Rating: 
Summary: Distasteful Formula of Love, Politics and the Supernatural
Review: "The House of the Spirits" documents three generations of author Isabel Allende's fictional Trueba family, opening with an extended panorama of the Chilean countryside. Narration begins with Winona Ryder speaking as her character Blanca, introducing us to the rich and prosperous del Valle family and more specifically to her clairvoyant mother Clara (Streep). ... .The film misrepresents a great deal of what Allende has written in her novel ("La Casa De Los Espirítus" in her native language) and the biggest mistake was allowing director Bille August to pen the screenplay. People and events have been changed for convenience of the passage of time for which he and his producers could either not fulfill or didn't have the patience for. If the story's history had been traced correctly, the film would certainly have exceeded a three-hour time length. Instead of trying to keep a sense of purity to Allende's story, August has miserably chopped it in half by making the despicable Esteban García Trueba's son (instead of his grandson) and by having Blanca abducted and tortured by Chilean militants instead of her daughter Alba (which would've pushed the movie ahead another twenty years). Blanca's twin brothers Jaime and Nicolás are completely omitted, along with the mystic Mora Sisters, Amanda, Miguel and every one of Clara's numerous siblings aside from Rosa (Polo, who looks not the least bit maritime). <... All of the actors do an admirable job portraying their characters but with August's butchering of Allende's story and the wonderful character development that one is able to experience by reading her novel, a lot of personality and interest is lost in her three pivotal female characters (Clara, Blanca and Alba). Next to how we come to know them by reading the novel, their personalities seem a bit flaccid and obscured on screen. Winona Ryder adheres well to Blanca's aloof qualities but this is still a faulty casting choice. Although she is aesthetically pleasing, she lacks the emotional depth of her co-star and Streep pretty much drowns the dewy-eyed Ryder out. Even though I have a profound love and respect for Meryl's work (Out of Africa, The Bridges of Madison County, One True Thing), she doesn't really belong here either; as the numinous Clara del Valle, she just doesn't quite fit the mold. It's a bit hard to swallow her youthful scenes as a 20-something bride (when she's actually over the hill at 44). Everyone else is pretty much in the appropriate age bracket and make-up helps to convincingly age them as the timeline stretches on. It's hard to figure out what ... Glenn Close is doing here. After smart turns as the manipulative Marquise de Merteuil (Dangerous Liaisons) and spurned lover Alex (Fatal Attraction), perhaps she needed a breather. If her character had been played correctly (instead of being made to look like her brother's helpless prey), her performance might've been more revered. Irons (M. Butterfly, Lolita) makes the best of what he has as the stone-cold Esteban, his icy stare and explosive intonation effectively rendered.... Overall, this is an adaptation that disappoints on many levels. Had it been done as a low-budget independent film (with chapters - sorta like a mini-series) with unknown talents gone straight to video, it might've stood a chance. Distinguished actors and an art house director do not a great movie make.
Rating:
Summary: Distasteful Formula of Love, Politics and the Supernatural
Review: "The House of the Spirits" documents three generations of author Isabel Allende's fictional Trueba family, opening with an extended panorama of the Chilean countryside. Narration begins with Winona Ryder speaking as her character Blanca, introducing us to the rich and prosperous del Valle family and more specifically to her clairvoyant mother Clara (Streep). ... . The film misrepresents a great deal of what Allende has written in her novel ("La Casa De Los Espirítus" in her native language) and the biggest mistake was allowing director Bille August to pen the screenplay. People and events have been changed for convenience of the passage of time for which he and his producers could either not fulfill or didn't have the patience for. If the story's history had been traced correctly, the film would certainly have exceeded a three-hour time length. Instead of trying to keep a sense of purity to Allende's story, August has miserably chopped it in half by making the despicable Esteban García Trueba's son (instead of his grandson) and by having Blanca abducted and tortured by Chilean militants instead of her daughter Alba (which would've pushed the movie ahead another twenty years). Blanca's twin brothers Jaime and Nicolás are completely omitted, along with the mystic Mora Sisters, Amanda, Miguel and every one of Clara's numerous siblings aside from Rosa (Polo, who looks not the least bit maritime). <... All of the actors do an admirable job portraying their characters but with August's butchering of Allende's story and the wonderful character development that one is able to experience by reading her novel, a lot of personality and interest is lost in her three pivotal female characters (Clara, Blanca and Alba). Next to how we come to know them by reading the novel, their personalities seem a bit flaccid and obscured on screen. Winona Ryder adheres well to Blanca's aloof qualities but this is still a faulty casting choice. Although she is aesthetically pleasing, she lacks the emotional depth of her co-star and Streep pretty much drowns the dewy-eyed Ryder out. Even though I have a profound love and respect for Meryl's work (Out of Africa, The Bridges of Madison County, One True Thing), she doesn't really belong here either; as the numinous Clara del Valle, she just doesn't quite fit the mold. It's a bit hard to swallow her youthful scenes as a 20-something bride (when she's actually over the hill at 44). Everyone else is pretty much in the appropriate age bracket and make-up helps to convincingly age them as the timeline stretches on. It's hard to figure out what ... Glenn Close is doing here. After smart turns as the manipulative Marquise de Merteuil (Dangerous Liaisons) and spurned lover Alex (Fatal Attraction), perhaps she needed a breather. If her character had been played correctly (instead of being made to look like her brother's helpless prey), her performance might've been more revered. Irons (M. Butterfly, Lolita) makes the best of what he has as the stone-cold Esteban, his icy stare and explosive intonation effectively rendered.... Overall, this is an adaptation that disappoints on many levels. Had it been done as a low-budget independent film (with chapters - sorta like a mini-series) with unknown talents gone straight to video, it might've stood a chance. Distinguished actors and an art house director do not a great movie make.
Rating: 
Summary: Bad conservatives! Bad!
Review: Conservatives bad. Liberals better. Socialists (i.e., communists) best. Why, oh why, does this seem to be the most common theme permeating almost everything that comes out of Hollywood? Granted, considering who the author of the book is on which this movie is based one would rather expect, shall we say, a somewhat populist bent, it nonetheless grows wearying. For those who are unaware, the author, Isabelle Allende is niece to the famous (or perhaps infamous) Salvador Allende, an avowed communist who was elected leader of Chile in the early 70s, only to be assassinated in an ill-conceived coup backed by the CIA. Whether the coup was or was not a good idea is open to argument to this day, but we must assume it has colored the political viewpoint of Ms. Allende, and certainly is reflected in her writing. As The House of the Spirits opens, our happy family is entertaining the notion of allowing young Esteban to marry the oldest daughter. Right off the bat, he explains how he will work hard and become a success so as to support Rosa in the fashion to which she is accustomed. Somehow, we're subtly led to believe there must be something wrong with him, that he would attach so much importance to being a success, and in fact he loses Rosa because he was out making his first fortune through the seat of his brow. Rosa dies of from drinking poisoned brandy, which we're led to believe was intended for her father - who just coincidentally is a "Liberal Party" senator who is in a bitter fight with the "Conservative Party." Bad Conservatives! Bad! We then follow Esteban through the next twenty years of toil and turmoil as he builds his own little personal empire. Naturally, we can't be left to think there's anything the least bit noble about all this hard work on his part. Instead, we're shown a particularly dark side to the man, wherein he treats his people as little more than chattel, and has his way with them in pretty much any manner he pleases. Once again we're shown through example that the successful businessman can only be such by building his business on the broken backs of the proletariat. Naturally, it comes as no surprise that once Esteban has taken Clara as his wife (As an aside, does anyone find it the least bit peculiar that after a mere twenty years, Clara has apparently aged from somewhere around eleven to a quite obvious forty-plus?) he continues in his power-hungry, money-grubbing, capitalistic xenophobic ways. Indeed, he can do nothing else, since as we will soon see, Esteban is a - gasp! - Conservative. We know he's a Conservative, for the party comes to him requesting he run for senator, since he's become quite obviously a man of means and respect. At first he resists, but when he considers the sorry road the liberals have allowed the country to go down, he realizes it's no less than his absolute civic duty to do so. Not to mention the fact that this will further enhance his power, which, after all, is all Conservatives are interested in (except for money, of course). Along the way, Esteban's resolve is further hardened by the rabble-rouser Pedro, an unrepentant communist agitator who aspires to posts far beyond his position in life, and is continually whipping the peasants into a frenzy. His romance with the padrón's daughter simply adds fuel to the fire. In fact, one wonders what offends his sensibilities more - his daughter having an illicit relationship, or the fact she's having it with a communist peasant. Predictably, Esteban wins his seat in the senate, the Conservatives sweep to power, and good times return to the country. At least from the viewpoint of businessmen. As we might expect, the lot of the ordinary workingman is worse than ever, since the country's prosperity is being built upon his sweat, blood, and broken bones. We now come to the pivotal election, in which the People's Party, in conjunction with the Liberal Party manages to win the general elections against the Conservatives. The transition of power seems to go reasonably smooth, but the country is beset by various shortages of heretofore readily available goods. Esteban attributes this to the fools running the country (not really an unreasonable supposition), but his daughter makes a statement that leads us to believe that - surprise! - the Conservatives are behind the shortages and everyone knows it (A quick jaunt into basic macro-economics might tend to support this, but only in the sense that when you stop compensating producers for producing any given product, they stop producing it.). The Conservatives then back the military in staging a coup d'ètat. This seems like a swell idea at first, but the military turns out to be a bit of a junkyard dog that's developed a taste for human blood, and the Conservatives can no longer control them. This pretty much wraps up this transparent attempt to legitimize communism. Naturally, there are various supporting themes and other minutiae that tend to clutter up the landscape. I could maybe put up with it if it were at least a decent movie; however, for all the star power thrown at this left-wing plot, it just never clicks. This is by far the most tedious movie I've seen in a long time, and perhaps ever. The other (occasionally uplifting) themes which run willy-nilly through this movie do absolutely nothing to offset the sheer horridness of it.
Rating: 
Summary: True epic
Review: Despite the tirade of some that the movie is "pro-communist" propaganda, I found it to be simply one family's story set against the events of the country. Surely telling the truth is not propaganda. I have read the book, and found it to be believable. The stellar cast was outstanding, and the story haunted me for weeks. Try it, you won't regret it.
Rating: 
Summary: Come on, it's not THAT bad!
Review: Granted the film lacks Latin stars, but I think Chileans don't have the stereotypical "Latin look" and are in fact more European looking (not that this justifies not using Latin actors). But about the movie, I was surprised at what a good rendering Hollywood did with the book. If you haven't read the book, I can say that you should enjoy the film. If you've read the book, you might be pleasantly surprised.
Rating:
Summary: Book is great, Movie [is bad].
Review: Having some truly talented actors, and a wonderful story could not save the horrid movie that is The House of the Spirts. This adaptation does not even closely do justice to the book. The book, first of all, focuses on the lives of three Trueba women. It shows the hardships and turmoil they faced in an enthralling way. The movie, I'm afraid, is too over the top, and chooses not to follow the overall plot of the novel. PLEASE if anyone suggests this film to you, DO NOT LISTEN. But do yourself a favor and read the book, it is an excellent piece of litterature.
Rating:
Summary: Still More Leftist Hollywood Tripe
Review: Hollywood - the most intellectually vacuous place in the entire country. Only here do you find people who still give a platform to communists like Isabel Allende, the niece of the Communist ruler of Chile who was assassinated by Pinochet. Only in Hollywood could Her Highness, the Queen of Cookoo, Vanessa Redgrave, get work. How anyone in their right mind, (and perhaps that's the point), could continue to prop up communism after witnessing the hundreds of millions of people who have been murdered, tortured, and starved by it's leaders, and after it has proven to be a dismal failure, disillusioning all but the most foolish of it's adherents, is absolutely beyond understanding. I love how the "enlightened" conservative senator confesses in the end, "How could I have been so wrong?" How could Isabel Allende be so wrong, when after Pinochet took power the standard of living for the Chilean worker rose faster than any other Latin American country? Who delivered the goods for the working man? The communist Allende? Sorry, no. As brutal, and evil a dictator he was, deal with it my red friends, it was Pinochet. Please understand, I am in no way endorsing his brutal thuggery, but I have to ask, don't you think it's ironic that it was Pinochet's economic policies that made all the dreams of the communist come true for the "working man" in Chile? For those of you who don't know, Pinochet hired a group of University of Chicago economists to form his economic policies which, after implemented, were so successful, that Chile's economic performance has since been known as the "Chilean Miracle." Yet despite the lessons of experience in Chile and all over the world, there are still people like Ms. Allende who still cling to their communist ideals, and there are still leftist producers, actors, and university faculty who will air their tripe.
Rating:
Summary: Missed Masterpiece
Review: House of Sprits is a film of rare intelligence, touched with
mysticism and streching to epic proportions. A fictionalisd
story of a period in the history of Chile. The story crosscuts
traditional capitalistic values and vividly dipicts the truth
of a patriarchal society turning to facism. Each character in the film is whole and complete, and subtle performances abound. The story of three generations in the life of one family and a man (Jeremy Irons) who works for respectability and finds redemption. He is engaged to the families oldest daughter who dies and fifteen years later after he has earned his fortune, retuns to marry the now of age magical second daughter (Meryle Streep). He carries her off to his plantation where they have a daughter and he disavows his bastard son mothered by a peon who works the plantation. As the daughter (Wynona Ryder) grows to womanhood she harbors a secret love. The son (Antonio Bandares) of the foreman on the farm. He tries to organize the peons to unite against the oppression of the Patrone (Irons) and is driven with murderous rage into hiding. This wonderful film resembles in it's history lesson Bertulugi's 1900, another epic story of feudelism turned to facism. 1900, in facist Italy and Spirits in 1960's Chile. It really amazes me how a film so well written, wonderfully cast and beautifully photographed was so quickly and systematically dismissed by America. Could it be that America's complicity in the overthrow of the democratically elected government in Chile in 1968 and the support of the Facist regime that took power there after is history which people in a postion to voice an opinion would much rather forget? There was something favorable that was once written about remembering history. In America it seems history is better off forgotten. Returning to the film, Glenn Close gives a haunting performance as Irons neglected sister. With Vanessa Redgrave, Armand Mueller Stahl and Vincent Gallo.
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing
Review: I confess - I watched this video without having read the book first, so I did not know what it was going to be about. However, I had just finished another Allende book "Daughter of Fortune" and really loved her writing style and the way in which she brings her characters to life and enlightens you about various time periods and cultures. So I had great hopes that "House of the Spirits" with its outstanding cast would do the book justice and be a worthy interpretation . I was wrong. At no time during the entire movie did I ever feel any of the emotions that the characters were trying to evoke - it just didn't come across at all. I liked Glenn Close in her portrayal of Esteban's spinster sister, and some of the minor characters such as the illegitimate son gave good performances, but I thought Jeremy Irons to be totally miscast in his role and did not care for his performance - it was stiff and rehearsed - I guess that's what I felt about the movie as a whole - it wasn't alive - the actors just learned their lines and spoke them without immersing themselves into their characters. Yes, that goes for Meryl Streep as well, I'm sorry to say - I am a big fan of hers! So, I'm off to the bookstore!
Rating:
Summary: Disappointing
Review: I confess - I watched this video without having read the book first, so I did not know what it was going to be about. However, I had just finished another Allende book "Daughter of Fortune" and really loved her writing style and the way in which she brings her characters to life and enlightens you about various time periods and cultures. So I had great hopes that "House of the Spirits" with its outstanding cast would do the book justice and be a worthy interpretation . I was wrong. At no time during the entire movie did I ever feel any of the emotions that the characters were trying to evoke - it just didn't come across at all. I liked Glenn Close in her portrayal of Esteban's spinster sister, and some of the minor characters such as the illegitimate son gave good performances, but I thought Jeremy Irons to be totally miscast in his role and did not care for his performance - it was stiff and rehearsed - I guess that's what I felt about the movie as a whole - it wasn't alive - the actors just learned their lines and spoke them without immersing themselves into their characters. Yes, that goes for Meryl Streep as well, I'm sorry to say - I am a big fan of hers! So, I'm off to the bookstore!
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