The Royal Game

1938. The Nazis are marching through the streets of Vienna. Attorney-at-law, Josef Bartok, tries to flee with his wife to the United States. He is arrested by the Gestapo and is placed in solitary confinement in a luxurious hotel that was nationalized by the conquering forces. He refuses to cooperate with the Nazis and remains steadfast when confronted by his interrogators, who try to force him to divulge information about his clients. The solitude threatens his sanity and almost breaks his spirit, until in a moment of respite from his isolation, he steals an old book on chess – an act that changes the course of his life but gradually turns into a dangerous obsession. A spectacular and moving cinematic adaptation of the novel, Chess Novella, by Stefan Zweig.