05/08/2007 11:49
Bobby Fischer dissatisfied with Icelandic documentary
According to a statement from the Bobby Fischer support group RJF, the chess master is dissatisfied with the production of an Icelandic documentary about him, entitled Vinur minn Bobby (“My Friend Bobby”).
Apparently the script of the television documentary, produced by Fridrik Gudmundsson and Kristinn Hrafnsson, does not coincide with what was originally discussed with Fischer, mbl.is reports.
The RJF statement reads: “The main theme of the film, which has the working title ‘My Friend Bobby,’ is in his [Fischer’s] opinion very different from the original ideas from 2005 regarding the making of a possible documentary for Icelandic television about his organized kidnapping by the US government and imprisonment in Japan, the granting of Icelandic citizenship and release from prison.”
The statement said Fischer had never signed an agreement permitting the broadcast of the television documentary. It was not revealed what the actual theme of the documentary is or why Fischer is upset by it.
Here is more about it.
Bobby being Bobby 🙂
It’s not clear that they need his permission to broadcast it, depending on the content. The biggest issue would probably be with new footage of him shot specifically for the documentary, and would come down to what’s in the contract he signed, if indeed he signed one at all.
It’s just as well, though. No documentary that he approved would be worth watching. Who wants to see 5 minutes of chess and 55 minutes of wailing about the Jews?
I’m sure Neo-Nazis would like to see that movie:)
Frank W. Lawrence
Who else would want to see it? People who appreciate Fischer for his chess want to remember him the way he was, not the way he is.
This whole incident has been one black eye after another for Einarsson and Iceland. Rather than honor the chessplayer he was 35 years ago, they keep trying to package the person he is now as being something normal and acceptable. The very idea of trying to use his initials to stand for Rights, Justice, Freedom. You wonder, is it obscene, or just laughable? There’s got to be some way to honor the chess he used to be capable of without sacrificing one’s credibility.
“First of all, I’ll make a tour of the whole world, giving exhibitions. I’ll charge unprecedented prices. I’ll set new standards. I’ll make them pay thousands. Then I’ll come home on a luxury liner. First-class. I’ll have a tuxedo made for me in England to wear to dinner. When I come home I’ll write a couple chess books and start to reorganize the whole game. I’ll have my own club. The Bobby Fischer … uh, the Robert J. Fischer Chess Club. It’ll be class. Tournaments in full dress. No bums in there. You’re gonna have to be over eighteen to get in, unless like you have special permission because you have like special talent. It’ll be in a part of the city that’s still decent, like the Upper East Side. And I’ll hold big international tournaments in my club with big cash prizes. And I’m going to kick all the millionaires out of chess unless they kick in more money. Then I’ll buy a car so I don’t have to take the subway any more. That subway makes me sick. It’ll be a Mercedes-Benz. Better, a Rolls Royce, one of those fifty-thousand-dollar custom jobs, made to my own measure. Maybe I’ll buy one of those jets they advertise for businessmen. And a yacht. Flynn had a yacht. Then I’ll have some more suits made. I’d like to be one of the Ten Best-dressed Men. That would really be something. I read that Duke Snyder made the list. Then I’ll build me a house. I don’t know where but it won’t be in Greenwich Village. They’re all dirty, filthy animals down there – lower than cats and dogs. Maybe I’ll build it in Hong Kong. Everybody who’s been there says it’s great. Art Linkletter said so on the radio. And they’ve got suits there, beauties, for only twenty dollars. Or maybe I’ll build it in Beverly Hills. The people there are sort of square, but like the climate is nice and it’s close to Vegas, Mexico, Hawaii, and those places. I got strong ideas about my house. I’m going to hire the best architect and have him build it in the shape of a rook. Yeah, that’s for me. Class. Spiral staircases, parapets, everything. I want to live the rest of my life in a house built exactly like a rook”(Bobby Fischer)…read more