The Master Game (1998): cast, story & where to watch

Released in 1998, The Master Game is a documentary film directed by Lutz Dammbeck, running about 106 minutes.

What it’s about. At the Vienna Art Academy in 1994, an unidentified person painted over 27 works by Austrian painter Arnulf Rainer. Rainer had become world-famous for his abstract art and, in particular, for his over-layering of photographs and overpainting of his own and other artists’ works. But who painted over the “overpainter”? Speculation rages: Did he attack his works himself? A year later, an unsigned letter surfaces claiming responsibility for the act directed against Rainer – and modern art in general – and accusing the artist of being complicit with “destructive modernism.” At the same time, Austria is shaken by a series of mail bombs by the Bajuwarian Liberation Army, in response to the supposed threat to Austria’s “German identity.” Are there connections between the overpainting event and the mail bombs? Or is this all just a game? A dream? Or perhaps a hallucination?

How it landed. With an audience score of 6.3/10, The Master Game has drawn a solid, mixed-to-positive response.

Where to watch. In US you can stream it on GuideDoc. See the full, country-by-country breakdown on our where to watch The Master Game page.

If you liked it. Fans of The Master Game tend to enjoy One Direction: This Is Us, Burn the Stage: The Movie, BTS World Tour: Love Yourself - Japan Edition and Senna.