The Maelzel Chess Machine (Le joueur d'echecs de Maelzel) 1980. France, Mexico. Directed by Juan Luis Buñuel. Starring: Jean-Claude Drouot, Diana Brachaux, Martin Lasalle, Julio Lucena, Eduardo Alcaras.
The first film from the French television series The Mysterious Stories of Edgar Allan Poe. This is a rare case in the history of cinema, when the film is not a work of art, but only an article! Edgar Poe wrote it after in 1834 the Austrian mechanic L. Melzel revealed the secret of the chess apparatus, which he acquired from the Hungarian mechanic Kempelen.
So, in Mexico comes Dr. Malsel, who looks like a man designed a mechanical apparatus that knows no defeats in chess. And the first failure of the miracle of technology suffers in the game with the young wife of the owner of the estate - the beautiful Eleanor. The game was played without witnesses. What happened? That’s the essence of the story.
Along the way, Melsel recognizes in Eleanor his fiancée Sophia, who died six years ago. Eleanor herself mourns for her recently deceased husband François, and sees François a Melcelle. What a terrible thing!
The son of Luis Buñuel created a viscous atmosphere in which the ghosts of the past are intertwined with the passions of today.
7 out of 10