Endings Explained For House of Sand and Fog (2003): What Leads to the Tragic Ending?
Plot Synopsis of House of Sand and Fog
House of Sand and Fog is probably the only crime thriller ever written where no one has bad intentions. But the way the story is put together means that all the main characters will die sadly. The film is based on the 1999 novel of the same name by André Dubus III. The ending is so intense that only a few other films can match it (if any). Here we look at what happened in detail.
Kathy Nicolo (Jennifer Connelly), a heartbroken young girl, is shocked when she is kicked out of her own home. Things get worse when his house is mistakenly sold to Massoud Amir Behrani, a former colonel in the Imperial Iranian Army (Ben Kingsley). Kathy repeatedly tries, but fails, to get Behrani to abandon the house.
She also has an affair with Lester, a policeman played by Ron Eldard who takes pity on her. When Lester decides to help Kathy get her house back, bad things get even worse.
House of Sand and Fog (2003)
What is Behrani’s point of view
Behrani is a man with strong morals. He seems to be so close to the edge that he can’t help Kathy even if he wanted to. Behrani was a colonel, so he and his family are used to being proud, respected, and living a full life. But because he had to leave Iran, his glory days are over. So he puts on a show to trick his family into thinking he’s a successful businessman. In reality, however, he takes on several low-paying jobs to maintain the appearance of being wealthy and important.
He pays a quarter of the price of Kathy’s house. Then, after investing some money to fix it, he plans to sell it at a profit. Behrani needs the house, but not as much as Kathy.
How does Lester get involved?
Lester was a policeman who helped kick Kathy out of her house. Lester begins to like Kathy because he feels sorry for her, so he leaves his wife and children. Kathy’s only chance is Lester, so he does everything he can to get his house back. He even does more than necessary. In one instance, he goes to Behrani’s house and tells him that if he doesn’t give up the house, he will have him kicked out of the United States. Even though Lester doesn’t use any racial slurs, the film gives the impression that he might be racist.
What is Behrani’s reaction?
Behrani is a former soldier, so he knows how things work. He does nothing to make Kathy or Lester happy. He tells Kathy that he would sell the house if she paid the price he set.
After Lester said he should leave the country, Behrani told Home Affairs about it. They told Lester to change his behavior or lose his badge if he did it again. The man from Iran is strong and determined. He wouldn’t kneel down for anything. But his family is his greatest weakness.
What leads to drama?
Kathy tries to kill herself with Lester’s handgun, but she fails. Behrani sees her outside her house and brings her inside, where she passes out from being drunk. As Behrani and his wife try to lead Kathy into the bedroom, Lester enters. Lester locks the entire Behrani family in the bathroom with a gun after misinterpreting what he saw.
Behrani plans to sell the house to save his family. He tells Kathy that he will give her the money if she agrees to return the house to him. Lester takes Behrani and his son Esmail to the country office as soon as possible. Esmail pulls out Lester’s gun and points it at him because he doesn’t like the way his father is being treated. When a cop shows up, he doesn’t understand what’s going on and shoots Esmail.
The tragic, tragic end
The ending to The House of Sand and Fog is one of the most shocking and intense we’ve ever seen. When Esmail dies in hospital, it robs Behrani of all reason to continue living. In the next scene, we go to Behrani’s house, where he poisons his wife’s tea and kills her. He thought that dying of poisoning would be easier for his wife than dying of sadness.
He takes her into the bedroom, puts on his decorated military uniform, and sits down next to her corpse. In an incredibly powerful scene, Behrani sticks a clear plastic bag over his face and chokes on his dead wife’s hand.
House of Sand and Fog (2003)
Who is to blame?
Lester is in jail. Kathy is still homeless. And every Behrani is dead. How could so many things happen when no character could be called bad? Still, every character had things about them that weren’t good. Kathy was impatient, Lester was angry, and Behrani didn’t care about others. So that’s what the sand and fog on the house was made of.
In case you haven’t noticed, the title of the film means more than it seems to say. The sand and fog in the film represent two different aspects of the conflict. The house is a symbol of the damage, but it is not the one who did it. Small bad things are enough to cause a lot of damage. The House of Sand and Fog is all about that.
