AN EMOTIONAL ROLLERCOASTER : "THE HOUSE OF SAND AND FOG"

We all just about know by now that the heart of a good film is a good story. If there is a good story there, the rest will somehow pull along of its own accord. The same is actually true of the reverse. If the technical side of a film is good, “holes” in the storyline and plot may be forgiven. I mean take Avatar; it is, for all intents and purposes the story of Pocahontas with a few twists. Oh and special effects in three dimensions the like of which had never been witnessed before. When I left that particular film, my first reaction was “That was NOT a film.” Well it wasn’t. An experience, certainly, exciting, you bet, fun – are you kidding I wish I had the budget to see it a second time – but NOT a film. Something that was closely related to a fairground ride, crossed with a film. This is why, although I tend to tell people who exclaim “But it has no story at all” that they are being a little harsh, secretly I do know where they are coming from… Gosh I’ve swerved off topic on this one but I am actually trying to make a point… The point is, that House of Sand and Fog contains some of the best acting I have seen in a long time (hence it was nominated for various Oscars® in the field), the story is full of emotion and desperately gripping, but there are holes in it the size of the state of Texas. And yet, strangely enough, the rest is so good, you are gripped, by the story, by the performances and let yourself be carried away with it. And the rest of it is SO good in fact that one almost hasn’t the heart to mention them, but there you are… Let me just tell you the story and we’ll get to the matter properly…
Colonel Massoud Behrani (played superbly by veteran actor Ben Kingsley) is one of many Iranian citizens who have immigrated to foreign lands after the revolution of 1979. He and his family have settled in the United States, they are citizens now, and they are doing their best to start a new life there. Life is not easy, however. All their resources must go into keeping up appearances so their daughter may marry well – a task they succeed in – and after that, there is their young son’s education to think of. Colonel Behrani must work; keep down two menial jobs despite his advancing age to keep the family afloat as his wife barely speaks any English. Then he spots what seems to be a blessing from God Almighty himself. There is a house, a beautiful bungalow out in the woods on sale; it is to be auctioned off it appears, because the previous owner hadn’t paid her taxes. For the colonel this means one thing only: buy the house, renovate, sell at a profit, make a killing and thus have the money for Eshmail, their son’s college. What he doesn’t know, however, is that if the house has been seized, it is partly due to an error on the part of the government, Kathy (equally expertly played by Jennifer Connoley) is accused of not paying her business tax, but she in fact has never owned a business in her life; she has merely been lazy and ignored the government warnings until too late, partly due to her own personal problems. Thus she strongly feels the house is hers by right. And she will go to great, great lengths to get it back…
“Americans, they don’t deserve what they have. They have the eyes of small children forever looking for the next source of distraction; entertainment, sweet taste in the mouth… We are not like them. We know rich opportunities when we see it and do not throw away God’s blessings.” This is a direct quote from the film, something Colonel Behrani tells his young son at some point in the film. And this is, in fact, the whole point of the film really. Throughout the film you will note parallelisms being made between the “Caucasians” and the “Iranians”. One of the most striking is between the Colonel, who despite his sometimes undue strictness is a devoted father and Les, a sheriff’s deputy Kathy has an affair with and who thus begins to take evicting the Behranis a little too seriously, who doesn’t hesitate when walking out on his wife and two very young children without any explanations, just for Kathy who he has only known a few days. Another striking parallel is between Mrs. Behrani, who may not speak English but is the epitome of what it is to be a “lady” in the true old-fashioned sense of the word, not hesitating to wash Kathy’s foot (much to Kathy’s surprise and humility) when she has an accident. Kathy on the other hand is a mess, in many senses of the word, and seems to have a mildly illogical emotional attachment to her house, wanting to turf the family out at all costs, right until the very end… In short, some people seem to consider the “immigrants” the savages no matter what, but in fact when the behavior is analyzed, sometimes, the old fashioned “foreign” values trump it over good old fashioned, individualist, consumerist and in short capitalist society.
Which is where the bits of the plot I find mildly unbelievable come in. For example, quite quickly we find out that Kathy is a recovering alcoholic and her relationship with her parents is problematic. Yet, despite having joint ownership of the house with her brother, even after the house is foreclosed on and taken from under, her she doesn’t call her brother, stranger still neither do the authorities. Kathy then prefers to be homeless rather than go to her family for help, her family, from the little we hear from them, are not hostile to her in any way, just a typical, busy scattered and slightly egocentric family. That aside, the whole matter of the house being foreclosed on is a touch too sketchy for my liking too. We figure out that there is a matter concerning business tax involved and that this is in fact a mistake because Kathy has never owned a business in her life but then, we must believe that she has done almost virtually nothing about it since finding out about this situation; I mean, someone might have forged her signature, there is an ex-husband in the picture; he might have been trying to pull something but no. She is simply so negligent she just lets it slide. Then again, later on in the story, I will give no actual details but injuries are sustained in the house, yet it occurs to no one (until the finale where the ambulances vanish into the fog) to call an ambulance, and believe me, they are situations where you or I would be on the blower like a shot…
And then again, this is a film with a purpose. It is a film full to the brim with emotion and with some of the best acting performances I have ever seen. Incidentally, I would like to say that Ben Kingsley is probably one of the actors I respect the most in the entire industry, from Mahatma Ghandi to hired assassins, throw at him what part you will, he carries it off to a sterling standard. In short, the film is definitely worth watching. And it is definitely thought-provoking… I mean, just for example, how justified is Colonel Behrani in his criticism of Western society that I quoted above? Take a minute to think about it before you answer…