Shatranj-e baad

Beautiful images and lighting (with no electricity) of Teheran in the Twenties but the final crane shots reveal a modern day Teheran skyline with multistoried buildings and air-conditioning vents (a nod perhaps to Geza von Redvanyi's 1965 film "Uncle Tom's Cabin"). Two realities separated by time. The simplistic tale of greed for pelf and power is interspersed with chorus elements of Greek plays (here washerwomen discussing the lives of rich inhabitants of the mansion in the background.)

"Paying more attention to form than content, Aslani's expertise as a dramaturge is also humbled by his coordination of atmosphere and suspense, summoning a creepily ethnic, swelling percussive score by Sheyda Gharachedaghi, CHESS OF THE WIND's climatic confrontation looks like an out-and-out horror, the paraplegic daughter gruelingly and sinuously crawls about under the dim sepia light, you can barely make out her expressions and features, she morphs into a startled feral creature, operating with the primal instinct for self-preservation, to face the unseen threat with a final showdown. Eventually, the rushed ending leaves a bathetic aftertaste and Aghdashloo's expressiveness is left largely untapped, but CHESS OF THE WIND is such a rara avis in its own terms, indefinable, claustrophobic, conforming to an unrealistic tenet of cause and effect, that you ought to hand it to Aslani and his team for the muscular and idiosyncratic implementation of their own transgressive ideation and craft."

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It's extraordinary that this film was found in a junk yard in 2014, long after it was assumed to have been destroyed, and we're lucky it was, it's so gorgeous. It's a pre-Revolution film that plays like a Greek tragedy, complete with a chorus in the form of the washerwomen who help fill in the backstory of the people vying for the riches of a woman who's just died. There's her wheelchair-bound daughter (Fakhri Khorvash), her evil husband who only married her recently (Mohammad-Ali Keshavarz), the man's two nephews, and a handmaiden who's a bit of a wildcard in the deck (Shohreh Aghdashloo, in her debut film). Amidst a sumptuous mansion, tension simmers until violence breaks out and an eerie drama ensues.

Director Mohammad Reza Aslani gives us quite a visual feast in this film - the patterns, textures, and colors are all dazzling. Several times he takes his time on tight shots showing us details, like the laying out of a dinner spread, lighting a chandelier made of candles, or loading a gun. His long shots are beautifully composed, like in the house, or the girl in red dancing in the street to traditional music. Perhaps most of all, it's his use of light and shadow that is memorable, mirroring the dark recesses of the human soul on display. Adding considerably to the atmosphere is the discordant, mysterious soundtrack from composer Sheida Gharachedaghi.

The film was apparently an outrage not only because of its violence, but also because of a few homosexual bits sprinkled in. The washerwomen gossip that the man of the house "liked young boys" and that his dead wife not only knew about it, but "she used to watch them doing it and laugh her socks off." We also see erotic hand stroking and an embrace with a clear lesbian implication between the daughter and her handmaiden. Ironically, it seems these things are present not as positives, but to emphasize the depravity of these people, who live in affluence and greedily hustle after money, counter to the warning in the Qu'ran verse at the outset of the film.

The handmaiden is an intriguing character because she seems to be trying to cover every base, involved with her mistress, the younger of the two nephews, and another person who I won't name so as not to spoil things. Meanwhile the older nephew is hedging his bets too, at first trying to get the daughter to marry him, despite her cringing at his every gesture, and also by his involvement in a murder plot. It's a tangled web which leads to a scene down in the basement one night which is brilliant. This one is quite a find, and a must watch.

Mohammadreza Aslani has managed to create a story containing symbols for all major Iranian members of society during an unclear time in either Qajar or Pahlavi dynasty, including the wealthy aristocrats, the struggling community under the poverty line, the narcissistic religious community, the intellectual thinkers and men and women of a traditional belief system, all of whom live under the same roof in a stylish enormous house resembling both contemporary and ancient Peraian paintings, which forms a gothic tale of greed and murder, leading to symbolic foreshadowing of multiple revolutions that have and are bound to take place in Iran. Though such references might mostly be comprehended by an Iranian audience, its unique form of storytelling, in addition to its masterful use of light and colour, will undoubtedly capture the eyes of any audience. It is, also, worth highlighting that in Chess of the Wind, the most dazzling performances in the history of Iranian cinema are witnessed, particularly those of Fakhri Korvash as Khanoom Koochik and Shohreh Aghdashloo ( later nominated for an Academy Award for House of Sand and Fog ) as Kaniz whose dynamic is not to be missed.

This movie looks good - I mean it really looks good. Cinematography combined with set design and the editing that was done. Costumes and gadgets work hand in hand together - the story plays sort of a second fiddle to it. It has some horror influences to it - nothing that will shock you too much of course.

More than rock solid, especially if you really are into appearances. Acting is good and for the time it was made and where it was made, the movie tries to push some boundaries story wise for sure ... the pacing is something you will either be on board with or not. Because watching trivial washing or other activities that are not really suspensful - but look good and do something for the characters, is something you have to dig - suspend your disbelief and just go with the slow flow.