It's 1984, and the Cold War is still going on; what ought to be a fairly straightforward World Championship match between chessmasters Fromm (Alexandre Arbatt) and Liebskind (Michel Piccoli) turns out to be a pressure point for political tensions as well as personal ones. Liebskind, the old master, appears to be a loyal Soviet citizen, while the younger, passionate Fromm is an exile whose politics are unclear.

Dangerous Moves (original title: La diagonale du fou) tries to take on several levels of conflict at the same time, all wrapped around the central battle between the two players at the chessboard. However, the conflict is never developed beyond the most basic levels. The two grandmasters are focused on defeating each other, which drives them into an intellectual and personal conflict that's at least understandable to the viewer; we see two different personalities, one volatile, one calmer but stubborn, trying to cope with intense pressure of the competition. To a certain extent this is developed over the course of the film, as we learn a bit more about Fromm's past relationship with Liebskind, but it's still only a surface layer. The film as a whole is clearly trying to direct our attention to the larger context of the chess match as an example of Cold War conflict between the Soviet loyalist and the dissident.

A good idea in theory; in practice, not so good. What do we get to indicate the larger political context of the story? Not much. We're able to pick up that Fromm and Liebskind are in essence on different political sides as well as being opponents in the tournament; nonetheless, they don't appear to be real "players" in a political sense. The only importance in the Cold War conflict here is who will win, which is left to the viewer to assume would be a propaganda victory for that side. All the machinations of the various supporters, managers, and other people attached to the chess players, then, is simply to ensure that their player ends up as the winner. Again, this could make for an interesting plot development, except that it all ends up rather unfocused. Many secondary characters appear in the film, including some that seem to be important but who are never really introduced or explained. And without a clear context for what's going on or why it's so important, the various attempts to disrupt the other player's concentration lack real tension as to whether or not they'll succeed.

The most interesting part of the film is the psychological warfare between the two opponents at the chessboard, and its effects on both of them. If the actual chess games had been handled better, perhaps making it clearer to the ordinary viewer what was going on, then this could have been the heart of the game, drawing the viewer into the intense and rarified world of strategy and counter-strategy during the game. As it is, we do get a sense of the way the players consider the meta-game as well as the game itself, discussing different types of plays that their opponent might do, or how their opponent might respond to different opening strategies, but the film doesn't focus enough on this aspect of the story to make it take center stage.

The DVD

Video

Dangerous Moves is presented in a solid anamorphic widescreen transfer. While one section of the case states that the image is in the 1.66:1 aspect ratio, another section of the case contrarily states that it's a "new 16x9 transfer made from a high definition master." The latter is correct, as the film appears in the 1.85:1 aspect ratio. I wasn't able to determine if this is actually the original aspect ratio, but certainly the film looks as if it were framed correctly; I didn't notice any evidence of cropping or zooming at all, so I'd bet that the image is presented as it's supposed to be.

For a film from 1984, the overall image quality is surprisingly excellent, certainly better than I expected. Very little noise appears in the image, although print flaws do pop up fairly frequently. Contrast is satisfactory, and colors also look good, with skin tones and other colors having a natural appearance, and bright colors looking vibrant with no bleeding.

Viewers will be pleased to note that the subtitles are optional.

Audio

The French mono audio track is much less satisfactory than the video transfer. While the actors' voices sounded natural and not distorted, I noticed some background noise, including distinct crackling at times. The volume level is also a little uneven, ranging from normal to excessively soft at different times during the film; this had the effect of muting the dialogue at times.

The optional English subtitles appear in a clear and readable lettering.

Extras

A five-minute interview clip with producer Arthur Cohn is the only video supplement on the DVD. Other bonus material on the DVD includes Cohn's filmography, a text essay on the written notation for chess games. A short essay on the film's historical and cultural significance by film historian Ronald Falzone is included in the chapter insert.

Final thoughts

Dangerous Moves is watchable, but it fails to live up to its promise of being a tense or suspenseful thriller; in terms of plot, the film ends up just feeling rather flat, with its only saving grace being the psychological battle that goes on during the chess matches. This is definitely not a film to purchase unless you've already seen it; if you find the Cold War theme and chess subject to be interesting, I'd suggest Dangerous Moves as a rental.