House of Sand and Fog (2003)

Director : Vadim Perelman

Actor : Ben Kingsley, Jennifer Connelly, Shohreh Aghdashloo

First of all, this DVD had been lying in my collection untouched for years. I now couldn't remember whether it's mine or my buddy Sherry's.

The movie is beautiful. And the director being a Russian, you can get the remote beauty of silence and stillness aplenty. It tackles the racial theme which was before Paul Higgis' Crash won big in Oscar. It's depressing because the characters were drawn to destruction and the clash was met with me cringing on the prospect of everthing turn into a mess. It's one of the sad and depressing movie that I would not simply recommend to others for which most of the time I will be scolded and scorned for that hahaha....

Kingsley really gave a kingsly performance here as the ex-Iranian high ranking colonel in Shah Jehan's administration. His subtle display of restrained emotion, being a happy or sad one, was superb. I had my qualms evaporated when I think he's not "Iranian" enough to play the character as his whole family, wife and children have facial feature TOTALLY unlike him. Again, it might be my own stereotyping problem but all that disappear as his performance is a convincing one.

Connelly back to her excellent self as shown in A Beautiful Mind. She managed to portray a self-destructive ex-alcoholic who's trying unsuccessfully to go back to the sober life. I keep thinking of the actress who acted as Kingsley wife, Nadi. She was nominated for Best Supporting Actress in Oscar (so was Kinglsey) for this role and I remembered her very well from her guest appearances in Will & Grace and Grey's Anatomy. Her distinct and unique non-English-speaker-slang-laden voice is very memorable.

Beautifully made but depressingly sad. Handle with care.