Computer Chess Released 22 November 2013 Director Andrew Bujalski Starring Kriss Schludermann, Tom Fletcher, Wiley Wiggins, Patrick Riester, Kevin Bewersdorf, Jim Lewis, Freddy Martinez, Cole Noppenberg, Myles Paige Writer(s) Andrew Bujalski Producer(s) Houston King, Alex Lipschultz Origin United States Running Time 91 minutes Genre Comedy Rating TBC

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Reality bytes.

Computer Chess has a slightly Lynchian feel to it. An unusual cast of characters come together in an eerily quiet hotel, somewhere in America, for a chess computer programmers convention. Set in the eighties and shot on video in black and white, the film is as odd and charming as the geeky geniuses it portrays.

Over the course of the weekend, these men (and one woman) square up to each other, or more accurately their software does, in a bid to see who’s written the best chess code. The big question is can computer beat man in the game of kings? This somehow feels like they are asking the wrong question. In the era of computers that are so big they need to be wheeled around on their own little trolley, the story captures a time on the cusp of major change, the sense of some big revelation or breakthrough is palpable, however it is all overshadowed with a distinct streak of the surreal.

Whilst the intense paranoid interactions of a computer programmers convention might be material enough for bizarre goings on, the backdrop to the story is littered with curious oddities like the numerous cats roaming around the hotel, the self actualization convention that is happening at the same hotel, the hooker that is always outside the front doors and is not all she seems.

Andrew Bujalski’s comedy has an improvised feel and thanks to it being shot on original Sony 1968 AVC-3260 B&W video cameras, also has an authentic period feel. The subject matter is not one that all will have an instant connection with, but there is enough intriguing bemusement here to keep anyone’s attention for the ninety-two minutes running time.

- Bridget Deevy