“The Queen’s Gambit” is a Netflix miniseries about chess players.
Regardless of how much the audience knows about chess, after all, chess-themed works in the film world are not so common.
Therefore, on the Netflix platform, which is as deep as the sea, the audience seems not to choose this mini-series starring the magical girl Anya Taylor-Joy.
But is this really the case?
Is “The Queen’s Gambit” interesting? Can viewers who do not understand the rules of chess understand it?
I can give you a hint first: No matter your chess power is high or low, you can fully enjoy “The Queen’s Gambit”, a mini-series with only seven episodes.
We got to know the heroine nicknamed Beth from a car accident.
Beth is less than ten years old, and his only mother has died in the car accident just now.
But soon we learned a more bleak fact: before the car accident, my mother told Beth to close her eyes, which meant that this misfortune was caused by her mother.
Beth, who was sent to the nursery, takes a sedative every day.
Don’t be surprised. The American society in the 1950s generally believed that there was no health concern for children taking sedatives every day.
At the same time, Beth, withdrawn, found the school union in the basement playing an interesting game: chess.
And Beth’s natural mathematical abilities, coupled with the catalysis of tranquilizers, allowed her to play freely on the chess board…
Soon, Beth was able to surpass the school worker, and was even able to easily engage in a wheel fight with 12 high school students.
The victory on the board made up for Beth’s many shortcomings in his short life, but the victory also occupied all of Beth’s mind.
Beth needs more green capsules so that she can stay up at night, stare at the virtual chess game emerging from the ceiling, and then play against herself in her mind.
When the state government revised the regulations and no longer provided capsules for children, Beth, who was unable to take drugs legally, developed symptoms of prohibition and decided to take the risk…
Beth has not many moments in her life to rely on her mother, so she can only indulge in pills and chess.
Everything else in her growing up is not important: menstruation, boyfriend, dress and so on.
In that era, Beth, who was loyal to the desire to win, was more like a man than a girl.
But you can’t think of Anya Taylor-Joy as a man. It’s impossible in “The Queen’s Gambit”.
In the seven episodes of “The Queen’s Gambit”, Beth’s role did not begin until the second episode.
But in the opening of the first episode, when Beth grew up with the Soviet chess king, Anya Taylor-Joy also appeared as a noble concubine.
The story of this album has been told since the 1950s in the golden age of the United States.
Therefore, whether it is lighting or art design, the drama is a gentleness that seems to be scattered with gold powder, and this will only make Anya Taylor-Joy more fresh and refined.
Beth is a child who was forced to close his emotions due to family changes.
Therefore, Anya Taylor-Joy doesn’t need to stretch teeth and claws, just be a good-looking baby with a docile appearance.
Beth’s bangs forever combed, plus plain long skirts and wide coats, really cheers for the fashion style of the golden age.
So if you think you are a believer in Anya Taylor-Joy, if you hear others criticize “New Mutant”, you will think “You don’t understand how beautiful Anya Taylor-Joy is inside.”
Then you have already assumed that you are the most loyal fan of “The Queen’s Gambit”.
Anya Taylor-Joy shows incredible charm in this film, including innocence, innocent and expressionless, and a good figure that can’t be concealed in Puritan style.
Of course, Beth is more beautiful when it collapses.
Look at Beth’s flawless face leaving two ugly dark eyeshadow tears, and the beauty of virtue emerges spontaneously from the great contrast.
There is only a line between genius and madness, and Beth’s line is almost dispensable.
Beth was portrayed as the worst kind of genius: lacking a family life and growing up in a deviant kindergarten, she hardly had the opportunity to develop moral values.
This allows her to do whatever she wants and regard the norms as nothing.
Drug abuse is the main reason why “The Queen’s Gambit” is classified as R.
As an adult, Beth will also add alcoholism. Alcohol and drugs have become the best way for Beth to activate his brain power and temporarily escape from reality.
To perform such a deviant girl who is surviving in the cracks, it is difficult to find Anya Taylor-Joy who has already satisfied us visually.
Anya Taylor-Joy started acting at 15-year-old Beth and worked his way to adulthood.
Although because of the short length of the seven episodes, she can’t give her the space to show the differences of different ages in detail.
However, because “The Queen’s Gambit” does not write Beth’s inner state at all to show her isolation and isolation.
This makes Anya Taylor-Joy also have to use the smallest facial expressions to show Beth’s unremarkable emotions.
For example, one eyebrow raised, one mouth pursed, she must show surprise or anger.
There are no lines or supporting roles to support Anya Taylor-Joy (after all, Beth is mostly alone).
And she still allows the audience to clearly understand the intention of the character from the performance, which is surprising.
So it can be said that “The Queen’s Gambit” is the story of a genius girl in an era where there is no feminism, how to defeat men on the chessboard, how to wander between drugs, alcohol and sobriety, and then learn to grow up at the same time. .
So actually “The Queen’s Gambit” has no absolute relationship with chess.
It is only because the chess world worships child prodigies and allows men and women to compete, that makes the chess element the best stage for this story.
Therefore, even if you don’t understand what the Spanish start, what is the Russian defense, and what is the four-step checkmate, these will not prevent you from understanding the plot of “The Queen’s Gambit” and the mood of Beth at the moment.
This is a story of thorny growth, a story of how innocence is dyed into pure black, and this is not explained in the rules of chess.
“The Queen’s Gambit” proves that the young Anya Taylor-Joy is not just around the corner, she is shining now.
This chess era drama is definitely worth recommending.
