Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, May 6, 1994 TAG: 9405060089
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: EXTRA12 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MIKE MAYO Correspondent
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
It's a huge, bloated mess of a movie that squanders a considerable amount of talent on both sides of the camera. Fans of Isabel Allende's popular novel may be able to bridge the narrative gaps. Others will have trouble with this decades-spanning soap opera.
The story begins in 1926 in an unnamed South American country. Esteban Trueba (Jeremy Irons) is a poor but ambitious young fellow who makes his fortune and marries into the politically connected Del Valle family. The psychic Clara (Meryl Streep) isn't exactly his first choice, but his sister Ferula (Glenn Close) gets along with her. Their friendship brings out the tyrannical side of Esteban's nature.
It becomes even stronger years later when his daughter Blanca (Winona Ryder) grows up and falls in love with a peasant, Pedro (Antonio Banderas).
Those are the bare bones of a plot that also includes social upheaval, counterrevolution, assorted ghosts, murders, illegitimate children, accidental deaths and torture. Had Danish writer/director Bille August been working on the larger canvas of a mini-series, he might have developed all the facets of this ambitious material. Even with a running time of two-plus hours, the film seems hurried in some scenes and tedious in others. And the mix of the supernatural with fact-based political fiction simply doesn't translate from the printed page to the theater screen.
The main problem though is casting. Only Antonio Banderas is remotely believable. Meryl Streep is angelic; Glenn Close looks like she might fly into a murderous rage at any moment. As a 1960s rich girl turned revolutionary, Winona Ryder is far beyond her depth. But Jeremy Irons has drawn the worst lot. His character seems to be a combined impersonation of Richard Nixon and Marlon Brando as Don Corleone.
Like Faye Dunaway's Joan Crawford in ``Mommie Dearest,'' he does create a certain bizarre unpredictability. It's an interesting performance, but never a believable one and certainly not sympathetic.
If the producers had taken the approach of other successful literary adaptations - ``The Joy Luck Club'' and ``Like Water For Chocolate'' being two recent examples - and put the focus on the story instead of the high-powered cast, they might have come up with something wonderful.
As it is, ``The House of the Spirits'' will find its place on the list of Hollywood's big-budget howlers.
The House of the
Spirits 7
A Miramax release playing at the Tanglewood Mall. 138 min. Rated R for graphic violence, strong language, rape, sexual content, brief nudity.
by CNB