THE HOUSE OF THE SPIRITS
A film review by Mark R. Leeper
Copyright 1994 Mark R. Leeper
Capsule review: This is a film with large virtues and
large problems. Many fine actors are present, but more for
name value than because they had something special to
contribute. But we do get a feel for the sweep of Chile's
history this century. DR. ZHIVAGO it isn't, but it is
Zhivagesque. Rating: +1 (-4 to +4). Unfortunately, much of
what I would like to say about the film would telegraph
unexpected plot twists, so a spoiler section will follow the
review.
Bille August is best known in this country for his films PELLE THE CONQUEROR and THE BEST INTENTIONS. This time around he has adapted and directed THE HOUSE OF THE SPIRITS, based on Isabel Allende's novel. The film features a powerhouse cast of at least nine international stars, chosen in what often seems to be bizarre casting decisions. The film is an uneasy blend of Magical Realism and hard-edged politics. The story is set in Chile and is about two generations of women in the Trueba family whose lives are troubled in large part by Esteban Trueba (Jeremy Irons) who rules the family. Clara is a young girl with psychic talents which bring her family tragedy. Clara remains mute for twenty years, but is once again willing to talk when courted by the dashing Esteban (who earlier was engaged to her sister). Esteban made his fortune prospecting for gold. Now he wishes to settle down on a big ranch and to run the world around him with a little philandering on the side. The Indians who have worked the land can stay but are treated like serfs. This is the story of Esteban, his wife Clara (Meryl Streep), his sister Ferula (Glenn Close), and his daughter Blanca (Winona Ryder). We follow two generations, their lives and loves and their politics.
Just a look at that cast tells you that a lot of the budget of this film is going into getting major stars. While there are more than enough Hispanic actors who are finding it hard to get work, big names are being cast as Hispanics. As far as I am concerned that is only a minor pity if the people cast are really good in their roles. The sad fact is that the high-priced talent is less and not more effective than more realistic people would have been. Many of the big stars might have been believable if this was the first time we were seeing them but Winona Ryder looks like someone who would be more at home in California than in Chile. Streep and Irons, both very good actors, but they sound like they are respectively from the U.S. and Britain. Glenn Close somehow manages to be as believable in her role as a native Chilean, but even the often under-rated Close does no better than a native would have. This is a German-Danish-Portuguese- U.S. co-production, but that does not mean they could not have gotten an Hispanic cast. LIKE WATER FOR CHOCOLATE is a Mexican film cast with inexpensive Mexican unknowns and every casting choice in that film is as good or better than the choices in this film.
The film does inherit the sweep of the novel and that helps it overcome some of its problems to get a +1 on the -4 to +4 scale.
Spoiler:
SPOILER: Some more comments I wanted to make as mild spoilers. The device of having Blanca narrate the film makes it seem more personal, but at the same time it destroys some of the suspense.
Much of the last part of the plot seems contrived. Every good deed that Esteban has committed rewards him in the end and each bad deed ends up costing him more than he expects. However, Ryder says that the diaries helped her understand how events were interconnected so it leaves open the possibility that she is stressing the interconnections.
Bille August has written and directed an adaptation of Isabel Allende's novel, making a film that has strong parallels to Bernardo Bertolucci historical epics 1900 and THE LAST EMPEROR. The similarities are so great, in fact, that one could almost consider the three films to be a trilogy. Each film starts in the old world and a vanished culture where the main character is a man who has lord-like power and uses it to defend the old order of things. There are signs of change around him but he confuses them with corruption of the old order. Finally the wheel turns and it is the new more liberal forces in power. The character is forced to realize that what he saw as corruption was really the force of reform.
Mark R. Leeper
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