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"House of Sand and Fog"


Directed by: Vadim Perelman


Starring: Jennifer Connelly, Ben Kingsley, Ron Eldard, Shohreh Aghdashloo


Rated: R (some violent situations, adult language and mild sexual situations)


Running time: 125 minutes


Best suited for: psychological voyeurs, passion players, soap opera fans


Least suited for: laugh seekers, the concession-oriented (because the characters will drive you nuts)

"House of Sand and Fog" is one of the best films I’ve seen that I didn’t enjoy. I hate leaving the theater in a worse mood than when I entered, and HS&F felt like an emotional splinter, irritating and troublesome for reasons that, until I sat down to write this column, I wasn’t entirely sure of.


The film is a cautionary tale of two wrongs that escalate exponentially. Kathy Nicolo (played convincingly by Jennifer Connelly) is a fragile, recovering addict who wakes up one morning to find her house seized by the bank for unpaid taxes she doesn’t owe. Despite the magnitude of this bureaucratic blunder, Kathy is too passive to rectify the situation. Her home is auctioned and bought by exiled Colonel Behrani (Ben Kingsley), his wife and son.


But Nicolo’s emotional attachment to her home—and her involvement with a local deputy sheriff with a few emotional issues of his own—fling all parties involved into a dizzy tailspin toward destruction.


Kingsley’s character is Iranian, already prone to suspicion in this country. My wife, who is half Arabian (and a good chunk Irish, which makes arguing with her utterly futile), insists the film captures every nuance of important Arabian men. Colonel Behrani is rigid, chauvinistic and arrogant, but also disciplined and loyal.


Kathy—so visually all-American— is petulant, irresponsible and self-absorbed. Her sudden but married boyfriend, Lester (Ron Eldard), is the deputy sheriff who evicted her, then took pity. Lester’s like some high-school ex-jock who, short on intellect, straps on a pistol to confirm his own sense of self-importance. If HS&F is a mirror of cultures, then we Americans do not fare well. Maybe that’s part of the mental splinter. Perhaps it’s also good reason to see this film.


At its best, HS&F is a powerful character study, rich in depth and emotion. At its worst, it’s cliché-prone and somewhat soap operatic. Based on the novel by Andre Dubus III, the film rushes past all hopeful recourse, brushing away every hint of possible solution. Such is the essence of tragedy perhaps, but I’m aware of being manipulated here.


What ultimately raises HS&F above melodrama is the skill of the cast—in particular, Ben Kingsley in his finest performance since "Gandhi." His wife, played by Shohreh Aghdashloo, is likewise excellent.


The film is also gifted with great cinematography and a score that combine to create a moody cocoon of shadow and fog that shroud us, both emotionally and artistically, from the light of solution.


In the end, the film does not allow even partial victory. Kathy remains herself (whatever glimmer of growth there is, believe me, it’s not nearly enough), and Colonel Behrani retires from the field of battle with the only honor left available to him. Not to see it that way is to be blindly American. What remains is the stark realization that unyielding people (and cultures, perhaps?) are doomed to regret their mistakes.


In a nutshell: "House of Sand and Fog" is a melancholy tale whose message can either mesmerize or demoralize. Despite its sadness, some will find it provocative and even inspirational. I did not enjoy the film but I could not help but be transfixed. And, yes, the mental splinter still festers.


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