Notes

INTRODUCTION
Life is like a game of chess. You cannot undo the moves but I can make the next step better. (Edwin Tan, 2018). The Dark Horse is based on a real-life story of Genesis Potini, a brilliant New Zealand speed chess player, who suffered from a severe bipolar disorder and spent the last few years in and out of mental institutions. After being released from a psychiatric ward, he is remanded into the custody of his custody of his older brother named Ariki, a leader of a gang and a distant brother to him; Genesis moved in with Ariki along with his soon-to-be-patched son Mana. Needing a purpose to get out of the gang house, Genesis joins and volunteers at a local chess club with the wildest idea of coaching the Eastern Nights Chess club and wanting to lead them to the national chess championship in Auckland. Genesis must face the reality of taking the responsibility of being a leader, conflicting with the gang world and trying to survive the devastating disagreement between him and his brother over Mana’s future. This film is directed by James Napier Robertson that approaches immersion of psychological point of view of contrasting characters. However, the film delves much deeper into the impact of mental illness, the influence of gang culture, and the decisions forced when these two forces collide. This develops the character of Genesis Poutini throughout the film that Robertson effectively uses colours, symbols and other techniques as a way to convey his purpose, meaning and ideas around its character. Genesis is the protagonist of the film, a man that suffers from the clear effects of a serious mental illness but also an exceptional talent for the game of chess.