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 | house | 

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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 the scenes on the rooftop porch, telephone poles and wires are prominently visible. These were added by the production crew, to make the neighborhood where filming occurred seem more middle-class.

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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 Late Night with Conan O'Brien: Episode #11.79 (2004)

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Soundtracks

Shab
Written by Varoujan & Iraj Janati-Ataei
Performed by Googoosh

User Reviews

Best Movie of the Year

This movie is undoubtedly the best of many good ones in the past years. After watching it last night, it is still with me - the glorious scenery, the entire cast and of course, most of all Ben Kingsley. Ben Kingsley should have gotten the Academy Award for his performance. Not once did I find the actor behind the character he was playing. I have seen him in many movies, each of which he epitomizes and becomes a chameleon changing colors becoming whatever his roll calls for. The cinematography was beyond beautiful; indescribably glorious, breathtakingly exquisite in both the colors and movement. The story was believable, tragic yet it hit the right notes of a man who is determined to regain at least some of the stature he had left behind. I truly loved the line which was spoken in the Iranian tongue and then translated "If a wounded bird flies into your house, you must take in in and heal it." The words might not be exactly correct but the meaning is obvious and quite eloquent.