I enjoyed this movie a lot, and it seems very straightforward and realistic EXCEPT for the chess tournament, where Dr. Kroeger is mysteriously following the game, move by move, at his home, and sending Helene thought-messages as she plays in the tournament. What are we to make of this? Why is this in the movie? How do you interpret it?
shareI thought it was strange too...can't explain it. Definitely out of place in an otherwise naturalistic film.
shareNo, it wasn't telepathy. He was extremely familiar with the play styles of both friends. And made good guesses about their tactics.
I think they added this to the film to let the audience know that he was on Helene's side and with her in spirit.
See, I was under the impression that she was imagining that she was playing the Professor instead of her actual opponents. There were a couple moments, at the very beginning of the tournament, and then versus her final opponent, where her doubts were written plainly across her face. In both instances she heard a voiceover from the Professor going through the tactics they had worked on before, and then the doubt cleared and she succeeded. This sort of thing continued throughout the game, and there were I believe two shots where she looked up and then we had a long shot of Kline simply staring at the camera. I was a little confused by the scene at first as well, but this is what I came away with and it seemed to fit quite well. The moment she sets the Queen aside, when she no longer needs it and is confident of her win, they stop.
shareshe was imagining that she was playing the Professor
Kroger had coached her (clearly more than we see in the film) and was mentally exhorting her to play to her strengths. No telepathy about it!🐭
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