House of Sand and Fog (2003)

An abandoned wife is evicted from her house and starts a tragic conflict with her house's new owners.

Director:

Vadim Perelman

Writers:

Andre Dubus III (novel), Vadim Perelman (screenplay)

Stars:

Jennifer Connelly, Ben Kingsley, Ron Eldard

Nominated for 3 Oscars. Another 13 wins & 39 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jennifer Connelly	...	Kathy
Ben Kingsley	...	Behrani
Ron Eldard	...	Lester
Frances Fisher	...	Connie Walsh
Kim Dickens	...	Carol Burdon
Shohreh Aghdashloo	...	Nadi
Jonathan Ahdout	...	Esmail
Navi Rawat	...	Soraya
Carlos Gómez	...	Lt. Alvarez
Kia Jam	...	Ali
Jaleh Modjallal	...	Yasmin
Samira Damavandi	...	Little Soraya
Matthew Simonian	...	Little Esmail
Namrata Singh Gujral	...	Wedding Guest (as Namrata S. Gurjal-Cooper)
Nasser Faris	...	Wedding Guest (as Al Faris)

Storyline

An emotionally broken woman, Kathy, suddenly finds herself homeless after her house is wrongly repossessed and auctioned. Seeking respite from his marriage, Lester, a sympathetic sheriff's deputy comes to the aid of Kathy and becomes intimately involved in her situation. Soon, Behrani, a proud emigrant Iranian and his family move into the house only to find their new lives burdened by harassment from Lester and Kathy as they attempt to reclaim her former home. The once prosperous colonel denies Kathy's pleas for he knows his recent purchase promises a profitable return and a better future for his adolescent son and his wife. But latent consequences lie beneath Behrani's well intentioned plan as Kathy's emotions spiral out of control and her actions spark a tragic chain of events that will leave no resident unscathed in the House of Sand and Fog.

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Plot Keywords:

tragedy | based on novel | sex for favor | watching tv | husband murders wife | 

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Taglines:

Some dreams can't be shared.

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Genres:

Crime | Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for some violence/disturbing images, language and a scene of sexuality

Details

Official Sites:

DreamWorks Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English Persian

Release Date:

9 January 2004 (USA)

Also Known As:

Casa de arena y niebla

Filming Locations:

Culver Studios - 9336 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$15,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$45,572, 21 December 2003, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$13,005,485, 28 March 2004

Company Credits

Production Co:

DreamWorks, Cobalt Media Group, Bisgrove Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

126 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In 2009, Navi Rawat (Soroya) admitted that her wedding dress costume was so big and complicated to take on and off she had to have somebody hold it up for when she needed to use the bathroom.

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Goofs

When Lester's wife gets out of her car and starts attacking Lester, she leaves the car door open, and it closes by itself. A few seconds later, the car door is open again.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Officer at End: Are you Kathy Nicolo?
Kathy: Yeah.
Officer at End: Is this your house?

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Connections

Featured in The 61st Annual Golden Globe Awards (2004)

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Soundtracks

Soghati
Written by Haydari Mohamad

User Reviews

can't believe it didn't win academy awards

This is a really good movie. The cast is wonderful. If this is a first movie I will line up for any future films from the director. Roger Deakons is superb as the DP. I only wonder how a first time director got him. The story is gripping and the cinematography is haunting. As I watched it I just kept wondering how it would end. I never saw the real ending coming. I loved all the characters and even wanted more. The juxtaposition of the two story lines was fascinating. I wanted to hate someone but couldn't. The only bad guy is the cop. Everyone makes mistakes but his just seem so brutal. I had never noticed Jennifer Connelly before but I will make an effort to see any films with her in the future. As I watched this film I asked if I should make some changes in my own life so that this sort of thing doesn't happen to me. If you read the synopsis you will miss what this movie is really about. Watch it. You will be better for it.