MovieChat Forums > Fresh (1994) Discussion > Chess Metaphor *Spoilers*

Chess Metaphor Spoilers

posted 21 years ago by Kazou_Kuriyama
13 replies | jump to latest

yea this thread has spoilers so don't say I didn't warn ya

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*** begin spoilers ***

Thought I'd start a thread to break down the chess metaphor. Supposedly there are parallels between the advice his dad gives him, the chess board Fresh sets up, and the doublecrossing going in the second half the movie.

So this is how I'm interpreting it. The chess board Fresh sets up in the second half in his room is pits Estaban (white pieces) against Corky (black pieces). Fresh's is playing the two against each other so he can eventually capture the white king, and save the white queen.

Esteban = white king
Nicole = white queen
Chuckie = white knight
Corky = black knight
Jake = black bishop
Cop = black pawn

The black pawn might also be Fresh, I know it's either him or the cop because in the end, we see the black pawn taking the white king. Chuckie is the white knight, the first piece to get eaten on the board, and the piece Fresh moves on the board before he tries to hook Chuckie up w/ a job for Esteban. Jake is the black bishop, the piece that kills the white knight. Finally Corky is the black knight because we see the black knight being taken by the white king, and Esteban kills Corky.

Some of the foreshadowing in the advice Fresh's dad gives halfway through the flick
- telling Fresh that he's scared to lose his knight because it makes all these fancy moves around the board. he then tells Fresh he should manipulate the knight like the rest of them and if it gets taken away, that's life. we all know what happens to Chuckie
- telling Fresh that he's scared of losing his queen and the queen is just a pawn w/ fancy moves. in the end Fresh manipulates his sister just like the rest of them and puts her in danger
- saying that if he's playing an opponent who's scared of losing his queen, he should threaten the queen and go after the king when he's vulnerable. Fresh uses turns James into a threat against Nicole, and when Esteban is busy trying to settle things w/ Nicole, Fresh doublecrosses him.

any other ideas?

[–] KFL 21 years ago

I think you're taking the metaphor too far. You're entirely right when you suggest that the lessons Fresh receives from his father suggest to him that to win, he has to place "pieces" (=people, or perhaps pets) in danger, and possibly even sacrifice them. But to equate Chuckie to a knight, Nichole to a queen etc, is taking it too far.

Chess teaches him to plan ahead, to think in terms of what his opponent is thinking, to have backup moves available. That's all.

...the dog...why does he shoot the dog? Because it won the dogfight, which Jake lost, so he's presenting it as further evidence that Jake is vengeful and mean?

...IAC...one of the very best films I've seen....

That's what his stare has been saying to me all along: 'At least I galloped--when did you?'

[–] Kazou_Kuriyama 21 years ago

in the dvd commentary, it's said the dog shooting scene was filmed in order to show that Fresh isn't some untouchable kid carrying out a revenge scheme and that he still has some human characteristics. the kid is obviously tortured by all the drama around him and by killing the other dog in the fight, his dog condones all that drama. so Fresh kills it

I still think the characters are pieces on the board, some more clearly than others though. If the metahpor wasn't that deep, there would be no need to show closeups of the chessboard everytime something major happened and somebody got killed.

IE - In the park, his dad lectures Fresh that he's too attached to the knight because it makes all these fancy moves around the board (Chuckie's crackpot personality). He then tells Fresh to put the knight out there and if gets eaten, that's life. That's basically what Fresh does w/ recruiting Chuckie to slang w/ him and Chuckie ends up getting himself killed. the next shot of the chess board shows Fresh taking the knight off the board. based on that, I don't think it's too much of a stretch

[–] ivony 21 years ago

I agree Kazou, the pieces were definitely metaphors for the people he was "playing" irl. Fresh setting up the board "against himself" wasn't just a game against himself, but pitting Corky's boys against Estaban's. The knight was undoubtedly a representation of Chuckie...for when Chuckie fell, so did the knight.

Nice post Kazou...interesting to see the pieces side by side with the characters.

As for the dog, I always interpreted that as being similar to what you've said. In a nutshell, Fresh was done with violence. Since the dog had killed the other dog in the dogfight, he was just as guilty of violence as Jake. Also, Fresh loved the dog and now that Chuckie was gone, there was no one else around to take care of it...leaving only two options for the dog (outside of death) a: abuse b: dogfighting. I'm sure he didn't want "his" dog being a victim or perpetrator of any more violence. Again, he'd had enough.

Like I said, great post Kazou. I just LOVE this movie!

A dirty mind is a terrible thing to waste

[–] Israeli Cowboy 21 years ago

I deffinitely agree with everything you said chess-wise. I know the cop had something to do with the imprisionment of Esteban, I still think Fresh is the black pawn. As for KFL, I don't think Kazou took the metafor too far, I think he was dead on and if you can't see that, you missed a big symbolic part of the movie and maybe you should watch it again.

[–] kvonnegut 20 years ago

Interesting take on it. IT's been awhile since I had seen it. There surely is a definite metaphor on the game of chess as far as the whole plot is concern.

However, my take is that here's a little boy who outsmart all the adults around him in real life, and his no good two bit father is teaching him about life and chess when he's all talk and no action. The boy had to take care of things himself on his own and here's his father bloviating about life, about chess. Whose the mentor and whose the teacher now?

I quite liked the movie.

[–] HCabaCaraballo 20 years ago

without a doubt kazou's breakdown of the chess metaphor is on point..

i just happended to stumble across this movie one day pickiing up titles i havent seen yet @ the local blockbuster... i still can't get it out of my head..

the use of a 12 year old..the situations he encountered..the chess metaphor..i read a critic that said the movie was fairy tailish in the sense that everything went the way that fresh planned but i think thats the beauty of the movie..thats what makes that final scene even better..if he would have been able to speak i could see him sayin, dad, i listened to everything you told me about chess..i made all the right moves..everything happended as expected..thats why im cryin now..i didnt think that victory could feel so good and so bad at the same time..
classic material...
@ the dog.. i think fresh jus wanted to remove all memories of chucky..true, its obvious he put him in harms way but i dont think he expected the drastic results..

im suprised this movie is not as known as it should be..its definitly a must see ... a must have if u are a collector

[–] treach33 17 years ago

I think you're taking the metaphor too far. You're entirely right when you suggest that the lessons Fresh receives from his father suggest to him that to win, he has to place "pieces" (=people, or perhaps pets) in danger, and possibly even sacrifice them. But to equate Chuckie to a knight, Nichole to a queen etc, is taking it too far.

Chess teaches him to plan ahead, to think in terms of what his opponent is thinking, to have backup moves available. That's all.

...IAC...one of the very best films I've seen....

I agree, I don't think it was meant to be a direct parallel of what's going on in the film although I could see how the argument could be made for it. Either way whether or not he was directly playing the pieces or just using lessons learned, the point is he acquired the ability to trust in himself and outsmart his adversaries.

Also, Fresh's plan wasn't to purposely sacrifice Chuckie. The plan was for both of them to get caught but there was no need to have Chuckie killed. That's why he told him "just drop the bag and run OK!" Fresh wasn't deliberately trying to sacrifice Chuckie he was just using him as a pawn like everyone else. Although I could see how that alone would make him guilty or culpable but let's face it a character like Chuckie would've probably ended up dying senselessly anyway.

In the end, he played everybody and put everyone at risk including himself but that was the whole point, just like in the game of chess you have to take chances and risks if you wanna win and such is life. This was the important lesson he learned which got him ready for dealing with all the stuff he had to do at the end. He learned not to fear losing.

~I'm super! Thanks for asking!~

[–] diggs3 20 years ago

After watching this movie, i came to IMDB just to get a take on how people felt. amazing that only 2K people have decided to rate it.

Kazou, I doubt you will ever read this..but your post was dead-on. If others can't see that, they miss out. The parallel between the last 45 minutes and the chess board set up in his room was one of the best plot techniques i have seen in a long time. I am so glad you filled in all my questions.

[–] Robert_Scott 19 years ago

This is a great interpretation of the metaphoric connection between the game of chess and the actual plot of the film. I agree with all the representations offered for each character to the value of the chess pieces except one small facet. I don't think Fresh was representing any piece on the board.

The way I look at it is Fresh is the player ("The Man" if you will-like Esteban and Corky predicted). He's playing the pieces just as he's playing the characters, controlling every move they make. The various risks and dangers he encounters represent the invaluable advice he gathers from his old man at the park in order to make his plan as seamless as taking that Andy Jackson from the arrogant hot shot during the previous game. Everything else falls into place as everybody else mentioned.

This is indeed a great movie. Another nice touch is in the very beginning of the film, it starts with a blank canvas - similar to a chess board. Buildings and other objects are slowly incorpoated into the setting one at a time just as players would set up before a game. In this case, the game of chess involving life or death situations against the clock is underway and Fresh is going to "chew their a$$es up".

[–] vladdy_p 17 years ago

Chuckie was the horse not the knight

[–] Denny_the_Dinosaur 17 years ago

The horse and the knight are the same piece.

I invented lighter fluid. What have you done?

[–] ikarinokami 16 years ago

it was so obviously a metaphor, seriously. I dont think it could have been any clearer.

[–] 16 years ago

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