Chess of the Wind

Chess of the Wind (1976), directed by Mohammad Reza Aslani, is one of the most hauntingly original works in Iranian cinema. Set within a decaying Qajar-era mansion, the story unfolds after the death of a matriarch, as relatives and servants circle around her inheritance. At the center stands the rightful heir, a physically disabled daughter whose quiet resistance turns the household into a battleground of power, greed, and manipulation. The film’s title becomes its guiding metaphor: like chess, every move is calculated; like the wind, every position is unstable. With painterly compositions inspired by Persian art, dim lighting, and suffocatingly still frames, Chess of the Wind transforms its setting into a visual prison, one where moral decay mirrors the collapse of a broader social order.

Long overlooked and later restored with the support of Martin Scorsese’s preservation efforts, Chess of the Wind feels like a recovered fragment of a lost cinematic past. 

Written by Moshen Kasimir.