Chess Club

Chess Club
Director	Robert Pesaro
Producers	Mark Jones
Starring	David Bukoski Janet Kasprzak Alan Jones Ezio Pesaro
Distribution	Ministry of Culture (Malgrave) Released to DVD and Blu-Ray in 2013
Release Date	1st of July 2012 (Malgrave)
Runtime	147 minutes
Country	Malgrave
Awards	Malgravean National Film Awards (2012): Best Director Best Actor BestScreenplay
Language	English and Polish. Subtitles available in Equestrian and others.
Budget	$61,108,000 NSD
Rating	18+ (Malgrave)

Chess Club is a 2012 Malgravean film, produced by the Ministry of Culture in an attempt to promote film making and export cultural products into the international community and compete in international award ceremonies.

Plot

An as of then unnamed character (Dobroslaw Kedzierski) is attempting to sleep in his apartment when the telephone rings, the voice on the other end of the line informing him that he has become the new editor-in-chief of the Communistan Proletariat Times after his previous boss had an unfortunate accident at the local printing press, the film then blacks out and time-skips forward several months. Dobroslaw Kedzierski is shown to be suffering from insomnia due to the stress of his job and the fact his doctor can't give him the proper medication due to supply shortages, instead instructing him to visit a support group hinting at the possibility that tablets could be available on the black market.

Initially resistant to attend a group whose legality is questionable he finally stocks up the courage and attends. On the way home however he finds that his apartment complex has been assaulted by terrorists and has been completely destroyed. In a fit of despair he remembers the name of a woman (Jenna Krakowski) that he met during the meeting and they decide to meet at a local bar. A conversation about work and the terrorism situation leads Jenna to invite Dobroslaw to her place, later on moving into her apartment permanently. During the weeks they get closer however Dobroslaw grows increasingly frustrated as parts of the apartment remained blocked off to him, in a heated argument after dinner Jenna breaks down admitting that she keeps illegal chess sets in the rooms, the sport being made illegal months after the establishment of the communist regime in order to prevent the spread of intellectual ideas. Instead of reporting her to the authorities Dobroslaw reveals that his father taught him chess as a child and the two begin playing chess, eventually getting the courage to start spreading news of their chess games to close friends and in time manage to form a "chess club", a routine opportunity to play the game and discuss intellectual ideas.

In time the popularity of the "chess club" spreads and copies of the initial club start spreading up across the country. All of this popularity however comes at a cost as the intelligence services soon start finding out, with the service General Yosef Stirlang taking a keen interest on shutting down these organisations without alerting the attention of President Diktaytour. At first the information is shielded from the leader however as clubs begin to be shut down in increasingly wealthy parts of the country Diktaytour becomes concerned about the amount of calls he is receiving from senior party members and calls in a junior intelligence officer who accidentally reveals the nature of the disturbances. Angered by the news that information has been hidden from him he orders the immediate arrest of Yosef Stirlang for treason and has himself taken by the guard to the nearest "chess club" which happens to be run by Dobroslaw and Jenna.

Initially intent on reasoning with the intellectuals and explaining the folly of their ways his interest is piqued by the game and he instructs Dobroslaw to teach him the game, an angered Dobroslaw immediately wishes to use the chance to murder the President however he is calmed down by Jenna and against his will begins teaching Diktaytour the nature of chess. After a few minutes of teaching and casual small-talk Diktaytour stops the proceedings calling his guards into the room the group fear summary execution however are shocked when Diktaytour requests to be taken to the Peoples Parliamentary Freedom Congress immediately. Rather shocked at the events those in the room are unable to move until it is revealed on State TV that the President has called for democratic multi-party elections and has urged for chess to be legalised. It is unknown if the President is successful in his mission however an end credit scene shows General Stirlang organising loyalist forces to stop the planned reforms having escaped punishment for his crimes.

Reception

'Chess Club' initially received lukewarm praise for its mixture of comedic and serious overtones and was panned by critics however after the first few viewings it became a success with the public and eventually the critics. On average it received a 90% positive rating and since been dropped in the list of cult-films It went on to win several awards at the Malgravean National Film awards including Best Director, Best Actor and Best Screenplay.

Abroad, the Kurton Citizen's film correspondent Marius Tosido described it as 'the most Malgravean film of the decade so far', proceeding to give it 4/5, even if heavily oriented for a domestic audience.

In Menelmacar, Chess Club lost money and left theaters in a week with an aggregate viewer rating of 43%. The film was panned on well-regarded entertainment show All of the Bombs when host and critic Anwaverio nos Losloriel noted the film's premise "had potential, but completely dropped the ball. The soundtrack was reasonably good, and the set design was properly squalid for the setting, but the acting performances were wooden and forgettable, the plot implausible at best, and none of the communists even got shot. Terrible, just terrible." In addition, several Menelmacari chess grandmasters have commented on what they felt was the low quality of chess play shown in the film.

In Rohane Alista, the film flopped so badly it was only in theaters for three days. Rohanian critic Johansen E. Versilimy is believed to have the most famous remarks on the film, summarized as "the worst kind of propaganda drivel. If you're going to make [propaganda] at least make it interesting."

Chess Club earned high critical acclaim in the Greater Pony Herd, earning the average aggregate rating of 80% and praised for its storyline, acting, comedic overtones, and especially morals. However it went relatively unnoticed in its theatrical run and only grossed $30 million, with aggregate viewer rating of 51% and many claiming the movie to be extraordinarily boring. The satirical talk show Late Night Flops awarded the film a place on the "Top 5 Most Boring Movies Ever", while noting that "it was certainly Malgravean" and placing it just above the critically acclaimed "300 Minutes Of Paint Drying".

Chess Club attained critical acclaim in the Republic of Breheim, but was barred from opening in most cinemas by the government. Among independent critics, it attained praise, while state-run media as well as the far-left independent paper Sons of Labour gave it an atrocious score. Among independents, it averaged 5/6 while among state-funded papers it attained only 2/6 on average. It opened in only eight cinemas nation-wide, and grossed $97,500. The most frequent complaint by Breheimian cinema goers was the lack of action, explosion and tits.