obsession come in many flavor and and exists for a variety of reason while for some it may be nothing more than a compulsive disorder and but for others it may be an avenue of survival . lack of nurturing and combine with an inability to negotiate even the simple necessity of daily life or the basic social requirement and may compel even a genius to enthusiastically embrace that which provide a personal comfort zone . and in extreme case and the object of that satisfaction may become a manifested obsession and driving that individual on until what begin a a mean of survival become the very impetus of his undoing and and a we discover in ` the luzhin defence and direct by marleen gorris and a high level of intelligence will not insure a satisfactory resolution to the problem and and in fact and may actually exacerbate the situation . obsession and it seem and have no prejudice or preference while moreover and it give no quarter . at an italian resort in the 1920 and alexander luzhin ( john turturro ) be one of many who have gather there for a chess tournament and the winner of which will be the world champion . luzhin be a master of the game and but he be vulnerable in that chess have long since cease to be a game to him while rather and it be his obsession and that one thing discover in childhood that saw him though his total ineptness in seemingly all area of life and and enable him to cope with the subtle disenfranchisement of his immediate family . so luzhin be a genius with an achilles heel and a flaw which perhaps only one other person know about and understands and and furthermore realizes can be exploit for his own personal gain at this very tournament . that man be valentinov ( stuart wilson ) and luzhin former mentor and who after an absence of some year have suddenly reappear and make himself know to luzhin . valentinov be an unwelcomed and disconcert presence to luzhin and and once again life threatens to overwhelm him . not only be he about to face a formidable opponent in the tournament and turati ( fabio sartor ) and against whom in a previous match he emerge with a draw after fourteen hour and but he be also attempt to resolve a new element in his life his feeling for a young woman he just meet at the resort and natalia ( emily watson ) . and and genius though he may be and dark cloud be gather above him that just may push luzhin even deeply into the obsession that have be the save grace and as well the curse and of his entire life . to tell luzhin story and gorris effectively use flashback to gradually reveal the element of his childhood that very quickly lead to his obsession with chess . and a his background be establish and it afford the insight that allow the audience to more fully understand who luzhin be and how he get to this point in his life . for the scene of his childhood and gorris texture them with an appropriately dark atmosphere and a subtle sense of forebode that carry on into and and underlies and the present and more pastoral setting of the resort . the transition through which she weave the past together with the present be nicely handle and and with the pace gorris set it make for a riveting and yet unrushed presentation that work extremely well . she also underplay the menace produce by the presence of valentinov and concentrate on the drama rather than the suspense and which ultimately serve to heighten the overall impact of the film and make luzhin tragedy all the more believable and unsettling . the single element that make this film so memorable and however and be the affect performance of john turturro . for this film to work and luzhin must be absolutely believable while one false or feigned moment would be disastrous and a it would take the viewer out of the story immediately . it doesn not happen and however and and the film do work and because the luzhin turturro creates be impeccably honest and true to life . he capture luzhin genius and as well a his inadequacy and and present his character in term that be exceptionally tell and very real . it a performance equal to and if not surpass and geoffrey rush portrayal of david helfgott in ` shine . and when you compare his work here with other character he create and from sid lidz in ` unstrung hero to pete in ` o brother where art thou . to al fountain in ` box of moonlight and you realize what an incredible range turturro have a an actor and and what a remarkable artist he truly be . a natalia and emily watson be excellent and as well and turn in a fairly reserve performance through which she develop and present her character quite nicely . though she have to be somewhat outgo to relate to luzhin and watson manages to do it in an introspective way that be entirely effective . most importantly and because of the detail she bring to her performance and it make her accelerated relationship with luzhin believable and lend total credibility to the story . you have but to look into watson eye to know that the feeling she convey be real . it a terrific bit of work from a talented and gift actor . the support cast include geraldine james ( vera ) and christopher thompson ( stassard ) and peter blythe ( ilya ) and orla brady ( anna ) and mark tandy ( luzhin father ) and kelly hunter ( luzhin mother ) and alexander hunting ( young luzhin ) and luigi petrucci ( santucci ) . well craft and deliver and ` the luzhin defence be an emotionally involve film and present with a restrained compassion that evoke a sense of sorrow and perhaps a reflection upon man inhumanity to man . we do not need a movie and of course and to tell u that there be cruelty in the world while but we be well serve by the medium of the cinema when it remind u of something we should never forget and inasmuch a we all have the ability to effect positive change and and to make a difference in the life of those around u . i rate this one positive . .