Queen to Play

An excellent movie. Chess becomes the metaphor by which Helene attempts not to escape her world but to know more about the world outside of her quite confined existence as a poor chambermaid. her relationship with Kevin Kline is platonic and she appreciates his guidance into this new world. She meets new people and encounters obstacles in entering this expanded universe but she earns respect and adulation from the chess set and surprisingly from her family and especially from her husband who she loves dearly. This movie is refreshing because it doesn't represent the change in her life by blowing up the old life. It is a blending and amplification of who she really is and acceptance by those whom she loves.