House of Sand and Fog
Cast
Jennifer Connelly .... Kathy
Ben Kingsley .... Behrani
Ron Eldard .... Lester
Frances Fisher .... Connie Walsh
Kim Dickens .... Carol Burdon
Directed by
Vadim Perelman
Rater #2 has description and review.
Rater #1
Has Not Seen Movie
Rater #2
10/10. A few years ago, when Hollywood wanted to make a movie out of Andre
Dubus III's novel House of Sand and Fog, over 100 studios were
bidding for the rights to the film. DreamWorks, obviously, won, and
created a masterpiece. It's easy to see why so many studios would
want to grab this little gem. It's more than it looks. On the
outside, it looks like a simple, basic tragedy, something maybe along
the lines of Far From Heaven, about the breakdown of people, but
really it's a lot deeper. House of Sand and Fog goes into the true
character, the flaws that everyone has and the conflicting emotions
of each.
Kathy (Jennifer Connelly) is recovering from alcoholism and her
recent divorce, but a tax is imposed on her that she wasn't supposed
to pay. She's evicted from her house and in moves Col. Behrani (Ben
Kingsley), with his family. They have immigrated from Iran. Kathy
realizes that the government wronged her, but to get the house back,
they would need Behrani to agree, which he doesn't. What ensues is a
back-and-forth about difference of opinion.
What really got to me about House of Sand and Fog was how emotional
it was without being obvious. It can really get to the audience
without really knowing, which is what it did to me. Emotions change
so quickly, one minute you may be content and the next you could be
yelling in your head for the characters to change what they're doing.
The emotions that the characters, each one of them, convey are so
realistic and can really ring it in.
Freshman director Vadim Perelman really knows how to direct a film.
With using the least amount of dialogue as possible, he keeps the
true issue at hand, which is devotion. Not only both Kathy's and
Behrani's devotion to the house, but also devotion to other people.
Behrani's first goal is his devotion to his family, and Kathy has a
new devotion to police officer Lester (Ron Eldard). Lester, although
he separates with his wife in the movie, still has a devotion to his
family. Perelman makes this movie that could become so unrealistic
that it becomes farcical into something more true, because of the
minimal dialogue. No one talks to his or herself when they're alone.
People don't talk to each other just to further the plot. With this I
feel that Perelman can become a famous director soon. In addition,
the characters don't talk about things that don't matter. For
instance, if the Behranis go back to Iran, they will be killed. Why?
We don't know and it doesn't matter.
Kingsley puts in a truly emotional performance. His whole heart and
soul go into it, and, although he may have won an Oscar for being
Gandhi, this was the role he was meant to play. He plays the man who
tries to hide his feelings, but with a little perusing, it's easy to
tell that this man is uneven. Connelly seems to have a New Year's
resolution: in any movies she's in now, she cannot cry for half the
time, she can only cry for one third of the movie. Although she was
good in A Beautiful Mind and The Hulk, she spent most of her
screentime crying. Here, she actually has some real dialogue in
between all of the sobbing. Eldard plays one of the most malevolent
characters I've ever seen on screen, just because of his ignorance,
and by doing that, he's great, but he's outshadowed by the two other
performances.
It's safe to say that House of Sand and Fog isn't for everybody. In
fact, it's probably not for most people. However, if you're in the
mood for a real downer, and a great one at that, then this is your
movie.
Rated R for some violence/disturbing images, language and a scene of sexuality.
Running time: 126 minutes
Back Home