Chaplin
Better off silent
Definitely the best of the four movies I've posted today (Monster, City of God, 21 Grams).
It's very simple, but yet still deep with emotion and consequence. It's bssed on a novel, which I understand is also very good.
I do think it is a travesty that Jennifer Connelly didn't get nominated for this movie--her work here is much better than what she did in A Beautiful Mind. For those that have seen Requiem for a Dream, her character in House of Sand and Fog could pretty much be her character in Requiem years later after she cleaned up.
Ben Kingsley, of course, is brilliant, as he always is. A hard man, but ultimately tragic, his is the backbone of the story. A lot has been said about the woman who plays Kingsley's wife, who was nominated for Best Supporting this year. She's actually very good, playing a woman torn between supporting her husband and Connelly's character, all the while without understanding very much English. Pretty good work.
Basically, Jennifer Connelly's character gets evicted from her house because she didn't pay a 500 tax that ultimately she never should have been charged for in the first place. Before the mixup could be fixed, however, the house is auctioned and won by Kingsley, a Colonel in the Iranian army who emigrated from Iran after the Ayatollah took control of the country. What follows is Connelly's attempts to get the house back, aided by her boyfriend deputy.
The movie is ultimately very tragic, but brilliant in it's storytelling. The first half of the movie seems to move slowly and the story realy doesn't pick up until the second half, but after that it is totally gripping.
One of the best films of 2003. Highly recommended.
It's very simple, but yet still deep with emotion and consequence. It's bssed on a novel, which I understand is also very good.
I do think it is a travesty that Jennifer Connelly didn't get nominated for this movie--her work here is much better than what she did in A Beautiful Mind. For those that have seen Requiem for a Dream, her character in House of Sand and Fog could pretty much be her character in Requiem years later after she cleaned up.
Ben Kingsley, of course, is brilliant, as he always is. A hard man, but ultimately tragic, his is the backbone of the story. A lot has been said about the woman who plays Kingsley's wife, who was nominated for Best Supporting this year. She's actually very good, playing a woman torn between supporting her husband and Connelly's character, all the while without understanding very much English. Pretty good work.
Basically, Jennifer Connelly's character gets evicted from her house because she didn't pay a 500 tax that ultimately she never should have been charged for in the first place. Before the mixup could be fixed, however, the house is auctioned and won by Kingsley, a Colonel in the Iranian army who emigrated from Iran after the Ayatollah took control of the country. What follows is Connelly's attempts to get the house back, aided by her boyfriend deputy.
The movie is ultimately very tragic, but brilliant in it's storytelling. The first half of the movie seems to move slowly and the story realy doesn't pick up until the second half, but after that it is totally gripping.
One of the best films of 2003. Highly recommended.
