Review of Brainwashed

First and foremost, both Jurgens and Bloom were top stars in their day, and you would expect a lot from any film with both names in the credits. And this neat little thriller delivers. More important -- the facet that makes this memorable -- actually unforgettable to this reviewer --- is the setup. In an impromptu chess match that takes place between a grand master and an amateur (simply to pass the time), an unknown face, a man with no prior association with the game, shows up out of nowhere and "helps" the amateur bring the match to a draw. The grand master is stunned and demands to know more about the stranger? The stranger merely offers the fact that the match was the first time he ever actually "held a chess piece in his hand." The rest of the film is flashbacks and backstory. The stranger had been captured for political reasons and attempts were made at brainwashing and interrogation. The only way the man could keep his sanity was to use the shadows in his cell (of the barred outside window), and stolen pieces of bread, to re-enact famous games of chess he found in a book he stole from his captor. Later, when the book is discovered, he continues the mental stimulation by playing the games purely from memory. From this, a chess master almost emerges. Whether you buy the premise or not, rest assured it is almost unique in film history and the execution is flawless. A one of a kind film.