About 2 weeks ago, two of my friends wrote on their Facebook wall that they recommend the mini-series "The Queen's Gambit". As they both have good taste, I suggested to my girlfriend that we would watch it at the weekend. We liked the first episode, so we watched the other six by the end of the weekend.
The series is about an orphaned girl who ends up in an orphanage after a car accident. I may be wrong, but I think she has autism. The argument is that she is remarkably brilliant in one area, but cannot cope with others (especially social and socialization) issues. He cannot get in touch with his peers, there is nothing to talk about with them, he talks mainly to older people or people who also play chess. Besides, she is extremely stubborn - this in itself is not a feature of autistic people or people suffering from Asperger syndrome, but from what I have seen in various cases + read on the internet, this is one of the features of autism. Beth discovers the game in the basement with the caretaker, she is fascinated by the figures and the chessboard. The elderly gentleman initially refuses to play with her and tries to throw her away whenever he can, but over time he learns and teaches her the basic rules. Apart from chess and autistic heroin, alcohol, and drugs are another important theme in the series. The series shows the negative and positive effects of both. I will not mention the negative ones because of spoilers, but when it comes to the positive ones, the appropriate level of their consumption and a mild craving for drugs increase the range of our perception and sensitize our senses.
When it comes to the characters and their actors, I genuinely liked many of them. I'm talking about my black friend, Mr. Shaibel, the mother of the main character and Beth Harmon herself. Especially the last two - Marielle Heller was very convincing in the role of a carefree woman living in old America. I will not pretend that I know myself, because maybe I would be wrong (and Netflix series are not always 100% historical, if they happen in the past), so I will say quite generally - the series shows women from the past. Not only that, the series perfectly reflects the style of those times - buildings, attitude to alcohol, relationships between people, their behavior, not to mention the atmospheric soundtrack. The Main Title deserved my honor - a very epic and strong track, which would be perfect for a great battle theme for "Fullmetal Alchemist", "Hunter x Hunter" or Shounen similar to them. Especially a beginning that is so uplifting and resonant that it would be perfect for some cliffhanger. One of the best single tracks I've heard in the last few years fits our heroine when she fires up her serious mode and starts massacring her opponents. Referring to actresses and Japanese comic books for teenage boys, when this song came onto the screen, I felt like I was seeing a few connected duels between Meruem and Komuga (for the context of those unfamiliar with comics - the Superman of that universe in combination with the street heroes of DC and a blind girl who can simply brilliantly play the Japanese version of chess). In large part because our autistic heroine saw a field and figures on the ceiling, scenes similar to those seen in "Hunter x Hunter". Anya Taylor-Joy excellently played the role of a lost, autistic girl. She behaves appropriately awkwardly, is introverted, prefers more serious company, understands everything in a machine-like way, also has difficulty showing emotions, but as soon as she starts her serious mode, she emanates a powerful aura and willpower forged from steel ambition. Her eyesight makes the viewer focus all their attention on her and the execution she is about to do. The mother who took her in fell out just as well, but for a completely different reason. She is nice, sincerely good, but unfortunately also stupid, naive and suffering from alcoholism. Despite his addiction, he was not an overly toxic character. On the contrary, she is such a nice woman who usually won't understand anything a bit more complicated, but always offers a warm word, understanding or limited help. Dorociński did quite well, but I had the impression that he was playing a bit too wooden. I understand that at some stage of the level of the game, people naturally show similar features (greater concentration, noticeably better control of emotions and words), but our Polish actor overestimated a bit. However, it is not bad, the role was good and he also had a strong aura, although definitely weaker than in the case of Beth.
To sum up, a great mini-series for all chess fans, productions strongly focusing on competition between characters, and above all lovers of a good show. "Queen's Gambit" is a lot of fun and is so good that it's hard not to watch all the episodes as fast as possible. From me on 9/10.
