House of Sand and Fog

Amazon.com

Jennifer Connelly followed up her Academy Award for A Beautiful Mind with this dark but moving story of small mistakes that escalate, with tragic necessity, to disaster. In House of Sand and Fog, Kathy (Connelly) gets evicted from her house for failing to pay a tax she never should have been charged in the first place. The house is swiftly put up for auction and bought by a former military officer from Iran named Behrani (Ben Kingsley, Sexy Beast). When legal efforts fail her, Kathy turns to a sympathetic cop (Ron Eldard, Bastard Out of Carolina), who wants out of a loveless marriage and who's willing to step over legal boundaries if it might give him a fresh start. Topnotch performances by the entire cast make House of Sand and Fog a compelling psychological drama; your sympathies will be pulled in all directions. --Bret Fetzer

Description

Academy Award winners Ben Kingsley (Gandhi) and Jennifer Connelly (A Beautiful Mind) deliver stunning performances as two strangers whose conflicting pursuits of the American Dream lead to a fight for their hopes at any cost. What begins as a struggle over a rundown bungalow spirals into a clash that propels everyone involved toward a shocking resolution. "The surprise ending will leave you breathless!" (Clay Smith, Access Hollywood)

Customer Reviews:

I do not feel ALONE Anymore.......2007-08-14

It is an EXCELLENT movie. I feel it touch and reflect perfectly the loneliness which we (Persian) feel in the western world. Powerful play by Sir Ben Kingsley and indeed, my flow Persian actors Shohreh Aghadashloo. I highly recommend it.
Abbas Ghadimi, Ireland.

Thoroughly engaging *Spoliers*.......2007-07-13

4.5 stars. I don't know what I was expecting when I popped this movie in the old dvd player, but it wasn't this. A simple mistake sets off an incredible domino effect that leds to a stunning ending. There's no way the audience can take sides because both parties are in the right. I think the only character that was missing a serious amount of marables was Deputy Burdon. Nothing this man did made sense and it is more him than the two opposing parties that escalates this bad situation into a colossal mess. Whenever I thought his character was doing something holy unbelievable, I'd think about the stories that sometimes makes the ten o'clock news. (Kiddnapping, diaper-wearing astronaunts anyone?) But what makes this film a winner is the remarkable performance by Kingsley. Connelly, though beautiful, always seem to sleep walk through her performances. They're not horrible, but not very memorable. That includes A Beautiful Mind. When I think of that Oscar vehicle, it's not her character that sticks out, it's Crowe.
Back to this movie, House of Sand and Fog, is a a good film and is truely worth your time, but be prepared to be a little depressed when the credits roll.

Ben Kingsley is awesome, the movie is not.......2007-06-13

What could have been a great movie turned out to be a nothing movie. Ben Kingsley is excellent and gives 110% in everything he does. Jennifer Connelly was fine too and the other actors did well.

The story itself is the problem. A boring story of a girl that is angry over losing her house. You wait and wait and wait for something exciting to happen if not at least something interesting.

It doesn't. Not until the end when Ben Kingsley and his wife commit suicide.
There, I just saved you some valuable cash. Now you owe me!

Ben Kingsley's acting is wonderful but the rest of the movie is a real downer...................2007-05-26

Ben Kingsley's acting is remarkable in the film as he convincingly plays a former high ranking Iranian colonel dealing with a much lower style of living in the U.S. Jennifer Connelly is able to evoke the audience's sympathy despite her character being remarkably dumb and inept. The movie is compelling at first with an interesting and unique plot but the nightmarish ending made it difficult for me to find real enjoyment in the film. And the real estate legal situations as well as the colonel and his wife's sudden decision to take in and help the "angel bird" did not see realistic. I suppose there is a message to be learned from the movie in regards to what is really important in life but the main impression I took away from the film was the very tragic and rather graphic ending.

Mostly Good for It's Performances.......2007-05-11

House of Sand and Fog is a hopeless but convincing tragedy about contested houses and broken pasts. It is morbid and profound enough to keep the riff raff away while also being flat enough to stray from any mainstream. I enjoyed the film for the same reasons critics probably enjoyed it. The film is carried by it's performances first and foremost and almost entirely. One of the more educated knocks on House of Sand and Fog is that the book is simply not really that transferrable toward the movie medium. I never read the book but the film and story stand enough to fuel three of the better performances of that year and also the greatest ensemble considering it's cost.

First is Ben Kingsley who plays Colonel Berani, a man who was forced to flee Iran during it's revolution. He sees a similar home in San Franscisco with regards to it's view (in Iran his home oversaw the Caspian Sea beautifully). This new home was recently repossessed from Kathy, played by the beautiful and talented Jennifer Connelly. I genuinely want Connelley to show her range in the future but House of Sand and Fog is not such an environment. Here, Jennifer plays a women ruined by Alcoholism and being ditched by her husband. She then sparks up an affair with a married police officer named Lester, played by Ron Eldred, and the undermining to throw Berani out of the house begins.

First time Director Vadim Perleman takes a subtle approach in the differences and similarities between the film's main characters. It was enough to make me walk away from the film wanting more but as if by osmosis the film won me over in perspective only days later. Watching the three main characters tangled in their flaws is enough to keep the film compelling. Berani is too proud and deaf to women, Kathy is too eager and manipulative and Lester is too idealistic and blinded by love. They are all ignorant to one another and completely void of empathy. Nadi is Berani's wife and she is played by the outstanding Shohreh Aghdashloo. Nadi is one of the only really likeable characters, because she is also the only one who sees the other's sides, but she is restrained by her submissiveness and her lack of English. Though heavy handed enough to obtain a brooding feeling that tragedy is inevitable, watching these characters fall is worth the wait if you appreciate this sort of film.

Kingsly proves his versatility once again and upstages Connelly in that regard by a long shot. Connelly really just invokes the roles she's been celebrated for before this movie, although she is still quite effective and it revisits her type-casts a bit deeper. It is Aghdashloo that truely stands out and I viewed this film and her performance after the hype with some degree of suspicion. She is excellent.

Overall, House of Sand and Fog is a downer. It wasn't as good as I hoped, given both the indie hype prior to it's release and the mainstream hype during and after it's release, but it was still pretty good. The cast alone makes the film worth watching but I would still imagine we will see more from Perleman in the future as well.

Charlie Rose with John Rothrock, Walter Pincus, Mark Bowden & Jerrold Post; Ben Kingsley, Shoreh Aghdashloo, Vadim Perelman & Jennifer Connelley (December 17, 2003)

Average customer rating:

Charlie Rose with John Rothrock, Walter Pincus, Mark Bowden & Jerrold Post; Ben Kingsley, Shoreh Aghdashloo, Vadim Perelman & Jennifer Connelley (December 17, 2003)

Manufacturer: Charlie Rose, Inc.
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

( C ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video

General | Educational | Genres | DVD | Video

Description

First, a talk about the interrogation of Saddam Hussein with retired chief of intelligence planning for the Air Force Colonel John Rothrock, former Hussein profiler for the CIA and professor of psychiatry at George Washington University Dr. Jerrold Post, and journalists Walter Pincus of The Washington Post and Mark Bowden of The Atlantic Monthly. Next, director Vadim Perelman and actors Ben Kingsley, Shoreh Aghdashloo, and Jennifer Connelley discuss their work on the film House of Sand and Fog.

Average customer rating:

House of Sand and Fog/American Beauty
Starring: Jennifer Connelly , Ben Kingsley , Ron Eldard , Frances Fisher , and Kim Dickens
Director: Vadim Perelman , and Sam Mendes
Manufacturer: Dreamworks Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

( H ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
ASIN: B0002234G8
Release Date: 2004-06-29

House Of Sand And Fog / Anything Else (2-Pack)

Average customer rating:

Subject: A Dark, Gripping Tale Of The American Dream Turned
A great story, amazing acting and gorgeous cinematography

House Of Sand And Fog / Anything Else (2-Pack)
Starring: Shohreh Aghdashloo , Jonathan Ahdout , Aki Aleong , Mark Chaet , and Jennifer Connelly
Director: Vadim Perelman
Manufacturer: Dreamworks Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Comedy | Genres | DVD | Video

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

( H ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
ASIN: B00020HB8M
Release Date: 2004-06-29

Customer Reviews:

Subject: A Dark, Gripping Tale Of The American Dream Turned.......2004-06-13

Vadim Perelman, in his directorial debut, has created an extraordinarily powerful drama with "The House Of Sand And Fog." Award-winning actors Jennifer Connelly and Ben Kingsley give truly great performances in this dark and tragic film of the American Dream turned nightmare. Shohreh Aghdashloo, as Kingelsy's wife Nadi, is superb as is Jonathan Ahdout, (as his teenage son Esmail). And cinematographer Roger Deakins stunning photography sets the mood throughout the film.

Persian immigrant, Massoud Amir Behrani, (Ben Kingsley), is a former colonel in the late, deposed Iranian Shah's air force. He is an intelligent, well educated man, who used to be respected in his native country as a person of position, power, and means. Behrani's former life, with all his efforts to build it, seems like it was constructed on a sea of shifting sand. He came to America with his wife, son, and daughter with limited funds, and has spent almost all of his money setting his family up in the manner to which they had been accustomed. One of the primary reasons for doing this was to marry his daughter to a member of their former social class. He is now reduced to working as a common laborer by day and a convenience store manager by night in order to provide for his family. His co-workers are men he would have given alms to in his native land. Angry and humiliated at how far he has fallen, Behrani decides to invest his remaining funds in a house that has been put up for auction at a Sheriff's Sale, because the owner had not paid property taxes. He wants to make improvements on the house and sell it at a large profit, which he hopes will enable him to provide his family with their former lifestyle, and restore some of his lost dignity.

Kathy Niccolo is a disaster waiting to happen. She is a depressed, quietly self-destructive, recovering alcoholic and addict. Her house, in the California hills overlooking the Pacific, was bequeathed to her and her brother by her beloved father. It is all she has. She is adamant in her refusal to give-up her home because of a bureaucratic error. She was evicted for failing to pay a tax she never should have been charged in the first place. However, with her usual carelessness, she ignored a number of correspondences and warnings from the local tax board.

Sheriff Lester Burdon, (Ron Eldard), delivers the eviction papers to Kathy. She confides in him and he becomes obsessed with helping her fight for justice. Lester finds himself falling in love with Kathy, although he is married with two children and much personal baggage of his own.

The contested ownership of the house is the fulcrum of the intense plot. Two people compete with increasing desperation, for the title to one small bungalow, which has a different meaning for each of them. The tragedy lies in their inability to communicate and understand one another. Part of the movie's incredible power is the difficulty one has in deciding which party to side with, as both are at once sympathetic and worthy of censure.

The film is absolutely riveting and the tension builds to a surprising climax. To say that "The House of Sand and Fog" is not upbeat entertainment is a major understatement. So, although I give the movie my highest recommendation, I do so with reservations. Prospective viewers should be cautioned that the grim intensity of this piece will stay with you for a very long time. Definitely not a films to see twice.
JANA

A great story, amazing acting and gorgeous cinematography.......2004-05-18

There are films that you have to see because of the spectacle, films with epic battles, huge explosions, larger than life characters. Then there are movies you need to see because of the story, the acting and the cinematography.

House of sand and fog falls into the second category, and boy, does it deliver just that.

First time director Vadim Perelman chose a great story for his feature film debut, based on the book by André Dubus III. Kathy Nicolo (Connelly) is a broken woman, her husband has left her, she is deeply depressed, so much so that she barely leaves her bed, until one day when the County comes to evict her for failure to pay some business taxes. Kathy is confused, she never owned a business so there were no taxes to be paid. It's all a mistake.

Retired Iranian Colonel Behrani (Kingsley) lives a double life. For the rest of the Iranian-American community, he is a respected and wealthy man who just gave his daughter away in marriage. He lives in a luxurious apartment with his wife Nadi (Aghdashloo) and son Jonathan (Ahdout). But in order to pay for this lifestyle he holds two jobs, one on a road gang and another as a clerk on a convenience store.

One day, Behrani comes across a newspaper ad informing of the auction of Kathy's home. He sees his opportunity to make a huge profit by buying it cheap and then re-selling it at market price. This way he can finally return to his former life and quit his jobs.

Kathy's lawyer (Fisher) finds out that the County made a mistake and shouldn't have place the house on auction, but by then it's too late as Behrani has already bought it. They try to convince him to re-sell the house to County, but he just won't do it.

What follows is the dramatic sequence of events triggered both by Behrani's stubborness and Kathy's lack of self control. And while it's not a 'twist', I must say I did not see the ending coming.

Not everything is perfect in this movie, though. First of all it is extremely slow. Excruciatingly so at points. At one point, I just wanted to have something happen in the movie, but then, things got into motion and rolled until the very end. There's also a side story with Lester, Ron Eldard's character after he leaves his wife and family for Kathy that I thought brought nothing to the story.

The acting simply takes this film to the next level. Connelly, Kingsley and Aghdashloo just disappear into their roles and do some of the best acting of 2003. Connelly makes the viewer both despise and feel sorry for Kathy and all her predicaments. Kingsley is amazing, once more, as the retired Colonel. He transformed himself into an Iranian National, and apparently, took very well to learning their language, even more than what was needed for the part. Aghdashloo brings beauty and frailness to the film. Her face and her expressions are so touching that you just want to go help her.

Then there's the cinematography. The film is beautifully shot, especially the inter-scene shots of the San Francisco Bay. The film was shot by Roger Deakins, who's also worked on A beautiful mind and O brother, where art thou?, and David Stockton.

Both Kingsley and Aghdashloo were nominated for their amazing performances, and Connelly should have been included also, but quite probably was left out by Keisha Castle-Hughes.

Average customer rating:
House of Sand and Fog

Manufacturer: Dream Works Home Entertainment
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video
ASIN: B000KDQLB4

Product Description

House of Sand and Fog

Average customer rating:

I do not feel ALONE Anymore
Thoroughly engaging *Spoliers*
Ben Kingsley is awesome, the movie is not
Ben Kingsley's acting is wonderful but the rest of the movie is a real downer............
Mostly Good for It's Performances

House of Sand and Fog [Region 2]
Starring: Jennifer Connelly , Ben Kingsley , Ron Eldard , Frances Fisher , and Kim Dickens
Director: Vadim Perelman
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Drama | Genres | DVD | Video

( H ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
Similar Items:

ASIN: B00022VM9Y

Amazon.com

Customer Reviews:

I do not feel ALONE Anymore.......2007-08-14

Thoroughly engaging *Spoliers*.......2007-07-13

Ben Kingsley is awesome, the movie is not.......2007-06-13

Ben Kingsley's acting is wonderful but the rest of the movie is a real downer...................2007-05-26

Mostly Good for It's Performances.......2007-05-11

DVD:

DVD

DVD