In our search for great story lines and characters we rediscovered Beth Harmon and a glorious gallery of mental gymnasts with minds like computers and raging compulsion issues – served up courtesy of Netflix’s captivating series “The Queen’s Gambit.”
Our very patient literary agent once told us: “Find a female character, write her well, put her through some plot twists and you’ll have a winner…”
This was in the 90’s, when book deals weren’t coming so fast. If we’d been able to follow through, we might have been able to emulate writer Walter Tevis’ breakout novel about the orphaned daughter of a tortured math whiz who – mentored by the orphanage custodian – discovers a champion’s aptitude for chess while embracing the siren call of addiction to alcohol and prescription drugs.
Man, fit all that into a limited drama series, throw in the style and politics of the 50s and 60s as seen through the lofty perspective of championship-level chess matches and you have yourself a winner. Damn.
In fact, when it debuted on Netflix in the fall of 2020, it took just four weeks for “The Queen’s Gambit” to become the streaming service’s most-watched miniseries of all time. Throw in 11 Primetime Emmys; two Golden Globes, including Best Actress In a Miniseries or Television Film for the show’s star Anya Taylor-Joy; a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Miniseries or Television Movie for Taylor-Joy; and even a Grammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media: and a bunch of others. The fact that Tevis’ work wasn’t initially recognized and took decades to capture the attention of a production company doesn’t ease our pain.
Scott Frank’s adaptation of Tevis’ novel is anchored by Taylor-Joy’s enthralling lead performance, some great work by back-up characters and a visual presentation that keeps you in the game and makes you want to keep up. Essentially a cerebral sports movie the teleplay is captivating, cementing story points through brilliantly filmed matches, absorbing for even non-players who don’t know the difference between a rank, file or fork.
Taylor Joy’s Beth Harmon comes out of the orphanage with an entrenched addiction and a passion for chess. Watching her cope with both is engrossing and entertaining as she fights her way past seat after seat of often-condescending, preternaturally talented male challengers to establish herself as a fashion forward chess ingenue, utterly in control of her chosen 64-square battlefield.
Currently available on Netflix.
It was a wonderful series.
Firestone 11R
Agreed. Could use more like it!