Dangerous Moves

Original title: La diagonale du fou

1984
15
1h 50m

IMDb RATING

YOUR RATING

During the Cold War, the World Chess Championship clashed complete opposites - personal and political.During the Cold War, the World Chess Championship clashed complete opposites - personal and political.During the Cold War, the World Chess Championship clashed complete opposites - personal and political.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

6.6/10

1.6K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Won 1 Oscar
- 4 wins & 3 nominations total

User reviews13

Featured review

4/10

no.

Hey, I'm sure there's a way to make chess somewhat exciting in a movie, but this approach ain't it.

Dangerous Moves won an Oscar for best foreign film and has an impressive cast, but it was strangely kind of a bore to watch; even enough to feel like it was a bit of a challenge to finish. There's two people who are rivals and they play chess and there are good actors and they are kind of wasted. That's all there is and now I'm sleepy.

I guess there's a level of basic competency on offer in Dangerous Moves, but that's not enough to make it good, or even passable. It's more of a Dangerous Snooze, really.

Photos76

+ 70

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Storyline

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Trivia
In the final game, Pavius and Akiva play the French Defence / Paulsen Attack. The moves are as follows: 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. c3 Nc6 5. Nf3 Qb6 6. Be2 cxd4 7. cxd4 Nh6 8. Nc3 Nf5 9. Na4 Bb4+ 10. Bd2 Qa5 11. Bc3 b5 12. a3 Bxc3+ 13. Nxc3 b4 14. axb4 Qxb4 The film ends here; at this point, it is much too early in the game to determine who will win.

Goofs
Early in the film, Liebskind describes a move as "Rook to G-10". There is no G-10 on the chessboard; the numbers only go to 8. This error is in the subtitles only and was a mistranslation; the actual line ends with "huit", French for eight.

Quotes
Akiva Liebskind: Put it out that cigarette, Gennadi Ivanovitch.
Stepan Ivanovitch Kerossian - l'équipe de Liebskind: But I'm not even smoking it, Akiva Israelovitch.
Akiva Liebskind: It's a threat to me, I suppose. In chess, the threat is stronger than the execution.
Stepan Ivanovitch Kerossian - l'équipe de Liebskind: [after a long pause while both are playing chess] Still enjoy winning from me?
Akiva Liebskind: I taste the sweet victories and I taste the bitter defeats.