Arguably the best Kiwi drama since ‘Once Were Warriors’, THE DARK HORSE is an inspirational tale that checkmates hairy chested tormentors with hairy chess tournaments.
THE DARK HORSE is an inspiring true story based on the life of a charismatic, brilliant but little-known New Zealand hero, Genesis Potini, a chess champion plagued by mental illness but possessed of a passion that the game can be a conduit for aimless, displaced youth to achieve focus and fulfillment.
Spurred on by an up close and personal crusade to save his nephew, Mana, from the seemingly senseless, dangerous and criminal milieu of Gisborne’s gang scene, Gen impulsively announces that he is going to lead a local youth chess club to the National Chess championship tournament in Auckland in only six weeks’ time.
Gen’s mentoring of Mana is seen as meddling by Ariki, Gen’s brother and Mana’s father, who throw Gen out of the house.
Homelessness threatens to wreak havoc on Gen’s mental health but he perseveres, the perception of the parents of his charges proving a far greater peril to his plans of providing an achievable goal for his disadvantaged chess players than his own personal demons.
Cliff Curtis is superb as Genesis, an honest and true representation of mental illness, the mood swings between euphoria and depression, the heights of genius married to an almost childlike naiveté and impulsive behaviour, the frustration and confusion that comes with the struggle of polarity.
The cinema is seemingly awash with a sea of psychotic “nut jobs” at the moment, in films like ‘Nightcrawler’, ‘The Maps to the Stars’, and ‘Foxcatcher’, and Curtis’ performance is an oasis of stoic, unflashy, unfussy humanity.
Writer/director James Napier Robertson says, “I was drawn to the complexities of Genesis, the polarities and societal misconceptions around him; an outcast who could inspire or intimidate, his mental illness making him a pariah with some… his intelligence, gift with chess and eccentric charisma making him a teacher to others, particularly those who also found themselves on the outskirts of normal society…”.
His second feature film, THE DARK HORSE shows Napier Robertson’s mastery of narrative that explores the dysfunction, disorder and disorientation in personalities and in society.
A triumph of performance, cinematography and production values, and saddled with a unique and compelling story, THE DARK HORSE is very much the dark horse of the year, outflanking a field of higher profiled pictures to take the flag for our better angels.