The Film Stage by Glenn Heath Jr.
Chess of the Wind is a shining example of how familiar genres and tones can meld together to form something that feels brand new.
✭ ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭ Read critic reviews
Iran · 1976
1h 40m
Director Mohammad Reza Aslani
Starring Fakhri Khorvash, Mohammadali Keshavarz, Akbar Zanjanpour, Shohreh Aghdashloo
Genre Drama, Mystery, Thriller
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In an ornate, candlelit mansion, 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. This exquisitely controlled mood piece erupts in a subversive final act in which class conventions, gender roles, and even time itself are upended with ferocity.
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The Film Stage by Glenn Heath Jr.
Chess of the Wind is a shining example of how familiar genres and tones can meld together to form something that feels brand new.
The New York Times by Glenn Kenny
Aslani pulls story threads together with an elegant moving camera that doesn’t immediately give up all the secrets a scene may contain.
RogerEbert.com by Godfrey Cheshire
Even measured against the Iranian and international cinematic treasures of the ‘70s, Aslani’s vision is still breathtakingly distinctive, an incisively devastating social critique embedded in a complex tale of intrigue, greed, oppression, and murder. The film is also, and perhaps most strikingly, a stylistic tour de force.
Chicago Tribune by Michael Phillips
It’s somewhat challenging and methodical in its pacing, but if you respond to it — as I did — this ghost from Iran’s 1970s New Wave is a reason to give thanks.
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A whimsical love letter to contemporary Parisian life in the form of an eccentric romantic comedy.
A man, thoroughly dissatisfied with his life, finds new meaning when he forms a fight club with soap salesman Tyler Durden.
A masterpiece of modern horror.
An alchemist assembles a group to replace the immortal gods at the top of Holy Mountain in this searing satirical drama.
A city man has more to learn than he thinks from the townspeople where his dying relative lives.
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She’s everything. He’s just Ken.
A coming-of-age film about a boy who faces all the difficulties of life
Domestic bliss requires sacrifice.
A failed stand-up comedian is driven insane, turning to a life of crime in chaos in Gotham City.