"The principle victims of British policies are Unpeople - those whose lives are deemed worthless and expendable in the pursuit of power and commercial gain. They are the modern equivalent of the 'savages' of colonial days, who could be mown down by British guns in virtual secrecy, or else in circumstances where the perpetrators were hailed as the upholders of civilisation." - Mark Curtis
Like many of director Satyajit Ray's later films, "The Chess Players" takes places in a series of confined locations, in which men barter, scheme and plot. Along with "The Home and the World", it's also one of the few Satyajit Ray films to deal overtly with British Imperialism.
Fittingly, "The Chess Players" opens alongside a chessboard. Disembodied hands reach out and manoeuvre the board's pieces, a motif which will extend throughout Ray's picture; in "The Chess Players", everyone's a puppet on a string.
We're then given a brief history lesson, Ray using cartoons, paintings and narration to touch upon the life and customs of 19th century India, and the events which will lead to the annexation of the Indian State of Oudh by the notorious British East India Company. The film then watches as British Imperialists, led by General Outram (Richard Attenborough), scheme to remove Muslim ruler Wajid Ali Shah from Oudh's capital of Lucknow. They want him out and their own puppets in.
Unsurprisingly, the British view Wajid Ali Shah as a savage, hedonistic and salacious. Ray subverts these prejudices; Ali Shah is also an artist, poet, and more importantly, is one of the few Indians in power to resist the Company's attempts at expansion. Other monarchs and noblemen - noblemen who should share Ali Shah's class interests – remain oblivious to the Empire's scheming. They sit in their private cocoons, disinterested.
At its best "The Chess Players" details how the apathy and disunity of India's ruling classes allowed a comparatively small number of British officials and soldiers to conquer regions without opposition. Like Ray's later film, "The Home and the World", "The Chess Players" also presents a fairly nuanced view of "progress". In Ray's hands, feudalism and monarchy are as brutal, stupid and reactionary as European Imperialism, but each of these conflicting "systems" are nevertheless "beneficial" in the sense that they supplant, destroy or mitigate the excesses of the other. Ray would himself hint at this in interviews: "Easy targets don't interest me very much. I was portraying two negative forces, feudalism and colonialism, and condemning both."
"The Chess Players" was based on a Munshi Premchand short story of the same name. It was Ray's first and only feature to be shot in a language other than his native Bengal. It remains one of the more sophisticated films about the divide and conquer tactics used by the British in India, but lacks the visual splendour oft associated with the genre ("A Passage to India", "Gandhi", "North West Frontier", "Khartoum" etc).
8/10 - See Pontecorvo's "Burn!".
Like many of director Satyajit Ray's later films, "The Chess Players" takes places in a series of confined locations, in which men barter, scheme and plot. Along with "The Home and the World", it's also one of the few Satyajit Ray films to deal overtly with British Imperialism.
Fittingly, "The Chess Players" opens alongside a chessboard. Disembodied hands reach out and manoeuvre the board's pieces, a motif which will extend throughout Ray's picture; in "The Chess Players", everyone's a puppet on a string.
We're then given a brief history lesson, Ray using cartoons, paintings and narration to touch upon the life and customs of 19th century India, and the events which will lead to the annexation of the Indian State of Oudh by the notorious British East India Company. The film then watches as British Imperialists, led by General Outram (Richard Attenborough), scheme to remove Muslim ruler Wajid Ali Shah from Oudh's capital of Lucknow. They want him out and their own puppets in.
Unsurprisingly, the British view Wajid Ali Shah as a savage, hedonistic and salacious. Ray subverts these prejudices; Ali Shah is also an artist, poet, and more importantly, is one of the few Indians in power to resist the Company's attempts at expansion. Other monarchs and noblemen - noblemen who should share Ali Shah's class interests – remain oblivious to the Empire's scheming. They sit in their private cocoons, disinterested.
At its best "The Chess Players" details how the apathy and disunity of India's ruling classes allowed a comparatively small number of British officials and soldiers to conquer regions without opposition. Like Ray's later film, "The Home and the World", "The Chess Players" also presents a fairly nuanced view of "progress". In Ray's hands, feudalism and monarchy are as brutal, stupid and reactionary as European Imperialism, but each of these conflicting "systems" are nevertheless "beneficial" in the sense that they supplant, destroy or mitigate the excesses of the other. Ray would himself hint at this in interviews: "Easy targets don't interest me very much. I was portraying two negative forces, feudalism and colonialism, and condemning both."
"The Chess Players" was based on a Munshi Premchand short story of the same name. It was Ray's first and only feature to be shot in a language other than his native Bengal. It remains one of the more sophisticated films about the divide and conquer tactics used by the British in India, but lacks the visual splendour oft associated with the genre ("A Passage to India", "Gandhi", "North West Frontier", "Khartoum" etc).
8/10 - See Pontecorvo's "Burn!".