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Chess of the Wind

Chess of the Wind

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Summary

The first lady of a noble house has died and now there is conflict between the remainders for taking over her inheritance.

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IMDB

Review

A star rating of 4 out of 5.

Trevor Johnston

An ornate Tehran mansion hosts a fateful tussle for the spoils of a late matriarch in this Iranian melodrama. Although the story takes time to settle, there's a decidedly gothic flavour to events as a wheelchair-bound heiress vies to oust her abrasive stepfather. It all builds to the sort of full-on finale which might have graced a Joan Crawford pic - not quite what we expect from vintage Iranian cinema. With its sexual references, hints of death-by-acid-bath, and a key scene in which someone is seemingly killed while kneeling at prayer, it's no surprise that Mohammad Reza Aslani's first feature was subsequently banned by the Islamic authorities. However, when the director's son found a dusty print in a Tehran junk shop, it was spirited out of the country, and treated to this expert restoration by Martin Scorsese's Film Foundation. There's a true time-capsule feeling to the film, which captures the decaying opulence of an earlier generation of Persian aristocracy. It's a tale of deadly greed and jealousy, which 1976 audiences would have taken as a not-so-veiled reference to the Shah's regal household. A valuable revival, this is a true arthouse classic.

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7.3/10

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Credits

Cast

rolenameLady AghdasFakhri KhorvashHadji AmooMohamad Ali KeshavarzRamezanAkbar ZanjanpourShabanShahram Golchin

Crew

rolenameDirectorMohammad Reza Aslani

Details

Languages

Persian

Formats

Colour

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