The Luzhin Defence

The Luzhin Defence
Directed by	Marleen Gorris
Produced by	Caroline Wood
Written by	Vladimir Nabokov (novel) Peter Berry (screenplay)
Starring	John Turturro Emily Watson Geraldine James Stuart Wilson Christopher Thompson Kelly Hunter
Music by	Alexandre Desplat
Cinematography	Bernard Lutic
Production company	France 2 Cinema Clear Blue Sky Productions
Distributed by	Entertainment Film Distributors (UK) UGC Fox Distribution (France) Sony Pictures Classics (US)
Running time	109 minutes
Country	United Kingdom France
Language	English

The Luzhin Defence is a 2000 film directed by Marleen Gorris, starring John Turturro and Emily Watson. The film centres on a mentally tormented chess grandmaster and the young woman he meets while competing at a world-class tournament in Italy. The screenplay was based on the novel The Defense (or The Luzhin Defence) by Vladimir Nabokov.

Emily Watson received best actress nominations at the British Independent Film Awards and the London Film Critics Circle Awards.

It's the early 1920s and Aleksandr Ivanovich 'Sascha' Luzhin (Turturro), a gifted but tormented chess player, arrives in a Northern Italian city to compete in an international chess competition. Prior to the tournament he meets Natalia Katkov (Watson) and he falls in love with her almost immediately. She in turn finds his manner to be appealing and they begin to see each other in spite of her mother's disapproval.

Competing alongside Luzhin in the championship is Dottore Salvatore Turati (Fabio Sartor), who is approached by Leo Valentinov (Stuart Wilson), a Russian, who is Luzhin's former chess tutor from pre-revolutionary Russia. Valentinov tells the Italian that Luzhin cannot handle pressure and he intimates he will make sure that his former prodigy will be unsettled off-table giving Turati a winning chance.

The competition starts badly for Luzhin who is unsettled by the presence of his former friend and coach. He struggles through the early rounds but he soon begins to win again as his relationship with Katkov becomes closer and intimate. She then informs her parents that she is going to marry him. Meanwhile, Luzhin goes on to reach the final and face Turati.

But in the finals the Russian Émigré loses out to the time clock, forcing the game to adjourn. However, outside the venue, he is whisked away by an accomplice of Valentinov who abandons him in the countryside. His former teacher knows that this will completely unhinge him because of the memory of his parents' abandonment many years ago. Luzhin wanders aimlessly until he collapses and is found by a group of Blackshirts.