Adaptation in Iranian cinema based on paintings: a case study of the film Chess of the Wind and The Derivation Painting by Mahmoud Khān Malek al-Sho‘arā

Introduction: Despite its very limited release, the movie "Chess of the Wind" has garnered the attention of a significant number of critics. The director of this film, Mohammed Reza Aslani, who is one of the directors of the new wave of Iranian cinema, aimed to create an atmosphere reminiscent of Iranian society in the 1970s. He has mentioned that his film is not only inspired by the paintings of Georges De la Tour, a 17th-century French painter but also is an adaptation of the painting "The Derivation" by Mahmoud Khān Malek al-Sho‘arā, also known as "Sharif," who was a painter and poet of the Qajar period. Two versions of this painting, which could have marked the beginning of the modern period of painting in Iran, are available in watercolor and oil. They were created several years apart. If the viewer of the movie "Chess of the Wind" is aware of the impact of the "The Derivation" panel on this film, they can understand the resemblance by considering the similarities in light, color, shadow, mise-en-scène, storytelling, drama in the panel, and even the arrangement of objects in a particular frame. According to the director of the film, the similarities between the film and the tableau, the bright and intense shadows in this panel, and the sitting position of the characters in it evoke a conspiratorial atmosphere which is similar to the plot of the film “Chess of the Wind”.
Research Problem: Nevertheless, the proof of the effect of the painting on the film should be studied from a scientific point of view. In this article, an attempt has been made to use Gerard Genette's theory of Intertextuality by analyzing "The Derivation" painting and comparing it with a scene from the film “Chess of the Wind”, to show in what ways the film is similar to the painting and this work of art and to what extent was it able to create another work?
Results: When painters came to the cinema, they inevitably brought different ideas and methods to the cinema compared to other filmmakers. The plot and the height of excitement were not among their preoccupations. “Painters look at film as visual art" (Barno, 2014, 125). They checked the details of each frame; they had an artistic look for every arrangement, color, and lighting, and the film was not only a medium for telling stories. This movement, which occurs over time, is the result of well-balanced and coherent editing of visual forms. "If we take the element of motion and the residual factor of the image from the cinema, each frame of its image can be examined and analyzed with a visual look and painting and photography approaches" (Abdul Hosseini, 2007, 70). The term "painterly" refers to films with images resembling paintings, while "photographic" describes films with images closely related to photography. If we accept that "the most important effect of painting in cinema should be found in mise-en-scène. After watching the movie, we may not remember the cuts or the camera movements, the blur, or the sound outside the image, but we will remember the mise-en-scène elements. We have not forgotten about the wasted clothes. Most of the lasting memories of the cinema are related to the mise-en-scène element" (Bordwell, 1998, 157). If we consider this, it seems likely that the audience may not recall much about the story or narrative of the film after a few years, but they will remember the images. This is because images have a powerful impact on our emotions. It is the same effect that paintings have on their viewers. It is for this reason that filmmakers such as Godard and Pasolini have been employed in the work of cinematographers, who attach more importance to mise-en-scène and the visual aspect than the screenplay. Despite this, “In some cases, the tableau is integrated into the story and even becomes an important element of it, but in a distinguishing and hidden way” (Bonitzer , 2019,28). "Sometimes the audience does not notice the presence or trace of a painting in the film, but still, the work of art borrowed from it has its effect, or we see a plan corresponding to it in the film, and sometimes the only atmosphere that dominates the film is inspired by a painting" (Piraish Moghadam, 2019, 5). So, the impact cinema has on painting can be examined from different perspectives and addressed; however, in this article, the main goal is to investigate the influence of The Derivation painting on the film Chess of the Wind, concerning the plan that directly refers to the tableau.