When disillusioned Swedish knight Antonius Block returns home from the Crusades to find his country in the grips of the Black Death, he challenges Death to a chess match for his life. Tormented by the belief that God does not exist, Block sets off on a journey, meeting up with traveling players Jof and his wife, Mia, and becoming determined to evade Death long enough to commit one redemptive act while he still lives.
The year is 1949. A young Texan named John Grady finds himself without a home after his mother sells the ranch where he has spent his entire life. Lured south of the border by the romance of cowboy life and the promise of a fresh start, Cole and his pal embark on an adventure that will test their resilience, define their maturity, and change their lives forever.
Short TV film upon the story of Ludwik Niemojski of the same title, which was a part of his "Incredible Stories". It tells about Bartolomeo, brilliant chess player, who had ruined his private life because of his passion for chess.
What if the events in a key era in our history were actually completely different than what our history textbooks try to tell us? What if Master Jan Hus didn't even get warm in Constance, let alone burn up? What if Jan Zizka had more than one healthy eye? This animated comedy from director Pavel Koutský playfully breaks the myths about the Hussite era as the pedestal of history is occupied not by preachers and military leaders but by two unbelievable scatterbrains, who become the heroes of their time against their will.
Selected for the Cannes 2012 Short Film Corner. A man is standing in the middle of a river when he receives a phone call asking about his current whereabouts, and so we see the preceding moments explaining how he got there and why, all played fully in reverse from end to beginning.
An aging codger named Geri plays a daylong game of chess in the park against himself. Somehow, he begins losing to his livelier opponent. But just when the game's nearly over, Geri manages to turn the tables.
Edgar finds himself in the middle of a cafe robbery, but little by little he discovers that there is more to it than meets the eye.
Based upon the novel by Vladimir Nabokov, a chess grandmaster travels to Italy in the 1920s to play in a tournament and falls in love.
Set in an alternate WWI reality where a senseless war rages on, two soldiers on opposite sides of the conflict play a joyful game of chess. A heroic carrier pigeon delivers the soldiers' chess moves over the battlefield as the fighting escalates. Neither soldier knows his opponent as the game and the war builds to its climatic final move. Whoever wins the game, one thing is for certain: there are no winners in war.
A couple's break up gets out of hand as the man tries to woo his woman back in a strange house. Hijinks ensue.
A stop-motion clay-animated chess game, which is about as exciting as watching… a chess game.
A modern adaptation of the classic children's story 'Alice through the Looking Glass', which continued on from the popular 'Alice in Wonderland' story. This time Alice is played by the mother, who falls asleep while reading the the bedtime story to her daughter. Walking through the Looking Glass, Alice finds herself in Chessland, a magical and fun world. There she meets the Red and White Queens, as well as many other amusing friends on her journey across the chessboard countryside onto become a crowned queen.
A metaphysical odyssey of the Individua members as they grapple with mysterious masked figures and the imminent waiting for them at the end of the snowy forest.
A boy plays a game of chess by himself but after looking away for a moment he realizes the pieces on the board have begun to move by themselves.
In 1776, an inventor conceals a Polish nobleman in his chess-playing automaton, a machine whose fame leads it to the court of the Russian empress.
When a beautiful stranger enters the cafe, two men decide to battle it out on a chessboard in order to decide who gets to approach her.
2ⁿ is a story about the exponential growth of numbers raised to powers. Part of the Mathematica Peep Shows, one of five films made to accompany the Mathematica: A World of Numbers and Beyond exhibition at the California Museum of Science and Industry and the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago.
An initially realistic chess game becomes a chaotic, animated quest for the favors of Betty Boop (the black queen) by Bimbo (white king) and others, with elements of bowling and football. Koko appears.
An elderly millionaire manipulates an avant-garde writer and a happily married man.
Alice returns to Wonderland through the looking glass in this TV musical.