This is Rc from StrangeCultureBlog.
It's no secret that actresses, particularly middle-aged actresses, have a challenge finding great roles in our current movie system. Stories tend to be male heavy, and even younger females seem to have better odds at a gig with teen films, horror flick, and chatty rom-coms.
But where is the dramatic meat for a woman? Some years predicting supporting actress nominations takes heavy devotion to even try to figure out what films have viable roles for supporting actresses.
But end of rant, let's turn to praise, for an actress I consistently enjoy, who not only is a middle-aged woman (57 years old) but also is Iranian.
Who do I speak of, but the lovely and talented Shohreh Aghdashloo.
Aghdashloo's name is probably most known for her Oscar nomination for the foreclosure meets cultural challenge film The House of Sand and Fog, where Shohreh was deservedly nominated for...
It's no secret that actresses, particularly middle-aged actresses, have a challenge finding great roles in our current movie system. Stories tend to be male heavy, and even younger females seem to have better odds at a gig with teen films, horror flick, and chatty rom-coms.
But where is the dramatic meat for a woman? Some years predicting supporting actress nominations takes heavy devotion to even try to figure out what films have viable roles for supporting actresses.
But end of rant, let's turn to praise, for an actress I consistently enjoy, who not only is a middle-aged woman (57 years old) but also is Iranian.
Who do I speak of, but the lovely and talented Shohreh Aghdashloo.
Aghdashloo's name is probably most known for her Oscar nomination for the foreclosure meets cultural challenge film The House of Sand and Fog, where Shohreh was deservedly nominated for...
- 8/2/2009
- by RC
- FilmExperience
Screened
Sunday, Nov. 9, AFI Fest, Los Angeles
Real estate is in the eye of the beholder, as the contrast between two books-into-film this year illustrates.
In "Under the Tuscan Sun", a house bathed in golden light is the catalyst for renewal in "House of Sand and Fog", the mist-enshrouded property is no less a repository for dreams, but becomes its characters' undoing.
Helmer Vadim Perelman and co-scripter Shawn Lawrence Otto do a laudable job of distilling Andre Dubus III's powerful and desperately sad novel, emphasizing its noirish sensibility in charting the doomed collision course of two wounded souls, captured in deeply felt performances by Jennifer Connelly and Ben Kingsley.
As the plot unfolds, however, Perelman, a commercials director making his feature debut, loses his grasp of story elements. The carefully laid foundation of suspense and dread, with its symmetries and crisp dialogue, is squandered in a clumsy pileup of credulity-stretching cataclysmic events. The shift in tone to messy emotionalism distances the audience rather than drawing it deeper into the events.
The story brings together, in a battle as if for life itself, two characters unable to accept their present circumstances. The setup abounds in classic noir elements -- the beautiful, damaged woman, the loose-cannon cop, the California motor court (complete with vintage cigarette machine) and secluded cabin.
In the early going, sympathy tilts toward Behrani (Kingsley), whose back story is clearer than that of the woman who becomes his nemesis. They're both keeping secrets from their families, pretending to be something they're not. An Iranian colonel reduced to menial labor and convenience-store shifts since fleeing his country's Islamic revolution, Behrani hides the truth from his wife (Shohreh Aghdashloo) and son (Jonathan Ahdout), pretending to set off each day for a white-collar job. When he sees an auction listing for a house, he believes he's found the way to restore his family's financial footing: He'll invest the dwindling remains of his savings in the cut-rate property and sell it at a profit.
His simple plan is quickly complicated. The bungalow, perched on a cliff overlooking the sea, is in a state of neglect much the way its owner's life is. Kathy Nicolo (Connelly), a recovering addict who's barely bothered to open her mail in the eight months since her husband left her, is torn out of inertia when the sheriff arrives to evict her for nonpayment of taxes. The county has erred, but before Kathy's steely attorney (Frances Fisher) can mount a suit, the Behranis have taken residence and are adding a widow's walk from which they can enjoy the view.
Kathy is desperate to get back the house her father left her, particularly because her mother, who believes she's still happily married, will soon be visiting. She gets eager assistance from deputy sheriff Lester (Ron Eldard), a man she realizes too late is determined to do the right thing in all the wrong ways. In Kathy he finds a reason to leave his passionless marriage. "Things are finally in motion", he tells her, expressing his renewed hope but really sounding a dire warning. The newly homeless lovers move into a friend's cabin, and the foreboding accelerates as Kathy ends three years of sobriety and Lester takes matters into his own hands.
Connelly delivers a full-blooded turn as a woman for whom the inherited house is her sole anchor to the world. Kingsley's nuanced work conveys the wounded pride and decency of an Old World patriarch. He's able to speak volumes in an anxious glance, making all the more unnecessary and overdone the late scenes in which Behrani repeatedly verbalizes his anguish.
The film, which world-premiered Sunday night as a Centerpiece Gala as part of the AFI Fest, is due out Dec. 26.
HOUSE OF SAND AND FOG
DreamWorks Pictures
in association with Cobalt Media Group/Michael London
Credits: Director: Vadim Perelman
Writers: Vadim Perelman, Shawn Lawrence Otto
Producers: Michael London, Vadim Perelman
Director of photography: Roger Deakins
Production designer: Maia Javan
Music: James Horner
Co-producers: Jeremiah Samuels, Shawn Lawrence Otto
Costume designer: Hala Bahmet
Editor: Lisa Zeno Churgin
Cast:
Kathy: Jennifer Connelly
Behrani: Ben Kingsley
Lester: Ron Eldard
Connie Walsh: Frances Fisher
Carol: Kim Dickens
Nadi: Shohreh Aghdashloo
Esmail: Jonathan Ahdout
Soraya: Navi Rawat
Lt. Alvarez: Carlos Gomez
Running time -- 126 minutes
MPAA rating: R...
Sunday, Nov. 9, AFI Fest, Los Angeles
Real estate is in the eye of the beholder, as the contrast between two books-into-film this year illustrates.
In "Under the Tuscan Sun", a house bathed in golden light is the catalyst for renewal in "House of Sand and Fog", the mist-enshrouded property is no less a repository for dreams, but becomes its characters' undoing.
Helmer Vadim Perelman and co-scripter Shawn Lawrence Otto do a laudable job of distilling Andre Dubus III's powerful and desperately sad novel, emphasizing its noirish sensibility in charting the doomed collision course of two wounded souls, captured in deeply felt performances by Jennifer Connelly and Ben Kingsley.
As the plot unfolds, however, Perelman, a commercials director making his feature debut, loses his grasp of story elements. The carefully laid foundation of suspense and dread, with its symmetries and crisp dialogue, is squandered in a clumsy pileup of credulity-stretching cataclysmic events. The shift in tone to messy emotionalism distances the audience rather than drawing it deeper into the events.
The story brings together, in a battle as if for life itself, two characters unable to accept their present circumstances. The setup abounds in classic noir elements -- the beautiful, damaged woman, the loose-cannon cop, the California motor court (complete with vintage cigarette machine) and secluded cabin.
In the early going, sympathy tilts toward Behrani (Kingsley), whose back story is clearer than that of the woman who becomes his nemesis. They're both keeping secrets from their families, pretending to be something they're not. An Iranian colonel reduced to menial labor and convenience-store shifts since fleeing his country's Islamic revolution, Behrani hides the truth from his wife (Shohreh Aghdashloo) and son (Jonathan Ahdout), pretending to set off each day for a white-collar job. When he sees an auction listing for a house, he believes he's found the way to restore his family's financial footing: He'll invest the dwindling remains of his savings in the cut-rate property and sell it at a profit.
His simple plan is quickly complicated. The bungalow, perched on a cliff overlooking the sea, is in a state of neglect much the way its owner's life is. Kathy Nicolo (Connelly), a recovering addict who's barely bothered to open her mail in the eight months since her husband left her, is torn out of inertia when the sheriff arrives to evict her for nonpayment of taxes. The county has erred, but before Kathy's steely attorney (Frances Fisher) can mount a suit, the Behranis have taken residence and are adding a widow's walk from which they can enjoy the view.
Kathy is desperate to get back the house her father left her, particularly because her mother, who believes she's still happily married, will soon be visiting. She gets eager assistance from deputy sheriff Lester (Ron Eldard), a man she realizes too late is determined to do the right thing in all the wrong ways. In Kathy he finds a reason to leave his passionless marriage. "Things are finally in motion", he tells her, expressing his renewed hope but really sounding a dire warning. The newly homeless lovers move into a friend's cabin, and the foreboding accelerates as Kathy ends three years of sobriety and Lester takes matters into his own hands.
Connelly delivers a full-blooded turn as a woman for whom the inherited house is her sole anchor to the world. Kingsley's nuanced work conveys the wounded pride and decency of an Old World patriarch. He's able to speak volumes in an anxious glance, making all the more unnecessary and overdone the late scenes in which Behrani repeatedly verbalizes his anguish.
The film, which world-premiered Sunday night as a Centerpiece Gala as part of the AFI Fest, is due out Dec. 26.
HOUSE OF SAND AND FOG
DreamWorks Pictures
in association with Cobalt Media Group/Michael London
Credits: Director: Vadim Perelman
Writers: Vadim Perelman, Shawn Lawrence Otto
Producers: Michael London, Vadim Perelman
Director of photography: Roger Deakins
Production designer: Maia Javan
Music: James Horner
Co-producers: Jeremiah Samuels, Shawn Lawrence Otto
Costume designer: Hala Bahmet
Editor: Lisa Zeno Churgin
Cast:
Kathy: Jennifer Connelly
Behrani: Ben Kingsley
Lester: Ron Eldard
Connie Walsh: Frances Fisher
Carol: Kim Dickens
Nadi: Shohreh Aghdashloo
Esmail: Jonathan Ahdout
Soraya: Navi Rawat
Lt. Alvarez: Carlos Gomez
Running time -- 126 minutes
MPAA rating: R...
- 1/30/2004
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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