Number 656 on the top 1000 films of all time is Vadim Perelman's psychological thriller 'House of Sand and Fog.'
Kathy Nicolo (Jennifer Connelly) is a recovering addict who is evicted from her San Fransisco house by the country office. She maintains the county has made a mistake, but her home is repossessed nonetheless. Moving are the Iranian Behrani family led by patriarch former Colonel Massoud Amir Behrani (Ben Kingsley.) Kathy is determined to get her home back by any means necessary.
This was an intense, psychological thriller that doesn't let up for a minute. It is taut and gripping with a whole host of morally dubious characters. I enjoyed the deep characterisations. No character was simply black or white - they are all complicated with their own troubled pasts. But these complexities are what made them so fascinating to watch.
Kathy is adamant to regain her house and deliberately disobeys her lawyer to directly confront the Behranis. She is a deeply troubled woman whose drug-addled past has estranged her from her family and husband. Her house is the only thing she has left. Conversely, rather than sticking to the past, Massoud Behrani is determined to make a fresh start for his family in the US. He is a proud man who refuses to show any weakness in front of his wife and son.
Ben Kingsley is brilliant in the role taking us through the journey of a broken man trying to start again. having once commanded considerable respect, he is forced to work menial jobs to make ends meet. Kingsley's star was so bright that he even blotted out Jennifer Connelly. This is no disrespect to Connelly, but I don't think her writing was anywhere as compelling as Kingsley's.
She lacked the same agency as Massoud had - much of her battles are fought by her self-styled knight in shining armour - sheriff's deputy Lestor Burden (Ron Eldard.) As the narrative momentum built, Kingsley's story took over. This culminated with Connelly being all but absent in the final act. A failed suicide attempt sees her lose consciousness and, instead, the final confrontation takes place between Massoud and Lester. Jennifer Connelly receives star billing and Kathy is the protagonist, but she is somewhat relegated to a side character.
Also a quick shoutout to Eldard. He was great as the sheriff's deputy Lestor Burnham. You could argue his over-protective nature of Kathy was a little over-the-top - he even leaves his family to start an affair with her. But when everything goes wrong at the end, he is more than happy to pay the price for his crimes. This did help him go through a redemption arc of sorts.
This is a tragic, but a thrilling film. It was a great watch with a masterful performance of Ben Kingsley. it's just a shame that Connelly wasn't afforded the same chance to shine.
This was a terrific film. The cast was uniformly brilliant. The final outburst of Kingsley's character was almost unbearable to watch. I don't generally enjoy tragedies. This film was not obviously going to be a tragedy until the end. The shock of the final scenes was therefore even more memorable.
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