The Dark Horse

Genesis Potini is a Maori man in New Zealand. He was a speed chess champion when he was young. He has bipolar disorder and spent a long time in hospital. When he comes out he has nowhere to go and moves into his brother's house. His brother is in a gang and his son Mana is about to be taken into it. Genesis finds a chess club in the town; he teaches the children and wants to take them to the national tournament. He has neither the money nor permission; he also has trouble taking his medication regularly. James Napier Robertson directs. Cliff Curtis plays Genesis and James Rolleston plays Mana. It is a New Zealand production. The man at the centre is real; Genesis Potini taught chess to children in his town and a documentary had been made about him. Cliff Curtis put on considerable weight for the part and the performance won awards in New Zealand. The matter it treats is an alternative to the gang; the film does not build that as a story of rescue and Mana's situation is not easily resolved. The chess is inside the narrative and the game is told alongside Maori narratives. Its hardest strand is the family; the brother is nowhere made a monster and his own logic is shown. The ending is emotional but offers no triumph. Who it is for: viewers who like drama based on real events and New Zealand cinema. Who it is not for: the subject is heavy, there is violence, and the narrative is sparing with hope.