Mediaboss Marketing

This 1976 movie arrives in New York with an ideal restoration narrative. Chess of the Wind was made in Iran and screened only briefly before being banned in the tense period leading up to the Islamic revolution. Presumed lost, the films negative turned up in a junk shop years later. Distinguished cinephile organizations then kicked in to make it internationally accessible.

Its a pleasure to report that the actual movie, directed by Mohammad Reza Aslani (who has worked mostly in documentaries since his trouble with Chess), has quite a bit going for it beyond its rediscovery.

Set on a rambling estate in early-20th-century Tehran, Chess is a fevered melodrama conveyed in a poetically measured style. Its opening scenes are enigmatic. A young woman who uses a wheelchair breaks some bottles in what looks to be a fit of spite. A patriarchal-looking figure smokes with associates, then breaks out scrolls and rubber stamps to what appear to be shady dealings.

Aslani pulls story threads together with an elegant moving camera that doesnt immediately give up all the secrets a scene may contain. Hadji Amoo (Mohamad Ali Keshavarz), indeed considers himself the head of this house. But the ailing Lady Aghdas (Fakhri Khorvash), mourning her dead mother, doesnt acknowledge Hadji as her stepfather, let alone as the estate owner. Scheming with her double-dealing handmaiden (Shohreh Aghdashloo), Aghdas determines to usurp him.

Its easy to see why the repressive theocracy in Iran took exception to this movie. The intimations of lesbian romance, sure. But also, the mendacity Aslani conjures (featuring dissembling suitors, secret lovers, and more outlandish components) is palpable, at times seductive. To call this movie a newly found masterwork would be to oversell it. But Chess of the Wind surely is a noteworthy example of a strain of Iranian cinema that the Ayatollahs ensured would be cut off at the knees when they took over in 1979.

Chess of the WindNot rated. In Persian, with subtitles. Running time: 1 hour 33 minutes. In theaters.

See more here:
Chess of the Wind Review: A Remnant of an Iran That Used to Be - The New York Times