Chess of the Wind (Persian: شطرنج باد, romanized: Shatranj-e Baad), also titled The Chess Game of the Wind, is a 1976 Iranian film written and directed by Mohammad Reza Aslani.[1] The film was screened only once before the 1979 revolution in Iran and was accompanied by a negative reception. After being rediscovered in 2020, the film was released in different countries and was well received.[2]
In an aristocratic family, the head of the family - Khanom Bozorg - dies. Her heir is Khanom Kouchak, a paralyzed woman. There is a dispute between the Khanom Kouchak, the maid, the nanny and the stepfather's nephews over the possession of the family wealth.[3]
Aslani cited Johannes Vermeer as an inspiration for daytime scenes and Georges de La Tour 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, intrigued him. Aslani also referenced Barry Lyndon's approach to light, but stressed that he and Kubrick are different directors with different attitudes. Chess of the Wind includes film tinting reminiscent of some silent films.[6]
Reception
Hossein Eidizadeh wrote in Lola Journal:
From marvelous camera movements, to every tiny prop purposefully set in the corners of the frame. You understand how important mise en scène is for this director who loves Max Ophüls. The story is very simple: the decadence of a family in the Qajar dynasty of Iran. Aslani is one of the most neglected Iranian filmmakers – not only outside Iran, but also in his homeland. A prolific documentarist who has made only two fiction films (the second, Green Fire [2008], was bashed by critics, which is hardly surprising), Aslani is a filmmaker who tells the most Iranian stories with the elegant technique of Ophüls or Visconti. His movies are eloquent, hard to digest. However, it takes only 15 minutes to succumb to The Chess Game of the Wind. With the first dinner gathering of the family of the deceased mother (crippled daughter, her step father, her uncle, her maid), through mise en scène, the power dynamic of the story unfolds. You grasp that this story of fighting over a great deal of money is only a pretext for deeper social and cultural comment. The film foretells the Iranian Revolution and remains riveting – not only because of its story and hidden layers, but also because it is one of the rarest Iranian films that, while in debt to German Expressionism and Visconti’s operatic, narrative tools, is rooted in Iranian painting and frame composition. That’s why the film is truly the Holy Grail of Iranian cinephiles – and a mesmerising one."[7]
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 film was screened in 2020. Robin Baker, head curator of the BFI National Archive said it will "impact" the "world film canon". Baker praised its "ambition", finding it "shocking" and unique in relation to film as well as Iranian culture.[1]
As of 2021, Janus Films currently owns the North American distribution rights to the film.[8]
