Chess of the Wind

18

A hypnotically stylised murder 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.

Melding the influences of European modernism, gothic horror, and classical Persian and European 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.

Long thought lost, the film negatives were discovered by complete chance in 2014 and beautifully restored for release in 2020.

You can read more about the film and its rediscovery, alongside a brief history of lost films, in a new journal post A Game of Chance: Chess of the Wind.