''Chess of the Wind'' ( fa, شطرنج باد, Shatranj-e Baad) also titled ''The Chess Game of the Wind'' is a 1976

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

ian film written and directed by

Mohammad Reza Aslani Mohammad Reza Aslani ( fa, ) (born December 9, 1943, in Rasht, Iran) is an Iranian filmmaker, Theory of art, art theorist, graphic designer and poet known mostly for his experimental films and documentary film, documentaries. He is also the co- ...

. This film was screened only once before the

1979 revolution The Iranian Revolution ( fa, انقلاب ایران, Enqelâb-e Irân, ), also known as the Islamic Revolution ( fa, انقلاب اسلامی, Enqelâb-e Eslâmī), was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dynas ...

in Iran and was accompanied by negative reception. But after being rediscovered in 2020, the film was released in different countries and was well received.

Synopsis

In an aristocratic family, the head of the family - Khanom Bozorg - dies. Her heir is Khanom Kouchak, a paralyzed girl. There is a dispute between the Khanom Kouchak, the maid, the nanny and the stepfather's nephews over the possession of the family wealth.

Cast

Fakhri Khorvash Fakhri Khorvash ( fa, فخری خوروش, born 31 May 1929) is an Iranian stage and film actress and director. She received the best actress award at the Sepas Film Festival in 1971 for her performance in the film '' Mr. Naive''. Life Khorvash a ...

* Mohamad Ali Keshavarz *

Shohreh Aghdashloo Shohreh Aghdashloo ( fa, شهره آغداشلو, ; née Vaziri-Tabar (); 11 May 1952) is an Iranian and American actress. Following numerous starring roles on the stage, she made her film debut in ''Chess of the Wind'' (1976). Her next two film ...

* Akbar Zanjanpour * Shahram Golchin * Hamid Taati * Aghajan Rafii * Anik Shefrazian * Majid Habibpur * Javad Javadi * Javad Rajavar * Ali Ahmadi

Inspiration and related works

Aslani cited

Johannes Vermeer Johannes Vermeer ( , , #Pronunciation of name, see below; also known as Jan Vermeer; October 1632 – 15 December 1675) was a Dutch Baroque Period Painting, painter who specialized in domestic interior scenes of middle class, middle-class life. ...

as an inspiration for daytime scenes and

Georges de La Tour Georges de La Tour (13 March 1593 – 30 January 1652) was a French Baroque painter, who spent most of his working life in the Duchy of Lorraine, which was temporarily absorbed into France between 1641 and 1648. He painted mostly religious chia ...

as inspiration for the nighttime scenes. Georges de La Tour's use of central light sources in his paintings, as well as his willingness to have portions of the painting either over- or under-

exposed Expose, exposé, or exposed may refer to: News sources * Exposé (journalism), a form of investigative journalism * '' The Exposé'', a British conspiracist website Film and TV Film * ''Exposé'' (film), a 1976 thriller film * ''Exposed'' (1932 ...

, intrigued him. Aslani also referenced ''

Barry Lyndon ''Barry Lyndon'' is a 1975 period drama film written, directed, and produced by Stanley Kubrick, based on the 1844 novel ''The Luck of Barry Lyndon'' by William Makepeace Thackeray. Starring Ryan O'Neal, Marisa Berenson, Patrick Magee, Leonard ...

s approach to light, but stressed that he and Kubrick are different directors with different attitudes. ''Chess of the Wind'' includes

film tinting Film tinting is the process of adding color to black-and-white film, usually by means of soaking the film in dye and staining the film emulsion. The effect is that all of the light shining through is filtered, so that what would be white light bec ...

reminiscent of some silent films.

Reception

* Hossein Eidizadeh wrote in Lola Journal:

Rediscovery

The original negatives were presumed lost, yet rediscovered by the director's children in a junk shop in 2014. Reception was positive after a

restored ''Restored'' is the fourth studio album by American contemporary Christian music musician Jeremy Camp. It was released on November 16, 2004 by BEC Recordings. Track listing Standard release Enhanced edition Deluxe gold edition Standard ...

film was screened in 2020. Robin Baker, head curator of the

BFI National Archive The BFI National Archive is a department of the British Film Institute, and one of the largest film archives in the world. It was founded as the National Film Library in 1935; its first curator was Ernest Lindgren. In 1955, its name became the N ...

said it will "impact" the "world film

canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the conceptual material accepted as official in a fictional universe by its fan base * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western ca ...

". Baker praised its "ambition", finding it "shocking" and unique in relation to film as well as

Iranian culture The culture of Iran () or culture of PersiaYarshater, Ehsa, ''Iranian Studies'', vol. XXII no. 1 (1989) is among the most influential in the world. Iran, also known as Persia, is widely considered to be one of the Cradle of civilization, cradle ...

. As of 2021,

Janus Films Janus Films is an American film distribution company. The distributor is credited with introducing numerous films, now considered masterpieces of world cinema, to American audiences, including the films of Michelangelo Antonioni, Sergei Eisenstein ...

currently owns the North American distribution rights to the film. The film was released on Blu-ray and DVD by

The Criterion Collection The Criterion Collection, Inc. (or simply Criterion) is an American home-video distribution company that focuses on licensing, restoring and distributing "important classic and contemporary films." Criterion serves film and media scholars, cinep ...

in September of 2022 as part of

Martin Scorsese Martin Charles Scorsese ( , ; born November 17, 1942) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter and actor. Scorsese emerged as one of the major figures of the New Hollywood era. He is the recipient of List of awards and nominatio ...

’s

World Cinema Project The World Cinema Project (WCP), formerly World Cinema Foundation, is a non-profit organization devoted to the preservation and restoration of neglected world cinema, founded by Martin Scorsese. History Founded in 2007 as the World Cinema Foundati ...

series.

References

External links

* * * * * {{Mojo title, 0318069 1976 films Gay-related films 1970s Persian-language films Lesbian-related films Iranian LGBT-related films Films set in Tehran 1970s rediscovered films