A chambermaid on Corsica is obsessed with chess after seeing a US expat play it lovingly with l'Américaine. She cleans his house and now also plays with him on Tuesdays.

Middle-aged chambermaid Hélène's newfound obsession with the game of chess leads her to seek the tutelage of a reclusive American expat, transforming both of their ho-hum lives in the process.—Palm Springs International Film Festival

On Corsica, Hélène ride her bike to a seaside inn where she's a chambermaid; on her afternoons off, she takes the bus to the next town to clean houses. One morning she watches a couple play chess on the veranda while she cleans their room, fascinated by them and curious if it's chess that brings such intimacy. She buys her husband a set for his birthday; he's indifferent, so she tries to teach herself, at night, while he sleeps. She asks one of her clients, Dr. Kröger, if he'll teach her; he grudgingly agrees then finds she has aptitude. To her family, she's strayed beyond her class. After setbacks, will she accept that world view? And the intimacy, does she find that?—<[email protected]>

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.—Paul Fraser