Computer Chess

Especially in comparison with the flashy American Hustle, Computer Chess makes it apparent how uncanny retro stylisation can be. The analogue camerawork doesn’t draw us into the film’s environment. On the contrary, it constantly reminds us of its technological limitations and thus of its own presence (and the key theme consisting in the conflict between man and technology). Black-and-white, sometimes reminiscent of a low-contrast picture (various shades of grey predominate), 4:3 aspect ratio, smudges, shadows, lines. Like with the Chilean film No, you have the feeling that you are watching a pirated copy of a film (which of course never existed in a different form). The consistent simulation of the visual quality of amateur television shows from the 1970s goes perfectly with the clumsy mumblecore poetics as well as with the awkwardness of the characters, who are a sort of beta version of today’s nerds. Rather than feeling superior, they feel guilty that they understand the language of ones and zeros better than they understand other people. Because society hadn’t yet come up with a specific pigeonhole for nerds, these atypical heroes could seek a balance between the human and the technological, between life in the community and life on their own – their extreme antithesis is the therapy session of a group of hippies running in parallel.  Typical of this is the Kafkaesque subplot with Papageorge, who sees himself as more than a nerd and who (therefore) nobody wants to accept. With its shabby form and sarcastic depiction of a particular generation, Computer Chess is reminiscent of Clerks. However, awareness of the transformation that the IT subculture underwent (dehumanisation and – paradoxically – assimilation into the mainstream) makes this film more bitter and timeless. 75% (09/11/2014)