The final set of the match between Satyajit Ray (India) and Andrzej Wajda (Poland) takes us to the year 1977, and once again the two directors find themselves on similar ground. Ray’s The Chess Players and Wajda’s Man of Marble both open with a newsreel-type sequence, Wajda’s a historical bent and Ray’s an educational one. Both films take a critical look at the practices and ways of their country and countrymen, in addition to the negative influences of outside parties.

Both films also include their own touches of the seventies funky vibe. Wajda does so more through music and character while Ray’s cinematography and set design lends its own brand of funk at times. The Chess Players portrays a much earlier period in history, the mid-nineteenth century, and stays there. Man of Marble, meanwhile, looks at Stalin-era Poland through the lens of a present-day filmmaker, flashing back smoothly between the present and the past.

Ray serves first and sets up his style of play with a broad mixture of shots. As previously mentioned, the opening educational-style newsreel gives way to the sheltered lives of two upper-class Indian men who while away their days playing chess and huffing on hookas. He even includes touches of a popular English comedy troupe as yet another reference to the influence of British culture. The Python-like cartoons encapsulate the appetite of English generals for Indian states. The newsreel eventually gives way to the lives of Mir and Mirza, which consists of their ongoing quest to find a spot to play chess where they won’t be bothered. The secondary story focuses on the King of Avadh and the English general who prepares to depose him. The drastic cuts between stories is startling at times but the stories parallel each other.

Wajda returns with a more hectic pace. His historical newsreel opening jumps quickly into a mad dash to a museum where a small film crew, led by a woman who is completing her film degree, digs up information on the man shown in the initial newsreel. The man, a bricklayer named Birkut, was once a folk hero in Poland but has completely disappeared from Polish society. The film student, Agnieszka, is determined to find out the complete story, much to the chagrin of her advisor, who would rather have her focus on more mundane subjects. I must admit, when I first saw Man of Marble, I was so taken by the opening tune that I made finding it a top priority. The score by Andrzej Korzynski is excellent. Point goes to Wajda for an intense start.

Wajda’s next shots examine more of Birkut’s life as he rises to an unimagined fame. How does a bricklayer rise to fame? By laying lots of bricks. Worker productivity was its own game and Birkut became its poster boy. Bit by bit, Agnieszka discovers more about Birkut but not without difficulty. The moments where she is able to slow down and watch old newsreels of Birkut and his bricklaying expertise are the most intimate moments between filmmaker and subject, both of whose own lives seem to lack intimacy. Wajda does a great job of bringing the two people together, although the focus and the details remain on Birkut.

Ray lobs a few obstacles in the way of his chess players, as the British prepare to take control from King Nawab Wajid Ali Shah, who is more of a poet than a ruler. The jealous wife of Mirza makes playing chess in their home a bit difficult, so the wo men go in search of a new place to play. Without chess, the men are desperate and cannot function. Mirza gets upset at Mir when he shows interest and bets on a goat fight. They eventually move to Mir’s house, where he remains oblivious to his own wife’s unhappiness that he is now home. The point goes to Ray for creating an light-hearted portrayal of two men amid a broader, and more serious, struggle.

Wajda’s final serve wraps up the mystery of Birkut while also leaving the future wide open. The pacing toward the end of the film works perfectly and is upbeat even though the news is not good. The downfall of Birkut ends in his own rebirth. The filmmaker knows that she has succeeded and will be able to open up some old Polish wounds, something Wajda has made a career out of himself. Birkut’s son said it best when he ran into Agnieszka the second time. He basically said he figured she wouldn’t go away. She was able to persist and control her destiny, while Birkut had no control and suffered when he tried to exert it.

Ray ends with a bang. Mir and Mirza venture outside of the city to find a quiet place to play chess. Mir, certain there was an old abandoned mosque across the river, finds nothing. Fortunately, the two men run into a boy, who takes them to his house, which is now abandoned because his family heard news that the British were coming. The boy stayed behind because he likes to look at their red coats. As they settle in to their games, sending the boy to fetch lunch, their perfect world is shattered by their own disagreement. As the boy returns with lunch and the British ride past, the two men realize their world will have to change and begin by playing chess the English way. Ray’s ending is a bit too spot on, but as upbeat as Wajda’s. I give the point, set, and match to Wajda, however, for a tighter and overall better shot film.