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The Luzhin Defence


Directed by Marleen Gorris
Starring John Turturro, Emily Watson, Geraldine James, Stuart Wilson (II), Christopher Thompson
Sony Pictures

List Price: $29.95
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Sales Rank: 18942
Release Date: September 18, 2001
Rated:  
Running Time: 106 minutes
Theatrical Release: January 09, 2009
Studio: Sony Pictures


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CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 4.0 based on 22 reviews)

Ham-fisted, stupid and not even worth John Turturro's fantastic performance (spoiler alert!)  
The movie of "The Luzhin Defense" is a case study in how one great central performance cannot redeem an otherwise woefully misconceived - or at any rate, misexecuted - film.

I am not one of those literary snobs who thinks that no good book can be adapted into a decent movie. I am a Nabokov fan, to be sure, but while I am not a fan of the Kubrick "Lolita" I concede that it has its moments...although I prefer the Lyne version for being more faithful.

The real problem with "The Luzhin Defense" as a film is that the story has been fundamentally dicked around with, and I don't believe that that can ever be forgivable. This is not a movie adaptation of a very, very good novel (although Nabokov's "The Luzhin Defense" undoubtedbly is a very good novel); it's a movie version of a story loosely based on a novel by Nabokov but with a very different plot, in which the title character is playing the role as if he were in a movie adaptation of the novel. In other words, Turturro does a great movie rendition of Luzhin, but it makes no sense because somebody, on some level, wasn't interested in filming this novel; they were interested in banking on Nabokov's name, and also the names of Turturro and Emily Watson.

The film story is a ridiculously trivialised and sentimentalised version of the novel's story. In the book, Luzhin attempts to cure himself of chess and to a certain extent succeeds - but in the end he is tempted once again, succumbs to the temptation, goes nuts and dies.

In the film, he plays the endgame but then dies, but his pious widow then goes on to win the game for him. This robs the story of its entire point. Chess is supposed to be Luzhin's tragedy. If it's just something that someone else can do for him, what is the point of the story?

In other words - forget it. I would quite like to own this DVD, only because I have a perverse fondness for utterly stupid and disastrous adaptations of great books. But, please - do not buy this because you are tempted by the magic words "Nabokov", "Turturro", "Watson". Buy this ONLY because you have to be a completist.


December 25, 2008

Transformative love can only go so far  
When a film is made from a novel, sometimes literary license must be allowed to unleash the essence of the new product so that it becomes a work of art in its own right. This film is loosely based on Vladimir Nabokov's The Defense and is able to achieve the status of a work of art upon its own merits. I found the film to be really wonderful. It is filmed in a beautiful setting on Lake Como and the flashback scenes of St. Petersburg are beautiful and darkly haunting.

John Turturro is exceptional as Alexandre Luzhin, a chess prodigy with some autistic characteristics and almost complete lack of social skills. Through the use of flashbacks to the childhood of young Alexandre in St. Petersburg Russia we connect childhood experiences and trauma with the odd experiences of a disturbed fellow barely able to survive in the real world. We learn of Luzhin's development as a chess prodigy in an aristocratic Russian family.

The film wisely unfolds by first presenting beautiful Natalia Katkov, played to perfection by the highly talented Emily Watson. She and her mother are vacationing at a beautiful resort on the shores of Lake Como in Northern Italy. Her mother, Vera, played exceptionally well by Geraldine James, is concerned with Natalia finding a rich, smart and handsome husband. Director Marleen Gorris wisely sets this stage so that you can experience how both mother and daughter respond to the entrance of the uniquely odd and awkward Luzhin into the scene. Daughter Natalia is attracted to this man with no social skills and graces for she has been reared in a world where these skills were necessary for human interactions and negotiations. Her mother however responds with total disgust and even horror when she begins to realize that her daughter might actually be attracted to a man she considers to be a lunatic. Geraldine James gets some of the best lines in the film as she is allowed to make comments about poor Luzhin that the viewer is probably also thinking.

Luzhin is a somewhat sympathetic character as played by Turturro. A disturbed man with no social skills and characteristics of autism would be a challenge for any actor and John Turturro does an exceptional job of playing the odd Alexandre Luzhin, a man of compulsions and obsessions and tics. He falls for Natalia and proposes to her in their second conversation before he even knows her name. She handles this with grace, charm, compassion, and nurturance. But Luzhin has come to Lake Como for the world chess championship and he must defeat a handsome, intelligent, Italian master who is extremely sophisticated. Into this world however also creeps Valentinov, a former school master and mentor for Luzhin, and he tries to find a way to make Luzhin's defeat benefit himself. Valentinov has made a fortune displaying the young Luzhin as a child prodigy and the only way Luzhin could get away was to act like he had lost his gift for chess, at which point Valentinov drops him like a hot rock. Thus when Valentinov learns that Luzhin has risen in the ranks of chess to world champion he not only wants some of the action, he wants to get a bit of revenge on the poor autistic man that has escaped his grasp.

Much happens in this fine film but one especially wonderful passage is related to Luzhin's inability to find a particular strategy that can be used to defeat the more worldly Turati, his Italian competitor. When Luzhin and Natalia make love, this first act of sexual intercourse with a woman he loves loosens him up cognitively and he eventually has a break-through strategy as to how to defeat Turati. Love can be transformative of the way we perceive ourselves and the world and this part of the film certainly supports this notion.

Even if Valentinov is played as a villain by Stuart Wilson, the common goodness of many of the other characters comes through. Turati, the Italian master and competitor for Luzhin, played by Fabio Sartor, is revealed to be a genuine gentleman and fine person. The handsome French Count, Stassard, played by Christopher Thompson, plays the role of the man Natalia's mother wishes she would marry and he turns out to be a decent chap, supportive even in the final sad passages of this film.

Natalia knows that her love is transformative, giving her a sense of power, which eventually she uses to resolve the equation of the sad ending. You will not come away defeated in the end, but rather appreciative of loves powers and limitations in a world where unfortunately some of us are damaged goods.

I found this film to be excellent, thoughtful and moving. Highly recommended.

December 18, 2008

One woman in a million  
Genus of the Alexander Luzhin sort is found in several areas.
In most cases such men while famous have no real personal life as they are nearly autistic in their behaviors.
That a young Russian girl of the upper class became romantically involved with such a chess champion is very unlikely.
That they would make a movie out of the tragedy that resulted
seems strange. The coverage of the chess in this movie must disappoint chess fans: sort of chess with nearly no chess involved...
The acting is first rate, but the plot is somewhat hard to believe.
December 11, 2008

MARLEEN GORRIS, OPUS 6  
**** 2000. Based on Vladimir Nabokov's The Luzhin Defense (Penguin Modern Classics) and directed by the Dutch born director Marleen Gorris. Italy, in the late 1920's. Aleksandr Luzhin, a chess genius, must take part in the world tournament. He meets there the Russian Natalia Katkov and falls in love with her. Will she able to fight the inner demons of the grand master ? If there is only one reason to see THE LUZHIN DEFENCE, it's without a doubt John Turturro's performance. Perfect. Then, even if you don't know the rules of the chess game, you'll like this movie anyway because Marleen Gorris was more interested in creating a psychological tension than outlining the secrets of a new brilliant combination. Highly recommended.
October 13, 2008

Beautifully filmed -- but leaves questions  
This beautifully filmed movie is an adaptation of Vladimir Nabokov's novel by the same name. The sets/locations are gorgeous, and the acting quite adequate.

The story concerns the mental disintegration of a chess master, Luzhin. He is portrayed as a kind and sincere person, though perhaps too naïve. As the story progresses Luzhin becomes involved in a critical chess match. The stresses prove too much, leading to his mental breakdown and destruction.

Those who have not read Nabokov's novel will probably find the film both entertaining and enlightening, as well as a glimpse into the world of professional chess.

But those who have read Nabokov's novel might be disappointed. For the movie simplifies too much. Nabokov had a talent for providing a comic touch to essentially very dark subjects. The movie takes a different approach: it lightens the topic by concentrating all evil into a single character, an unscrupulous trainer/agent. This produces two-dimensional cardboard characters.

Nabokov's book explores the deeper question whether total immersion into abstract mental activities might be deleterious to the human psyche. A neglected child, Luzhin immersed himself in the rational and secure world of chess. Was the withrawal from the world of social interaction the root cause of Luzhin's problems -- or was there a deeper reason yet?

The writer G. K. Chesterton conjectured that:
"Poets do not go mad; but chess-players do. Mathematicians go mad, and cashiers; but creative artists very seldom. I am not, as will be seen, in any sense attacking logic: I only say that this danger does lie in logic, not in imagination. Artistic paternity is as wholesome as physical paternity."

After viewing the film I recommend reading the novel -- and forming your own conclusions.

January 31, 2008


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