The House of the Spirits (1993)

Director:

Bille August

Writers:

Isabel Allende (novel)
Bille August (writer)

Release Date:

1 April 1994 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Plot:

Chile, second half of the 20th century. The poor Esteban marries Clara and they get a daughter, Blanca...

Plot Keywords:

Senator | Martial Law | Selective Mutism | Torture | Corporal Punishment

Awards:

11 wins

Cast

Meryl Streep	...	Clara del Valle Trueba
Glenn Close	...	Férula Trueba
Jeremy Irons	...	Esteban Trueba
Winona Ryder	...	Blanca Trueba
Antonio Banderas	...	Pedro Tercero García
Vanessa Redgrave	...	Nívea del Valle
Maria Conchita Alonso	...	Tránsito Soto
Armin Mueller-Stahl	...	Severo del Valle
Jan Niklas	...	Count Jean de Satigny
Sarita Choudhury	...	Pancha García
António Assunção	...	Man at Cattlemarket (as António Assumpção)
Julie Balloo	...	Young Lady
Frank Baker	...	Intelligence Officer
João Cabral	...	Soldier
Miguel Guilherme	...	Soldier

Also Known As:

Åndernes hus (Denmark)
A Casa dos Espíritos (Portugal)
Das Geisterhaus (Germany)

MPAA:

Rated R for strong sexuality, and for violence.

Runtime:

140 min | Germany:141 min | Spain:146 min

Country:

Portugal | Germany | Denmark | USA

Language:

English | Spanish

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Brazil:16 | Netherlands:16 | Iceland:16 | UK:15 | Portugal:M/12 | Canada:R (Ontario) | USA:R | Finland:K-16 | South Korea:18 | Philippines:R-18 | Sweden:15 | Germany:12 | Australia:M

Filming Locations:

Alentejo, Portugal

Company:

Costa do Castelo Filmes

Goofs:

Anachronisms: Alba is eating KFC, but the KFC name/logo wasn't adopted until the 1990s (it was formerly Kentucky Fried Chicken), it's in a basket instead of a box, and the chain wasn't franchised in South America in the 1970s anyway.

Quotes:

Férula Trueba: I'm so sorry. It's just I'm not used to people hugging me or touching me.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Mavra mesanyhta: (#1.19)" (2008)

Soundtrack:

La Cumparsita

Bad directing, good theme and characters

I've never been a fan of Bille August, and this film has only furthered my opinion of his work. I found the directing, as well as the editing, choppy and incoherent. Mr. August tried too hard to be mystical and discreet in his telling of the tale--to the point of being annoyingly aloof and superficial.

The take-home message is, however, refreshing in its complexity and layers. The events all seem to come full circle and continue through the generations of the family, as Clara verbalized in her diaries, "the relationships between events." Lende's message was that evil begets evil, and nothing good came from malice. Such is sadly noted upon reflection that many misfortunes stemmed from poor judgment, and unacknowledged or unrectified wrongdoings in the past.

I thought the characters Farula and Esteban were the best-written and the best-acted, by far. Glenn Close exuded every bit of the torn and love-deprived spinster sister, her very gaze a window to her harsh and barren life. Jeremy Irons' portrayal of the dark and contradictory Esteban was brazen yet vulnerable, between his political persona and love for his wife.