Defiling of Nabokov's Book but Great Performances By The Leads
2 November 2013
Based on Vladimir Nabokov's novel (loosely) tells the story of a master chess player Luzhin. The film is shot in an old fashioned but visually appealing way. Thus, it looks polished. However, it lacks the rawness of the book. There have been a couple of significant changes when compared to the book such as the element of ambiguity and mystery which is mostly absent in the film.

'The Luzhin Defence' is also quite simplistic (and a tad melodramatic) as it attempts to provide a solution for everything. Perhaps the intention was to make it lighter in order for it to appeal to a wider audience who like happy endings. But if that's the case, why not change it completely, at least give the main characters different names in order to not mislead the viewers into thinking they're watching something similar to the book it's supposedly based on?

The highlight of 'The Luzhin Defence' are the lead pair's performances. John Torturro and Emily Watson are spellbinding in their roles. Watson, in a wonderfully reserved performance completely convinces the viewer why she would fall for Luzhin. Torturro delivers yet another nuanced performance of a complex man. Geraldine James also does a good job. Stuart Wilson's Valentinov is one dimensional (pretty much your usual antagonist). Alexander Hunting does a fine job as the young Luzhin but he bears no resemblance to Torturro.

Adapting a book into a film isn't an easy task and there is bound to be some criticism if a big book is to be fitted into a 90 minute film. However, perhaps the most important thing is to capture the same essence and that's where Marleen Gorris and Peter Berry fail. Nabokov certainly wouldn't have been pleased with this adaptation.
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