Any mention of Computer Chess tends to be prefaced, rightly so, with the disclaimer that this is one of the weirdest movies to be released this year, but it’s also strangely fun and fascinating. Its director is Andrew Bujalski, whose name often comes up in discussions of so-called Mumblecore filmmaking. Computer Chess resists any such neat classification, decidedly defying conventional description and relying on a style that feels wholly original.
[zergpaid]Its black-and-white video is a stylistic choice that reflects the substantive material of the movie: it’s about these computer programmers gathering for a yearly meet. The purpose is to pit their respective chess programs against each other, with the victor being granted the opportunity to go head-to-head with a human opponent—the ultimate test of artificial (chess-based) intelligence. The videography gives the entire thing a direct documentary feel, and one of the notable achievements of Computer Chess is that it’s easy to forget these are present-day actors and filmmakers shooting for 1980. Its found footage aesthetic is uncannily authentic.
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