Project Detail

The Luzhin Defence

Synopsis

Set in the late 1920s, The Luzhin Defence tells the story of a shambling unworldly chess Grand Master (John Turturro) who arrives in the Italian lakes to play the match of his life and unexpectedly finds the love of his life.

Discovering his prodigious talent in a boyhood overshadowed by his parents' failing marriage, Luzhin's lyrical passion for chess has become his refuge and rendered the real world a phantom.

Already matched up by her family to the very suitable Comte de Stassard, when Natalia (Emily Watson) meets Luzhin she is drawn to the erratic genius and offers him a glimpse outside of his chess obsession. But it is a world he is not equipped to deal with, and his two worlds collide to tragic effect.

Details

Year
2001
Type of project
Features
Format
35mm
Director
Marleen Gorris
Producer
Jody Patton
Executive Producer
Jody Patton
Editor
Michael Reichwein
Screenwriter
Peter Berry
Director of Photography
Bernard Lutic
Sound
Peter Glossop
Composer
Alexandre Desplat
Principal cast
John Turturro, Emily Watson, Geraldine James, Stuart Wilson, Christopher Thompson, Fabio Sartor

Categories

Production Status

Production Company

Renaissance Films

Contact: Stephen Evans
34-35 Berwick Street
London W1F 8RP
UK

T +44 020 7287 5190

Sales Company

Renaissance Films

Contact: Bill Stephens
34-35 Berwick Street
London W1F 8RP
UK

T +44 020 7487 5122

Page updates

This page was last updated on 12th May 2025. Please let us know if we need to make any amendments or request edit access by clicking below.

See also

You may also be interested in other relevant projects in the database.

Bertie Taylor-Smith, Alex Paper Cut

Director: Jack Sain

Year: 2026

Long-lost siblings meet for dinner. They end the night in drag. By sunrise, a shocking revelation tests the limits of love and acceptance. PAPER CUT is a debut feature from queer British writer-director Jack Sain. Alex has just found Alice - the birth sister he never knew existed - living four tube stops away. He invites her and her boyfriend over for dinner at the comfortable London home he shares with his boyfriend Sasha. Everyone is on their best behaviour. Everyone has rehearsed. By midnight, all four of them are in drag at a queer nightclub. By 5am, something comes to light that none of them can take back. The film puts social satire through an experimental lens, with a propulsive original score and formally adventurous set pieces, including a split-screen sequence. It asks what happens when people who pride themselves on openness are confronted with something they cannot absorb. The cast includes legendary trans actress Adèle Anderson, Olivier Award nominee and longtime member of cabaret trio Fascinating Aïda, and Barney White of ITV's Professor T - pairing established stage and screen talent with brilliant newcomers.

Jaydeep talking in the bedroom Life Is 4 ½ Metres

Director: Jeevan Singh

Year: 2026

A coming-of-age drama exploring identity, faith and belonging. What begins as an internal conflict develops into an emotional journey that forces the central character to confront what his faith, family and heritage truly mean to him. Inspired by true events, Life Is 4½ Metres is an intimate and heartfelt story about growing up, the bonds between father and son, and the quiet struggles that can shape a young person’s identity. At its heart, the film explores how the traditions we sometimes question can ultimately become the things that connect us most deeply to who we are.

Elenya, the self-proclaimed Elvish Princess, sitting at Hackney Marshes. The Lost Princess of Hackney

Director: Fenton Dyer

Year: 2026

A self-proclaimed Elvish Princess finds herself stranded on our world in the Hackney Marshes. Without any magic to return home, she searches for purpose but develops an unlikely friendship with a sceptical student filmmaker.