricate as all the chess moves in the movie plot.
The game of chess is obviously not easy to adapt into an irresistible two-hour movie, especially for the audiences who have no idea with the gameplay. But the film has unbelievably made it through. Chess is not just a game; "Pawn Sacrifice" isn't just a movie.
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