Adapted from Walter Tevis’s novel of the same name published in 1983, The Queen’s Gambit tells the journey of a chess genius and makes chess interesting for everyone. The Anya Taylor-Joy mini-series, starring (Emma, Peaky Blinders), turns all the disadvantages that may arise from being a period story focusing on a slow-paced game like chess, one by one. Just as Elizabeth Harmon reversed her life that started with tragedies by directing her endless anger and obsessions to the right places.
Our first meeting with Elizabeth Harmon, who, with her big eyes, will catch us deeply by looking into our eyes through close plans through seven episodes, took place in 1967 in the turned upside down hotel room in Paris. The character, who is evident from his every state of having an active night, swallows the sedative pills, which we will see many times during the series, with a drink, then rushes towards the chessboard and the narrative returns to perhaps one of the worst days of Elizabeth’s life. Love and Money – The series, created by Out of Sight and Logan and Scott Frank and Allan Scott (The Preacher’s Wife, The Witches), who won two Oscar nominations, from this point on to the audience, from the nine-year-old portrayed by Isla Johnston. is starting to introduce. Beth, who was orphaned after the death of her math professor mother (Chloe Pirrie) driving the car they were traveling to on another vehicle, is sent to the Methuen Dormitory Girls’ Orphanage. Thus, though unnoticed, thanks to this great tragedy, he reaches the turning point of his life in many ways. Because Beth, like the tranquilizers she was addicted to, with chess that will take her to the top, for the first time in the orphanage’s cleaning worker Mr. He meets here with the help of Shaibel (Bill Camp). The same orphanage also earns Beth Jolene (Moses Ingram), who will become a member of the family she created in the future. Beth is a character who creates a unique effect with her meaningful gaze and silence that she conceals her anger, and Scott Frank, who is the director of the series, is obviously different in every way, and the story of her being put to the test with addictive and tragic events will attract even the most distant audience from chess. It describes the way.
The Queen’s Gambit: Ambition Addiction
story ofSeries is mostly career-oriented. We follow Beth, whom we know with her tragic event, to the greatest victory of her life, and watch her put chess at the center of her life and calm all her anger against life with chess. Therefore, the bond Beth and the audience will establish with her is very important in terms of the impact the drama has. At this point, Anya-Taylor Joy’s performance, which put the fire of Beth’s anger into her dull expression, comes to the fore. This strong bond is maintained through Beth’s childhood traumas, addiction-prone states, and unusual family relationships she has established. Beth becomes obsessed with her dominance over the pieces in the 64-square chessboard. The control he gains in this limited world gives him confidence, as he is dragged from place to place due to the losses he suffered at an early age. That’s why the first game he played with the housekeeper in the basement of the orphanage changed Beth’s life forever. From that moment on, he is constantly playing chess in his mind and the real test of the series begins. Although it is a game that is quite static, silent, and unfamiliar to many people, the frequent use of chess and the terms of the game becomes interesting and intriguing for everyone thanks to the fire of Beth’s passion. In the scenes playing chess, Anya-Taylor Joy’s dull gestures, which reveal that she has made plans, as well as the various camera movements and visual effects used, even if they repeat after a while, provide great support to the flow of the story. So much so that the chess tournaments become the scenes that bring the excitement of the series to the top after a while. The series presents chess in a more attractive and interesting way than ever before, accompanied by the tension-filled silence that accompanies these scenes, the audience watching every move with full attention, and the endless ambitions of the actors hidden behind their dull faces. On the other hand, she deals with concepts such as gender discrimination, addiction, and family. Substance addiction, which started with the pills given in the orphanage, diversifies with alcohol in the new home he went to after being adopted. Marielle Heller, whom we know as the director of films such as A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, portrays the character of Alma Wheatley, the embodiment of all the clichés about the “housewife” profile, which was formed under the leadership of the sexist approaches that dominated the 1950s. In the absence of her indifferent husband who moves away from home on the pretext of business trips, Alma aims to fill her loneliness by adopting her, while Beth’s chess career gives her the opportunity to stand on her own two feet for the first time, so she finds more than she hoped.
The sexist and racist social atmosphere of the period, which is successfully reflected visually thanks to its costume and production design, is explained not only through Alma, but also through the discriminations experienced by Jolene, a black character. We can add to this the short-sighted approaches that Beth faced when she entered the male-dominated world of chess. While her friends marry and have children in accordance with the social norms of the period, Beth competes as the only woman in tournaments where only men participate. The short-sighted news overshadows Beth’s superior success, despite expressing that she does not want her gender to be prioritized at every opportunity. However, it is clear that he owes his success to his mathematical intelligence and his interest in patterns. The close attention to the level of obsession the character has for these patterns that make him feel safe is supported by Steven Meizler’s cinematography and repetitive patterns on the wallpapers used in the background throughout the series. During this journey, Beth destroyed her sexist attitudes with her talent, first at the orphanage Jolene and Mr. She continues to expand to the family she acquired with Shaibel and later with Alma by adding characters from her chess circles, such as Benny Watts (Thomas Brodie-Sangster) and Harry Beltik (Harry Melling), and wraps the wounds of her own family with the warmth of her preferred family. The series, which depicts Beth’s chess career accompanied by his struggle with family problems and addictions, thus becomes Mr. Shaibel manages to establish the strong bond formed between Jolene and Beth in the chess environment. Although the length of time spent establishing the same bond between Alma and Beth poses a problem, at the end of the day the story reveals that Beth, who was an orphan at a young age, has a huge family thanks to her captivating talent. This glitch in the course of the series while building the bond between Alma and Beth repeats itself with shortcomings, such as the predictable turns involved in the story structure, and especially the smoothness in the progress of Beth’s ascension. Looking across the series, the plot isn’t too far off the inspiring yet easy-going formula used in classic success stories. Because this formula makes the story predictable, it fades the sharp corners by moving it away from reality and slowing down the momentum gained by going back and forth in time. The pace of the series is interrupted when Beth’s unconventional character focuses on chess and the rage that turns into passion and the general narrative of the series based on her chess career shifts in other directions. Sometimes, Beth’s talent comes to the brink of being associated with the effects of the pills she’s addicted to. At times like this, the story is more reminiscent of a long-running motion picture than a seven-episode miniseries. However, the journey of a highly relatable character, full of ambition and passion, is depicted in an impressive way, especially in an emotional sense, by printing each note completely and with full judgment.
When Anya Taylor-Joy’s performance comes together with the character’s unending passion for chess and the immersive presentation of the tournament scenes, The Queen’s Gambit fascinates the audience with her main character. The series never misses the striking moments that sustain its dramatic structure and thus offers a strong narrative. Despite the flaws in the general structure of the story, the audience has nothing to do but envy the character’s superior talent and passion.
