Watch The Luzhin Defence (2000) Free Online

Release Date: 2000

Cast: Christopher Thompson, Stuart Wilson, Geraldine James, Fabio Sartor, Massimo Sarchielli, Mark Tandy, Orla Brady, Peter Blythe, Kelly Hunter, Emily Watson, John Turturro

Categories: Movies, Romantic drama, Romance Film, Indie, Period piece, Film adaptation

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... MORE

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 LESS