![]() ![]() They did not overact at all, which is sometimes difficult in such a dramatic movie. Jennifer Connelly and Ben Kingsley were fabulous. ![]() When the movie ended, I just sat there, not knowing quite how to process what I had seen. It was such an intense movie, painting the ugly side of human nature or perhaps the human side of human nature: self-preservation and protection, selfishness, stubbornness, pride, deceit. Therefore, I found the movie disappointing.Years ago I watched the movie The House of Sand and Fog on DVD. Kathy comes across as the wrong one, the pushy, needy, weak, spoiled woman with a passive-aggressive attitude who can only manipulate or cry her way through life. However, the movie failed to produce the same effect. You really get the idea that two wrongs do not make one right. I read the novel and liked the fact that the writer did not take sides. They both are slightly unsympathetic, but the antipathy award goes to Lester, the policeman who embarks in the extramarital affair with Kathy, dumps wife and kids and starts threating Behrani until the bitter end. The only thing Kathy and Behrani have in common is that they both lie to their families. Throughout the movie she is constantly blaming someone else or on the verge of drowning in self-pity. Enraged by being evicted from her house (because she was too lazy to open her mail), Kathy hires a lawyer and proceeds to manipulate Lester, a married cop, into doing some dirty work for her.Like most addicts, Kathy seems incapable to take responsibilities. Not the sort of introduction to elicit sympathy. The camera shows a dirty house and unopened letters on the floor. Kathy is introduced while on the phone, lying to her family. The man works two jobs, while his family seems blissfully unaware of what is going on. Behrani is a stoic man, burdened with an impractical wife and a couple of children who are eating up all his income. Behrani buys the house in a desperate attempt to redress is financial situation, thus starting an escalating fight with Kathy. Behrani buys the house in a desperate attempt to redress is financial situation, thus starting an This gloomy tale is about ex-addict Kathy (Connelly) being evicted from her house and Colonel Behrani (Kingsley), a refugee forced to leave Iran with his family due to the fall of the Shah. This gloomy tale is about ex-addict Kathy (Connelly) being evicted from her house and Colonel Behrani (Kingsley), a refugee forced to leave Iran with his family due to the fall of the Shah. Yet, overall, House of Sand and Fog is a good film that features some powerful performances set along a beautiful backdrop in a film that is entirely heartbreaking. On the negative here, House of Sand and Fog does feature some unnecessary plot points that could have been cut and left the film pretty much unchanged, in particular certain concerns held by some characters that just never come up again and seem to dissipate amongst the larger concerns that arise. Nobody wins in this film and everybody winds up losing quite big. By the end, it is tough to decide who all to feel bad for, but one thing is certain everybody loses. The direction is solid and the film is pretty well-written. The acting, in particular from Jennifer Connelly and Ben Kingsley, is really good. Thanks to the eerie mood set by Deakins and Horner, the threat of something bad coming around the corner is ever present throughout and, again, Deakins' cinematography is great, exemplified by the shots of fog consuming the home. ![]() Thanks to the eerie mood set by Deakins and Dark and moody thanks to brilliant cinematography from Roger Deakins and a great score from the late James Horner, House of Sand and Fog is a pretty good film all-around that manages to be quite thrilling and entertaining given the subject matter. Dark and moody thanks to brilliant cinematography from Roger Deakins and a great score from the late James Horner, House of Sand and Fog is a pretty good film all-around that manages to be quite thrilling and entertaining given the subject matter.
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