Wednesday, December 8, 2010

"Requiem for Bobby Fischer"

Opelo za Bobija Fisera
(Requiem for Bobby Fischer)

Directed by Igor Stevanovic
(64m, Serbia)
Documentary (G)


"Requiem for Bobby Fischer" is a documentary
movie about one of the most controversial players in chess history: Bobby Fischer. His portrait is painted through the eyes of his Serbian friends. The movie reveals various aspects of his personality: from a public exponent of anti-Americanism and anti-Semitism, to his private fears, obsessions and genius. Rejected by his homeland, the United States, Bobby Fischer felt welcome in Yugoslavia where he found one of his closest friends: chess grandmaster Svetozar Gligoric. Besides the chess grandmasters, some 'ordinary' people who had a chance to meet Fischer make an appearance in the movie: a journalist, a doctor, a barber, and a pickpocket. The film incorporates rarely-seen archival footage, from Fischer' s early matches to his retirement from chess and bizarre death in Iceland.