As the devil is continually playing himself he is not getting any better. This has one fundamental flaw, as we are told the first rule of chess 'the only way to get smarter is by playing smarter opponents'. The city is the board, and the devil is continually playing against himself through the different power hungry characters. In the film he is in every character, particularly in Jake and Macha who embody his principles, mainly greed and pride. I have often heard that the biggest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing everyone he didn't exist. Under an eastern philosophy they are helping Jake reach Nirvana by freeing himself from earthly feelings, embodied as Mr. Gold is the Devil, driven by greed and pride, and Avi/Zack are Jacks guardian angels. It takes the form of a real life chess game taking place in a fictitious city somewhere between the east and west.
In essence it depicts the fight between Mr. Thanks to Ihatebillgates and Pasitaluck for their insights, they are complementary and I hope to summarize their ideas with a pinch of salt from myself. The film’s rhythm, theme and photography captivated me from the start and has urged me to watch it over and over again and seek to understand it better.
