Chess of the Wind

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Chess of the Wind

1976,

1h 33m,

Drama

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Watchlist

Watchlist

100%

8 Reviews

Tomatometer

88%

Fewer than 50 Ratings

Popcornmeter

100%

Tomatometer

8 Reviews

88%

Popcornmeter

Fewer than 50 Ratings

Screened publicly just once before it was banned and then lost for decades, this rediscovered jewel of Iranian cinema reemerges to take its place as one of the most singular and astonishing works of the country's pre-revolution New Wave. A hypnotically stylized murder mystery awash in shivery period atmosphere, Chess of the Wind unfolds in an ornate, candlelit mansion where a web of greed, violence, and betrayal ensnares the 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 controlled mood piece that erupts in a stunningly subversive final act in which class conventions, gender roles, and even time itself are upended with shocking ferocity.

David Mermelstein

Wall Street Journal

Sep 29, 2022

Happenstance alone saved this movie from oblivion, and how lucky we are for it—a moody tale of ugly family and class dynamics, reminiscent of Edgar Allan Poe, complete with an utterly unexpected, numbing final shot.

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Godfrey Cheshire

RogerEbert.com

Oct 29, 2021

4/4

Aslani's vision is still breathtakingly distinctive, an incisively devastating social critique embedded in a complex tale of intrigue, greed, oppression, and murder.

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Glenn Kenny

New York Times

Oct 28, 2021

Aslani pulls story threads together with an elegant moving camera that doesn't immediately give up all the secrets a scene may contain.

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Trevor Johnston

Radio Times

Apr 21, 2022

4/5

An ornate Tehran mansion hosts a fateful tussle for the spoils of a late matriarch in this Iranian melodrama.

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Dennis Harvey

48 Hills

Nov 8, 2021

Comparatively short, sharp and disciplined...

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Panos Kotzathanasis

Asian Movie Pulse

Dec 20, 2020

We are quite lucky that "Chess Game of the Wind" eventually reemerged, not just due to its immense quality as a movie, but also as a testament to the progressiveness of the pro-Revolution Iranian cinema.

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Mohammad Reza Aslani

Director

Fakhri Khorvash

Actor

Mohamad Ali Keshavarz

Actor

Akbar Zanjanpour

Actor

Shohreh Aghdashloo

Actor

Shahram Golchin

Actor

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Synopsis

Screened publicly just once before it was banned and then lost for decades, this rediscovered jewel of Iranian cinema reemerges to take its place as one of the most singular and astonishing works of the country's pre-revolution New Wave. A hypnotically stylized murder mystery awash in shivery period atmosphere, Chess of the Wind unfolds in an ornate, candlelit mansion where a web of greed, violence, and betrayal ensnares the 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 controlled mood piece that erupts in a stunningly subversive final act in which class conventions, gender roles, and even time itself are upended with shocking ferocity.

Director: Mohammad Reza Aslani
Producer: Bahman Farmanara
Screenwriter: Mohammad Reza Aslani
Genre: Drama
Original Language: Persian
Runtime: 1h 33m

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