Review of House of Sand and Fog (2003) by Chucho E. Q — 03 Jun 2008

Whoever reads at least 10 of my reviews knows I easily refer to a good or great film as "flawless", "perfect" or "masterpiece" as if nearly every single movie I see is, in fact, perfect. I understand and confess that sometimes I get a little bit "too excited" when it comes to a great film but as soon as this movie started and, obviously, by the final 20 minutes, I knew this was, probably for the first time in years, a truly masterpiece and I'm not afraid to write it down because whoever sees it will know I'm not, for one, overreacting.

The beautiful, gorgeous and, yes, FLAWLESS aspect of this film is how the tragedy and the intensity of its characters is subtle and quiet just until the last minutes but that doesn't mean it's ever boring or slow because it actually manages to hold the tension all the way and makes us repeatedly wonder what's going to happen with this hurt, destroyed souls in search of justice and dignity.

The characters reach so much depth and the dialogues are so stunning, yet silent that you can just let go and enjoy the tragic ride. Jennifer Connelly is gray and teary-eyed all the time but she never gets melodramatic. Let's just say her character is closer to "Dark water" than "A beautiful mind" and the direction/screenplay is so precise she doesn't need help from any of her usual gimmicks that we all love but that, in this movie, we don't miss. Let's just say she stepped out of the freakin box and found out the most powerful weapon to the audience's soul was inside of her painful look. It helps a lot, of course, that her co-star is Ben Kingsley in what is, without any doubt, his best performance. I loved his character from the first moment he had a quarrel with his wife: there wasn't a single word that came out of his mouth that didn't have sense or dignity and everything he says is correct in argumentation and intelligence. It's a rightful men that doesn't want to hurt anyone and his only flaw is to be so naive, innocent and, of course, loving to his family's honour. By the look of some clips, Shohreh Aghdashloo's character looked extremely melodramatic and cliche but, boy was I wrong! Her performance is one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen on screen. Maybe she didn't reach Connelly's depth or Kingsley's powerful presence but her fear was as terrifying as anything the two lead beasts at war could do or say.

Yes, this movie is not a regular drama. This movie is almost like a modern greek tragedy as everything these characters did was already written in the stars and the only thing they did wrong was making the choices they made for better or for worst.

This movie is terrifying, unconfortable, visually stunning and intense but beware because the fog never disappears and the light of a beautiful morning never comes through the windows.