Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		4.0

Chess of the Wind Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman February 17, 2023

Note: This film is available on Blu-ray as part of the Criterion release of Martin Scorsese's World Cinema Project, No. 4.

Criterion is often described as the very paradigm of a "niche" collector label, and in that regard, there may be nothing Criterion has offered over the years that is more "niche" than their series of World Cinema Project offerings, all bearing the rather notable imprimatur of one Martin Scorsese. This fourth volume follows in the footsteps of the previous three collections and offers another often bracing aggregation of little or at least lesser known films, some from rather unusual places and also at times addressing subjects that are not regular fodder for big budget Hollywood extravaganzas.

Reviews of the previous three volumes in this series, all of which offer some really interesting and worthwhile films, are accessible by clicking on the following links:

Martin Scorsese's World Cinema Project, No. 1 Blu-ray review

Martin Scorsese's World Cinema Project, No. 2 Blu-ray review

Martin Scorsese's World Cinema Project, No. 3 Blu-ray review

As is mentioned in passing in some of the supplements and information on the provenance of the element used for this Blu-ray, Chess of the Wind had a rather fraught history in its native Iran, but "fraught" could also be applied to the general emotional component of this film, which struck me as a kind of bizarrely fascinating combo platter of what might be termed the sensibilities of Douglas Sirk and Luchino Visconti, and if that isn't enough to spark the interest of so-called "discerning cineastes", nothing probably will. Chess of the Wind is described on the back cover of the DigiPack as "a hypnotically stylized murder mystery awash in period atmosphere", and while that is an at least somewhat apt description, there's the added subtext of a patrician family perhaps in the throes of significant decline, in a plot point that seems at least a bit like The Leopard, while some of the interactions between various family members and other hangers on might seem like the Iranian equivalent of a film like Written on the Wind.

Chess of the Wind deals with what might be jokingly referred to as Succession, but there is a deconstruction of everything from class consciousness to gender roles in this slow burning tale. There's also what might be perceived as "Iranian echoes" of stories like House of Usher (again, as odd as that may sound) in that a decrepit mansion serves as a suitable metaphor for both a family in decline and an entire culture on the precipice of major change. The film features the debut feature film performance of Shohreh Aghdashloo as the maid of focal doyenne Lady Aghdas (Fakhri Khorvash).

Chess of the Wind Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Chess of the Wind is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of The Criterion Collection with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. Some introductory text before the main feature provides the following information on the restoration:

Restored by The Film Foundation's World Cinema Project and Fondazione Cineteca di Bologna at L'Image Retrouvee in collaboration with Mohammed Reza Aslani.

Restoration funding provided by the Hobson/Lucas Family Foundation.

Shatranj-e Baad screened once at the Tehran International Festival in 1976 and was later banned in 1979 by the Islamic regime.

Since that time, the film was considered lost with only poor quality, censored VHS copies circulated among cineastes and collectors.

In 2015, the original negatives of the film were found in an antique shop in Tehran and returned to the director, Mohammad Reza Aslani, who managed to ship the negatives to a secure location.

The 4K restoration of Shatranj-e Baad was completed using the original 35mm camera and sound negatives.

Color grading required meticulous work, notably reels 9 and 10 which called for an orange tinted effect reminiscent of early silent cinema.

The restoration was closely supervised by Mohammad Reza Aslani and Gita Aslani Shahrestani; Houshang Baharlou, the film's cinematographer, also contributed to the final steps of the grading process.

Even more detailed information is imparted in Criterion's insert booket:

Chess of the Wind is presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1. This digital transfer was created in 4K resolution on an Arriscan film scanner from the 35 mm original camera negative. FOr its initial release, the film was screened three times at the Tehran International Film Festival in 1976. After that, the film was considered lost, with only poor quality, censored VHS copies circulating among cineastes and collectors. In 2014, the original reels of the film were found by Amin Aslani, the director's son, at an antique dealer's booth at a flea market, and returned to director Mohammad Reza Aslani, who managed to ship them to a secure location.

The backstory of the discovery of the elements utilized here seems to be as interesting as the actual film, but one way or the other, this is a beautiful looking transfer, albeit one with a decidedly yellow-orange tint (as mentioned above) quite a bit of the time (I'd argue not just in the ninth and tenth reels). That can give a just slightly jaundiced appearance to things, as may be evident in some of the screenshots I've uploaded to accompany this review. For that reason, occasionally reds can veer toward orange territory, and flesh tones can also be slightly "buttery" looking, for want of a better term. Detail levels are routinely very good to excellent, ebbing only in some very dimly lit interior scenes, some of which do offer a few passing hurdles in terms of shadow detail (see screenshot 9). Grain resolves naturally throughout the presentation.

Chess of the Wind Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Chess of the Wind features an expressive LPCM Mono track in the original Farsi. The film doesn't have an especially baroque sound design, but interior spaces (where the bulk of the film takes place) do offer a few isolated sound effects and some interstitials of "lower class" women doing their laundry in a group setting can offer a bit more layering. Sheyda Gharachedaghi's score sounds evocative, and all dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly. Optional English subtitles are available.

Chess of the Wind Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Criterion has packaged Chess of the Wind and Muna Moto together on one disc. After selecting an individual film, supplements exclusive to that film are then accessible, as follows:

• Martin Scorsese Introduction (HD; 2:38)


• The Majnoun and the Wind (HD; 53:19) is a fascinating and heartfelt piece about Mohammad Reza Aslani and this film, directed and narratred by his daughter Gita Aslani Shahrestani. In __ and English, with English subtitles where appropriate.

Chess of the Wind Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

There's a lot of subtext at play in Chess of the Wind, something that might argue against this being perceived as a relatively traditional "murder mystery", but that's also part and parcel of what makes the film so undeniably provocative on any number of levels. Technical merits are solid (especially considering the precarious history of the film), and the main supplement very enjoyable. Recommended.