House of Sand and Fog

A Depressing Example

HOUSE OF SAND AND FOG is a very good example of how a film can give good examples. It's a film that does many things right: the family drama, the tragedy, good people trying to do the right thing, the things we don't want to know about, desperation, buried racism, and depression. Thus, it shows how well a film can evoke these themes, and in many ways. The film stars Jennifer Connelly as Kathy. Her husband has recently left her, and while in her depression, she neglected letters informing her of imminent eviction from her home. The state claims that Kathy never payed a business tax, but she owned no business. She is wrongfully evicted, and depressively lives in her car seeking help from a lawyer and a friendly cop. An Iranian ex-colonel buys the house in good will from the State. He and his family, who fled from Iran for political reasons, live in the house they bought cheap, and hope to sell it off for what it's really worth (four times the price he bought it for). Kathy, still depressed, wants the house back because it had belonged to her father, but her attempts are feeble and hopeless. The cop gets involved with her, but that takes them down a dangerous road. The cop, whose name is Lester, is involved with Kathy only because he sees her as freedom from a wife he doesn't love. And Kathy relies on Lester in primarily financial respects. Kathy becomes desperate, and her desperation brings the true selves of everyone out into the open. It becomes clear that (almost) everyone in the film is a good person who is misled in some way. Their situation feels cosmic, or fate determined, and it causes for a harrowing melodrama that is intelligent about its fleshed out characters. HOUSE OF SAND AND FOG relies on the performances of Jennifer Connelly as Kathy, and a very natural and convincing Ben Kingsley as the man who buys her house. It's a difficult film, but a very good one.
House of Sand and Fog: ★★★1/2