The Queen's Gambit/Talking About The Mini-Series Format In General (Part 2)

I'm going to be talking about the Queen's Gambit (on Netflix) and shockingly I won't be mentioning actual spoilers. Before I begin though, I have so many thoughts about this show and I can't mention everything without making this post miles long so there is a lot I've left out. I'm going to paste the basic summery of this show. It doesn't really tell you anything but it does give you the basic plot.

The Queen's Gambit follows the life of an orphan chess prodigy, Beth Harmon, during her quest to become the world's greatest chess player while struggling with emotional problems and drug and alcohol dependency. The title of the series refers to a chess opening of the same name.

This mini-series is so well done. The story, the execution, the lighting, costumes, colour palate, general atmosphere, character choices, everything. Everything they did fit together so well, even if there were a couple things that I just found a little awkward. It's one of those shows that just feels solid all the way through and it has that weighty feel of something complete. Sometimes, even shows/movies that I like will have a sort of slightly plastic feel. It doesn't feel solid even though I do still like it. I guess what I'm trying to say is that this show doesn't feel 'cheap' in any way. 

Obviously not everything has to have that specific feeling to it, but when I do find it, it just feels so 'right' and it feels like it will stand the test of time. I think that I as a person like to think in the 'whys' of something. I like to know why someone chose that particular thing, or why they react to things the way they do, etc. I usually don't feel like I understand something until I feel it deep in my gut. This show subtly shows the 'whys' without ever necessarily pointing them out; I understand the 'why' of everything in my core. Everything is just so clever that there is so much you miss so much at first. This show portrays things in such an immersive way that it feels real. I kept expecting to find out this was based on a true story but it isn't, it's based on a book. Some of the details, like the games that were played, were taken from real life, but Beth Harmon was not. Although I think she was inspired by a real person.

I love how the entire show is so shaped by Beth's perspective. The atmosphere of the show and the style that it is shot in is so attuned to Beth's movements. The energy of the atmosphere is so classy, intentional and styled. It's delicate and yet it can feel like a gut-punch. The atmosphere of the show perfectly captures the whirlwind energy of self-destruction, power-dynamics, genius, and intensity. It's stunning. It's almost as if her mind feels too big and it consumes everything around it. The way it's directed is so...intense and so full of feeling. It has the stunning intensity of a creative montage in a movie when someone throws their mind into the work they are passionate about. You feel incredible understanding and empathy while you watch it. It's also gorgeous in so many ways, so you can't help watching it with absolute awe as well. The director of the Queen's Gambit is American but the show feels heavily influenced by European culture as well as American. I also love the uncertainty of this show, because they've shown you a clip of something that happens later right at the beginning and you genuinely don't know if she will spiral completely out of control. I also love just how angry she is as a person.

I love the colour palate of this show. I love how everything around her has this slightly hazy desaturated look to everything. It's like seeing through her perspective and seeing how it touches everything. It also helps incorporate the feel of the 60s timeframe because while the shots are all very easy to see, it has the haze of listening to a vinyl record. It makes everything seem very lived-in and natural even though it is very structured.

I love the textures of her clothing and the little details like the colour of the pills she takes match her clothes at times. The clothing, colours and textures of the show were so engaging. Everyone's clothes seem so suited to their personality. I'm always obsessed with how some clothing can sit on someone like a second skin while other clothing just looks wrong for them. I usually can't tell that in real life so it's always interesting to me when it seems so obvious in the thing I'm watching, I don't know anything about different eras or anything but the stylized textures and lighting and clothing felt incredibly 60s. Nothing looked 'weird' either, if someone wore something that I wasn't used to, it always felt 'right' and I never questioned anything. Between the Queen's Gambit, the Man From Uncle (2015) and even the 2nd season of Umbrella Academy I've been in a 60s style rabbit-hole. 

Beth is very aware of her own personal style. At first it's a self-conscious awareness of her 'lack' of it. Then she adopts the styles around her. She'll buy the dress she saw on a mannequin, she won't know a song that everyone else knows and then later she'll tell someone to turn it up because she loves the song. The way she carries herself changes throughout the years and it's all very intentional. Her self-awareness of her movements feels like it's own little chess game. She takes the things she finds and makes them her own. The things she finds become a part of her image. Her look is very collected and immaculate. Beth is described through the show at times and is known to be on the offense while playing, she's very intuitive, she's very affected by her emotions, she likes to have control, she's obsessive and she herself is always balancing the line of wondering whether she is insane or a genius. Her clothes and her general surroundings are subtly affected and portray her personality. I love how she noticed people using different tactics to throw her off her game, like yawning, showing up a bit late, and using it against them. The visual psychology of this mini-series is astonishing and beautifully done. 

I love the contrast between her and everyone around her. How her personality mirrors or contrasts between the other people in the show in different ways. I love the dynamics of everybody, and that phone call that her friends did for her was so cute.

Again, I just love how complete and well done this mini-series feels. I love that, despite the fact that Beth thought her addictions were helping her, the show didn't leave that as the explanation. Mr. Shaibel and Beth's somewhat mentor/slightly father daughter relationship was so heartwarming. The newspaper wall made me emotional. Her relationship with her adopted mom was great. I loved the interesting dynamics she had with everyone really.

All the actors/actresses portrayed everyone so well. The director did an amazing job. The whole crew of this show did a fantastic job really. The music suited it so well. The 'Venus' song by Shocking Blue is stuck in my head now.

 The way the show incorporated things and reused things was clever. Just everything was so intentional and solid. The mini-series format of this show paired perfectly with the Dark Academic style of this show. This show absolutely blew me away.

 I just... I love it. I know that media is subjective and this show won't be for everyone, but I adore it and highly recommend it. There is some content in it, with language, there's a couple 'scenes' but those can be quickly skipped and they aren't long, and there is addiction portrayed. Like I said at the beginning of the post, there's so much I could say about it but that would take forever. Sorry if this post is kind of all over the place, in my head everything I've said makes sense, but I don't know if it makes sense to anyone else. I'm sorry that I'm terrible at checking the grammar in my posts, I never notice most of the problems until I've posted it and reread it a few times. Then I'm usually too lazy to fix it.

Long story short, it's amazing. Please watch it.