#1145: ASLANI, Mohammad Reza: Chess of the Wind (1976)
ASLANI, Mohammad Reza (Iran)
Chess of the Wind [1976]
Director/Writers
Chess of the Wind [1976]
Spine #1145
Blu-ray
Lost for decades after screening at the 1976 Tehran International Film Festival, this rediscovered jewel of Iranian cinema reemerges to take its place as one of the most singular and astonishing works of the country’s prerevolutionary New Wave. A hypnotically stylized murder mystery awash in shivery period atmosphere, Chess of the Wind unfolds inside an ornate, candlelit mansion where a web of greed, violence, and betrayal ensnares the potential heirs to a family fortune as they vie for control of their recently deceased matriarch’s estate. Melding the influences of European modernism, gothic horror, and classical Persian art, director Mohammad Reza Aslani crafts an exquisitely restrained mood piece that erupts into a subversive final act in which class conventions, gender roles, and even time itself are upended with shocking ferocity.
99 minutes
Color
Monaural
in Farsi
1:85:1
Criterion Release 2022
Color
Monaural
in Farsi
1:85:1
Criterion Release 2022
Mohammad Reza Aslani was 33 when he wrote and directed Chess of the Wind.
The Film
a
Film Rating (0-60):
The Booklet
60
The ExtrasThe Booklet
Seventy-six page booklet featuring an essay by Ehsan Khoshbakht.
Commentary
None.
Introduction
By The Film Foundation’s World Cinema Project founder Martin Scorsese.
Documentary
From 2022 by Gita Aslani Shahrestani featuring Chess of the Wind director Aslani and others.
Extras Rating (0-40):
Commentary
None.
Introduction
By The Film Foundation’s World Cinema Project founder Martin Scorsese.
Documentary
From 2022 by Gita Aslani Shahrestani featuring Chess of the Wind director Aslani and others.
Extras Rating (0-40):
Comments
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