House of Sand and Fog
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House of Sand and Fog | |
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House of Sand and Fog movie poster |
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Directed by | Vadim Perelman |
Produced by | Vadim Perelman Michael London |
Written by | Screenplay by Vadim Perelman and Shawn Lawrence Otto based on the Novel by Andre Dubus III |
Starring | Jennifer Connelly Ben Kingsley Ron Eldard Shohreh Aghdashloo |
Music by | James Horner Elton Ahi (Songs) |
Cinematography | Roger Deakins |
Editing by | Lisa Zeno Churgin |
Distributed by | DreamWorks Distribution LLC (USA) Miramax Films (UK) |
Release date(s) | 26 December 2003 |
Running time | 126 min. |
Country | USA |
Language | English, Persian |
Budget | $16,000,000 (estimated) |
All Movie Guide profile | |
IMDb profile |
- This article is about the movie. See House of Sand and Fog (novel) for the book.
House of Sand and Fog is a 2003 movie based on the novel of the same name written by Andre Dubus III. The movie, starring Ben Kingsley and Jennifer Connelly, was directed by Vadim Perelman. It was Perelman's first directorial outing aside from shooting commercials.
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[edit] Plot
An Iranian (Persian) immigrant, Col Massoud Amir Behrani (Kingsley), who fled Iran during times of conflict, now lives in the San Francisco Bay Area. Working odd jobs to support his family, he keeps up the appearance of being a respected businessman so as not to shame his family, his wife Nadireh (Shohreh Aghdashloo), his son Esmail (Jonathan Ahdout), and his daughter Soraya (Navi Rawat). When given the opportunity to invest in a house being auctioned cheaply because of an unpaid tax, he does so with the intention of renovating the house and selling it for four times the purchase price.
The previous owner, Kathy (Jennifer Connelly), was evicted from the house, which she inherited from her father. Trying all she can to regain her house, she also falls in love with a married policeman named Lester (Ron Eldard), with whom she begins an affair. After many futile attempts to get her house back, she attempts suicide in front of the Behrani's home. Upon seeing the attempted suicide, the Behrani family takes her in where she makes another attempt on her life. Lester comes looking for her and, due to his obsession with Kathy and his outrage over her loss, takes the family hostage by locking them in the bathroom overnight. He then threatens them and forces Behrani to sell the house back to Kathy, afterwards demanding Massoud and the son Esmail to drive to the county offices to complete the transaction. On the way to the offices, Esmail seizes Lester's gun in order to free his family and is shot by two policemen. He dies in the hospital.
Taken over by grief, Behrani returns home and drugs his wife's tea rather than tell her that their beloved son is dead, effectively killing her. He then commits suicide by taping a plastic bag around his head. Their bodies are found by Kathy sometime later, and Kathy attempts to revive Behrani with CPR, but she is too late. After the bodies have been taken away by the paremedics, a policeman asks Kathy if the house is hers. After hesitating for a moment, she replies "no."
[edit] Cast
- Jennifer Connelly: Kathy Lazarro Niccolo
- Ben Kingsley: Col. Massoud Amir Behrani
- Shohreh Aghdashloo: Nadireh 'Nadi' Behrani
- Ron Eldard: Deputy Lester Burdon
- Frances Fisher: Connie Walsh
- Kim Dickens: Carol Burdon
- Jonathan Ahdout: Esmail Behrani
[edit] Soundtrack
[edit] Awards
The film was nominated for three Academy Awards: Best Original Score (James Horner), Best Actor (Ben Kingsley) and Best Supporting Actress (Shohreh Aghdashloo).