Film: Computer Chess

Director: Andrew Bujalski
Genre: Drama/Comedy
Source: USA (2013)
Rating: R
Location/Format: Netflix Instant Watch
Grade: C+

Somewhere along the way--I think right when I was nodding off around an hour in (I have to stop watching movies in bed as I'm going to sleep)--this movie took a turn for the weird. What started as a strangely realistic period piece about early 80s technophiles and programming geeks turned into the realm of trippy sci-fi and absurd therapy comedy in ways I was wholly unexpected.

Like No from earlier in my movie watching year, Computer Chess gets its retro feel in part from the cameras being used here. Shot on Sony AVC-3260 video cameras, the film has the slightly blurred black and white of the era, and when combined with the naturalistic acting and the period hair, make-up, and costumes, it really feels like a product of the past, which makes the sci-fi turns feel all the stranger when they come.

But it's not just sci-fi that is on display here. The movie has a comic aces up its sleeve as well. Though (like much of the film) not drawing particular attention to themselves, the repeated emphasis on the excitement of both chess masters and computer geeks alike that one of the teams has a woman on it is played just right--attempting to be professional and appropriate, but also giddily excited. It's a nice little touch that is both funny and adds to the film's realism.

Among the many threads Bujalski seems to be pulling at are the concepts of artificial intelligence and the development of reasoning and independent thinking. I think I'd need to see it again (and fully awake) to really process a little more what Bujalski is doing, but I like what I saw for the most part. Things get weird, but it's the kind of weird that seems to have some layers of meaning: how we connect to other people, how we create relationships, how we love--all of those things are distantly echoed as the programmers teach their computers to think.

I don't think the film will make a top ten list for me the way it has for some others, but I think there's a lot to contemplate here, and plenty to enjoy.