Change Your Image
hinata-soul
Reviews
Domino (2005)
Dirty and Shockingly Exciting
If you go to this movie expecting something it isn't, you will be disappointed, as with any movie. This movie contains what Hemmingway described as the "iceberg effect". On the surface, its simply a cache of random movie clips smashed together to make a movie. If this would be written in a book, it would be a short story, because the action in the movie is very fast paced, and unless you actually try to catch it, the reasoning behind the plot (along with some subtle foreshadowing) can very well pass you by. Definitely a movie you will have to see twice in order to fully appreciate. Experimental Cinematography barely describes this movie. The camera-work and post production add much to the overall flavour of the film, making it quite artistic at some points and open to interpretation at others (something to be desired in American movies as of late). Although, at some parts it may get a little raunchy, gruesome and too heavy for some audiences, the movie never becomes completely unrealistic. The only aspect of the movie that I would write off as "needs improvement" is the soundtrack selection. No movie is ever good without a fitting soundtrack, and although the soundtrack is quite fitting, the opening is a little too long, and the other rap songs in the film really could have been replaced with something more appropriate (heavy, grungy rock or psychedelic electronica would have made this film a real trip). The flooding of imagery and dynamic... color palettes adds another "artistic" aspect to it, also combined with the events that happen throughout the film, this is not a movie you can miss any part of and still understand. However, that also makes it much more of a desirable film to watch, and not one you'll quickly get bored of. 8.5/10
House of Sand and Fog (2003)
Beautiful drama, but not for the weak of heart.
The curtains open to a wedding scene, gorgeously decorated, in traditional Middle Eastern wedding style. The two getting married are dancing among the crowd in a traditional style. Zoom out to the attendees, and listen in. "What does he do for a living?" a guest on the mother's side comments.
"He works for Boeing," another guest comments.
"No he doesn't. My son works for Boeing." Which makes sense, because Boeing is a few hundred miles north of the San Francisco bay area, where the movie takes place.
House of Sand and Fog (2003), is directed by a newcomer to the field, Vadim Perelman, and based off a book of the same name. The movie stars Ben Kingsley and Jennifer Connelly, who plays an excellent role in this drama.
Ben Kingsley's character, Colonel Behrani, is a neat and tidy traditional Persian man who routinely scours the newspapers in his apartment for foreclosed houses on auction, to fix up and resell at market value to secure a nest egg for his son's education. Kathy, as played by Jennifer Connelly, is an ex-drug addict and the unfortunate victim of the foreclosure (over mistaken business taxes she never owed), which brings these two very different characters together. In one scene Kingsley is seen with his wife in the new house, sunrise in the background. "This house is much like the one we had back on the coast," she says, agreeing to delay selling the house because of its excellent view.
The cinematography of the film was its most compelling feature. Although public scenes were poorly casted with silent extras, and the rest seeming oddly desolate (very few cars passed by on public roads), this emphasized the overall the focus on the drama. The camera could not detail the drama any better than it did. For example, in a tense scene, the camera would demonstrate the tension with low camera angles, and would often focus on the clouds overhead, as if to indicate we were in the mind of a day-dreaming teenager lying on the grass.
House of Sand and Fog ends up playing out like a horror movie without the screaming. There are a lot of tense scenes in which the main characters attempt to defy common sense for their own desires, such as when Kathy re-enters her evicted property after Behrani's family has moved in, and while investigating the construction on her house in her bare feet, she steps on a series of nails and has to get treated by Nadi, Behrani's wife.
The movie carries subtle characteristics from the book that most directors cannot find ways to translate to the big screen, which Perelman does a good job of. A vintage poster on the wall of the law attorney's office reads "Your Oppression is our Revolution", and offers a very subtle transition in the mood of the movie. This occurs before Lester, a police officer, begins to side against the government and use his powers to threaten Behrani.
Overall, Vadim Perelman does a good job of adapting Andre Dubus III's book to the big screen. House of Sand and Fog is definitely worth a watch by any fan of drama who can stomach tragic endings. Good cinematography and an excellent plot, as well as an excellent transition from print to film, should be enough reason for anyone to see this film.