Why Queen's Move and Anya Taylor-Joy deserve a Golden Globe

The new work from "Logan" screenwriter Scott Frank attracted attention in the early days after its release on Netflix. The adaptation of the book of the same name by Walter Tevis set The Queens Gambit is Breaking Netflix Viewership Records record for views per month (later beaten by the Bridgertons), and ratings from both critics and users are still consistently above 90%.

The project won the Best Miniseries category at the Golden Globe Awards, and Anya Taylor-Joy was named Best Actress in Miniseries.

And it is well deserved. After all, Frank not only very beautifully showed not the most spectacular sport - chess, but also created a magnificent drama about the fight against inner demons.

A fairy tale without villains

After the death of her mother, young Elizabeth Harmon ends up in an orphanage. Children are brought up there in severity, but without grotesque cruelty. True, among the drugs that are given to the wards, there are strong tranquilizers, and Beth develops dependence on drugs from an early age.

One day the girl meets a janitor who is playing chess with himself. He takes to teach Beth, and it turns out that she is incredibly gifted in this sport. Later, the already grown-up heroine begins to participate in various chess competitions and quickly becomes the leader. Now she has to defeat only the Soviet champion. But for this, Beth needs to cope with her addictions to alcohol and pills.

At first, it may seem that the young heroine will have to overcome all the typical difficulties associated with a woman's career in a traditionally male world. Moreover, in the USA of the 60s, when the main action unfolds, this problem was very urgent.

But Scott Frank focuses on something else entirely. If you look closely, there are no antagonists per se in this story. For a couple of minutes, evil KGB agents from the USSR will appear and the adoptive father will commit several meannesses. But these are too secondary and formal characters. Most of the time, the heroine will only meet worthy people. And the main struggle takes place in her soul. And here, too, the author is not inclined to excessive moralizing.

Of course, alcoholism and dependence on pills are detrimental to the body, but even these habits are not presented as absolute evil. Beth just wonders if she can be such a good player if she gives up her affections. The same goes for her communication with people. An introverted girl has problems with socialization, but she does not always suffer from this.

In the shell of a traditional sports drama, the director tells the story of growing up and finding oneself. It is this approach that makes it possible to make a completely typical plot touching and exciting. The viewer is more concerned not with Beth's victory over another opponent, but with her emotional state. Chess here serves only as a mirror of her problems.

Queen's Move is hardly a completely realistic story. A share of fabulousness has been specially added to the series. Like the main character of Lewis Carroll's Alice Through the Looking Glass, Beth goes from pawn to queen: it is not for nothing that in the finale she will walk the streets in a white outfit that clearly hints at a piece from the board. This is a typical story about the "engine that could". But such a sincere naivety is only a plus for the narrative.

Perfect sport

The author of the original book, Walter Tevis became famous thanks to the science fiction novel The Man Who Fell to Earth. But "Queen's Move" (although it would be more correct to translate "Queen's Gambit") is his more personal work.

The author adored chess and in this book simply confessed his love. Thanks to this, in the novel, and then in the series, the game was turned into an ideal sport where the most worthy rivals meet.

Beth is never refused a match because of her gender or even age. During the game, opponents can be harsh or too emotional, but every time after the match, they thank each other. And even Beth's main fear - Russian grandmaster Vasily Borgov (Marcin Dorochinsky) - turns out to be a very worthy person who wants only fair competition.

And it is even more interesting that Soviet chess players are shown here not only as the strongest players, but also as a symbol of mutual assistance. They are just opposed to American individualists who do not want to share their knowledge. It's not hard to guess what will happen in the final. But again it is worth remembering: Frank is not shooting a historical project, but a modern fairy tale.

Indeed, in reality, even local, and even more so international competitions look much tougher. But Tevis did not invent Beth Harmon for nothing, and did not take a reliable story as a basis. Although at the same time it is difficult not to notice hints of Bobby Fischer and Nona Gaprindashvili.

Equally important, Scott Frank approached the display of the game itself in the series as responsibly as possible. After all, the chess community once defeated the film “Sacrificing a Pawn” because of the absurdities taking place on the board. Garry Kasparov and Bruce Pandolfini were invited to the series as consultants, who helped to show the game believable. Fans of this sport were satisfied with The Queen's Gambit: A Netflix Series Where The Chess Is Done Right, and interest in chess has increased in many countries around the world.

Much more inaccuracies in the series can be seen in relation to the world of the 60s itself. And this also applies to a completely toy America, as if descended from postcards, and the USSR, where a child delivers vodka in a restaurant. But here the author simply sacrificed realism in favor of beauty.

Stunning visuals

Scott Frank has long been known as an excellent screenwriter: he adapted the novel "Get Shorty" for the film by Barry Sonnenfeld, worked with Aaron Sorkin and Steven Soderbergh, and for the film "Out of Sight" he was even nominated for an Oscar. But after the release of the series "Forgotten by God", which Frank directed according to his own script, it became clear that his directorial talent is not inferior to that of a writer.

Even if someone doesn't like the plot of The Queen's Move, it is impossible not to fall in love with its visuals. To begin with, the author took one of the brightest actresses of recent years, Anya Taylor-Joy, who had already played in Eggers' Witch and M. Night Shyamalan's Split, and created an incredible image for her. For seven episodes, she manages to change many outfits and hairstyles.

In addition, the actress has a lot of solo scenes with dancing, alcoholic intoxication and other manifestations of a rebellious nature. All of this is spiced up with a retro soundtrack and a perfectly staged shot.

The rest of the actors only help her, although there are enough bright personalities on the screen. Scott Frank's forever young favorite, Thomas Brodie-Sangster, wears cowboy hats. Harry Melling once again proves that the image of Dudley Dursley is in the distant past: he already shone in the thriller The Devil is Always Here, and now he is not lost against the background of others in The Queen's Turn. You can list it for a long time, but it's better to just look.

Frank was even able to visualize chess. The heroine's train of thought is reflected in figures that move across the ceiling (these moments have already been turned into memes). And during matches, the director puts a perfectly symmetrical picture and focuses not on the moves themselves, but on the emotions of the players. Moreover, he tries to do without replaying: most of the heroes seem to try to hide their feelings. But still, the moments when Beth looks up at the opponent and immediately lowers them back say more than full-fledged dialogues or voiceover text in other feeds.

They tried to transfer the novel "The Queen's Move" to the screens for many years. In the 90s, Bernardo Bertolucci himself took on it, and later the adaptation could become Heath Ledger's directorial debut. But every time everything fell apart, until Scott Frank got down to business.

Now it's safe to say that the expectations were worth it. It is difficult to imagine at least someone in the place of Ani Taylor-Joy. And in the format of a full-length film, they would hardly have had time to reveal all the characters, and even more so to show so many beautiful shots.