Mohammad Reza Aslani's CHESS OF THE WIND (1976)— A Rediscovered Masterpiece

7th House is proud to present the restoration of a breathtaking Iranian gothic masterpiece — Mohammad Reza Aslani’s CHESS OF THE WIND (1976)! Screened publicly just once before it was banned and then lost for decades, this rediscovered jewel of Iranian cinema reemerges to take its place as one of the most singular and astonishing works of the country’s pre-revolution New Wave.

A remarkable, long-missing piece of Iranian cinema history, Aslani’s film was condemned by Iranian film critics for its violence and homosexual themes. The controversy led to an official ban by the Iranian government, with an order to destroy negative and all prints. The film was thought to have been completely lost until nearly 40 years later, by total happenstance, its negative was rediscovered by the director's children — for sale in a Tehran junk shop. Now, thanks to an extensive restoration by Martin Scorsese's Film Foundation’s World Cinema Project, the film has been re-introduced to the world and recognized as a masterpiece. 

A hypnotically stylized M**der mystery awash in shivery period atmosphere, Chess of the Wind unfolds in an ornate, candlelit mansion where a web of greed, violence, and betrayal ensnares the heirs to a family fortune as they vie for control of their recently-deceased matriarch’s estate. For its gorgeous cinematography, Aslani infused the film’s daytime scenes with inspiration from Joannes Vermeer and with inspiration for George de La Tour for its eerie and evocative night scenes, as well as the look of Kubrick’s Barry Lyndon and the color tinting of early silent cinema. Melding these influences with those of European modernism, gothic horror, and classical Persian art, director Mohammad Reza Aslani crafts an exquisitely controlled mood piece that erupts in a stunningly subversive final act in which class conventions, gender roles, and even time itself are upended with shocking ferocity.

A truly monumental world cinema discovery and not to be missed on the big screen!

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