This is almost a home documentary about the
final years of Bobby Fischer. When he played for the World Championship in
1972 in Iceland, his bodyguard was Saemundur Palsson, a police man. They
became good friends and after the match Fischer invited him to California
to stay with him for ten weeks. Palsson went back to Iceland and years passed
until in 2004 he received a phone call from Fischer asking him to help get
him out of jail in Japan. A lot had happened with Fischer since Palsson had
last seen him.
In 1975 he was supposed to defend his World Champion Chess title against
Anatoly Karpov, but he made demands on how the tournament would be set up
and when the operating body FIDE refused, Fischer refused to play and the
title went to Karpov. After that Fischer wandered around the world, had a
few affairs with female chess players or staying with chess players. But
playing no competitive chess until 1992 when he got together with Spassky
for a match in Yugoslavia. It had no meaning really in chess rankings but
still received a fair amount of publicity. Two great war horses battling
again. Fischer won the match and most critics said the play was good but
stale. At the time the USA had sanctions on Yugoslavia and Fischer broke
them and was indicted.
He could not go back to America and so ended up in Japan where he married
a top Japanese female chess player, Miyoko Watai. When Fischer attempted
to leave Japan he was arrested because the USA had revoked his passport and
so he was illegally in the country and tossed into jail for nine months.
And this is where the film jumps in. Palsson and Miyoko go back and forth
between the many govt departments - and eventually Fischer is let go and
allowed to leave the country. Palsson for some reason is filming all of this.
This takes up the first half of the film. When Fischer is free he is given
citizenship in Iceland and flies there and stays there till he dies three
years later from kidney failure.
The final half of the film is Fischer ranting against America and the Jews
and nuclear radiation. Constantly. He is like the boor at the end of the
bar who loves listening to himself and no one else. The Icelanders around
him are terribly embarrassed about his rants against the Jews (against America
not so much) but nothing can get him to stop. Or stop talking. It is a bit
tedious and when a friend tells him that he has to stop, Fischer will agree
and then a second later pick up right where he stopped. It is kind of sad.
