The House of the Spirits (film)
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''The House of the Spirits'' (
Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...
: ''Åndernes hus'') is a 1993
period drama film A historical drama (also period drama, costume drama, and period piece) is a work set in a past time period, usually used in the context of film and television. Historical drama includes historical fiction and romances, adventure films, and swas ...
directed by
Bille August Bille August (born 9 November 1948) is a Danish director, screenwriter, and cinematographer of film and television. In a career spanning over four decades, he has been the recipient of numerous accolades, making him one of the most acclaimed co ...
and starring
Jeremy Irons Jeremy John Irons (; born 19 September 1948) is an English actor and activist. After receiving classical training at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, Irons began his acting career on stage in 1969 and has appeared in many West End theatre ...
,
Meryl Streep Mary Louise Meryl Streep (born June 22, 1949) is an American actress. Often described as "the best actress of her generation", Streep is particularly known for her versatility and accent adaptability. She has received numerous accolades throu ...
,
Glenn Close Glenn Close (born March 19, 1947) is an American actress. Throughout her career spanning over four decades, Close has garnered numerous accolades, including two Screen Actors Guild Awards, three Golden Globe Awards, three Primetime Emmy Awards ...
,
Winona Ryder Winona Laura Horowitz (born October 29, 1971), professionally known as Winona Ryder, is an American actress. Originally playing quirky roles, she rose to prominence for her more diverse performances in various genres in the 1990s. She has recei ...
,
Antonio Banderas José Antonio Domínguez Bandera (born 10 August 1960), known professionally as Antonio Banderas, is a Spanish actor and singer. Known for his work in films of several genres, he has received List of awards and nominations received by Antonio Ba ...
and
Vanessa Redgrave Dame Vanessa Redgrave (born 30 January 1937) is an English actress and activist. Throughout her career spanning over seven decades, Redgrave has garnered numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Television Award, two ...
. The supporting cast includes
María Conchita Alonso María Concepción Alonso Bustillo (born June 29, 1957), better known as María Conchita Alonso, is a singer, actress and former beauty queen. She has participated in film and television productions, and was nominated for the Independent Spirit ...
,
Armin Mueller-Stahl Armin Mueller-Stahl (born 17 December 1930) is a retired German film actor, painter and author, who also appeared in numerous English-language films since the 1980s. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role i ...
, and
Jan Niklas Jan Niklas (born 15 October 1947) is a German film and television actor. He is best known for appearing in TV films such as '' Peter The Great'', '' Anastasia: The Mystery of Anna'' and '' Anne Frank: The Whole Story''. He won a Golden Globe Aw ...
. Based on the 1982 novel '' La Casa de los Espíritus'' by
Isabel Allende Isabel Angélica Allende Llona (; born in Lima, 2 August 1942) is a Chilean writer. Allende, whose works sometimes contain aspects of the genre magical realism, is known for novels such as ''The House of the Spirits'' (''La casa de los espír ...
, the film follows three generations of women from a Chilean family during the country’s
military dictatorship A military dictatorship is a dictatorship in which the military exerts complete or substantial control over political authority, and the dictator is often a high-ranked military officer. The reverse situation is to have civilian control of the m ...
. Although the film won several awards in
Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
, including Best Film at the Lola Awards from the German Film Academy and the
Robert Award The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, hono ...
from the
Danish Film Academy The Danish Film Academy was founded in 1982 by a number of people with professional connection to the film industry. The Academy aims to promote the film as an independent art form, and its members are primarily people who work with film. The Acad ...
, in
America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
it was regarded as a critical and commercial failure.


Plot

The story is narrated by Blanca Trueba, a young woman from a powerful Chilean family.


1926

Blanca's mother, Clara del Valle is a child from a well-off family in
Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, whose ...
whose father is running for the Senate. Clara possesses
clairvoyant Clairvoyance (; ) is the magical ability to gain information about an object, person, location, or physical event through extrasensory perception. Any person who is claimed to have such ability is said to be a clairvoyant () ("one who sees cl ...
abilities and foresees her own marriage to Esteban Trueba, a miner. Esteban uses the gold he found from mining to buy a
hacienda An ''hacienda'' ( or ; or ) is an estate (or ''finca''), similar to a Roman ''latifundium'', in Spain and the former Spanish Empire. With origins in Andalusia, ''haciendas'' were variously plantations (perhaps including animals or orchards), ...
, Tres Marías. He employs natives to work as peasants on the dilapidated land, eventually turning Tres Marías into a successful estate through his use of brute force. One day while horseback riding through the countryside, he sees a peasant girl, Pancha García. Esteban rapes Pancha, resulting in the illegitimate birth of a boy. He also spends nights with Tránsito, a local prostitute to whom he lends money so she can start a new career in the capital.


1946

Twenty years later, Esteban’s sister Férula informs him that their ailing mother has died. At his mother’s funeral, Esteban sees a grown Clara and reacquaints himself with her. The couple marry, and Clara and Férula become especially close, with Clara allowing Férula to come live with her and her new husband at Tres Marías. Clara eventually gives birth to a girl, naming her Blanca. One day, Pancha García appears at the family estate with her now teenaged son, Esteban García, asking his father for money. Esteban Trueba gives them some money but harshly turns them away. Esteban’s rejection leads his son to nurse a resentment against his father and Blanca. Meanwhile, Blanca befriends one of the peasant children, Pedro Tercero, the young son of Esteban's foreman Segundo. Esteban disapproves of his daughter playing with a peasant boy and sends her to a
boarding school A boarding school is a school where pupils live within premises while being given formal instruction. The word "boarding" is used in the sense of "room and board", i.e. lodging and meals. As they have existed for many centuries, and now exten ...
.


1962

After graduating from boarding school, Blanca returns to Tres Marías and reunites with Pedro, meeting him by the river every night. Férula continues to live with the family and has become a rival to her brother for Clara’s affections. Esteban throws Férula out of the house when he catches her and Clara asleep in the same bed. Before leaving, Férula curses Esteban to eternal loneliness. Esteban catches Pedro preaching revolutionary ideas that are critical of wealthy landowners like him to the peasant workers. He punishes Pedro with a whipping and banishment from Tres Marías. That night at dinner, Clara and Blanca see a vision of Férula while having dinner. Férula kisses Clara on the forehead before calmly walking out. Realizing Férula has died, Clara drives into town to find Férula dead in her modest home. In a moment alone with Férula, Clara tells her how much she and Blanca miss her, and how proud she would be of Blanca. Blanca continues to meet Pedro in secret. Jean de Satigny, a French nobleman who aspires to go into business with Esteban, sees Blanca and Pedro in a tryst at the river and rats her out to her father. Esteban punishes Blanca by whipping her and vows to go after Pedro. He strikes Clara when she points out his hypocrisy—having himself slept with women not of his own class—after which Clara vows never to speak to him again. She leaves Tres Marías with Blanca to live in Santiago. Esteban offers a monetary reward for anyone who can reveal Pedro's whereabouts to him. Esteban García, unrecognized by his father, aids in helping to find Pedro. Pedro is able to escape from Esteban, who declines to give a reward to his son. Esteban later learns Blanca is pregnant with Pedro's child, and he goes to her house to falsely tell her that he murdered Pedro. Clara makes Esteban leave and reassures Blanca that Pedro is indeed alive, but they won't be reunited for some time because he needs to flee to safety. Years later, Esteban goes to Clara and apologizes for his actions. Though she maintains some distance from him, she does allow him to meet their seven-year-old granddaughter Alba and to be a part of her and Blanca’s lives again.


1973

Esteban is now a senator in the
Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...
, while Pedro is a leader with the People's Front. Despite Esteban’s success, he is lonely and finds comfort in the arms of Tránsito, who now runs a high-class prostitution establishment. Esteban believes his party will win the election as usual, but the People’s Front ends up gaining control of the government. Clara passes away after gently explaining to Alba that she has always been in touch with spirits on the other side and will be in contact with the rest of the family. A conspiracy between Conservative Party members and the military leads to a
coup d'état A coup d'état (; French for 'stroke of state'), also known as a coup or overthrow, is a seizure and removal of a government and its powers. Typically, it is an illegal seizure of power by a political faction, politician, cult, rebel group, m ...
, and the military seizes control of the country. Under military control, people associated with the People's Party are captured and even killed. The police come and arrest Blanca for her association with Pedro Tercero. Before Blanca is taken away, she tells Esteban that Pedro is the love of her life, just as Clara was his. She appeals to Esteban to use his political influence to help find asylum for Pedro outside Chile so the three of them can be a family. In the coming days, Blanca is tortured and sexually abused by her half-brother, Esteban García, who had joined the military with his father's help. Esteban decides to honor his daughter's wishes and helps to find exile for Pedro in Canada. He also turns to Tránsito, who as an influential
Madam Madam (), or madame ( or ), is a polite and formal form of address for Woman, women in the English language, often contracted to ma'am (pronounced in American English and this way but also in British English). The term derives from the French ...
has connections to high-level military figures, to help free Blanca. One morning, a beaten Blanca finally arrives back at her home. A grateful Esteban tells her that Pedro is waiting for her and Alba in Canada, and hopes his help can make up for the damage his actions wrought on his family.


Epilogue

Blanca and the elderly Esteban return to Tres Marías with Alba. Esteban is finally visited by Clara's spirit, who has come to help the old man on to the next world. Blanca sits outside and ponders her life, looking forward to a future with Pedro and their daughter. She reflects on how she does not want to live her life with anger or hatred—instead, she wishes to move forward and be happy.


Cast


Production


Development

Author
Isabel Allende Isabel Angélica Allende Llona (; born in Lima, 2 August 1942) is a Chilean writer. Allende, whose works sometimes contain aspects of the genre magical realism, is known for novels such as ''The House of the Spirits'' (''La casa de los espír ...
received numerous offers from producers and agents to adapt her novel ''
The House of the Spirits ''The House of the Spirits'' ( es, La casa de los espíritus, 1982) is the debut novel of Isabel Allende. The novel was rejected by several Spanish-language publishers before being published in Buenos Aires in 1982. It became an instant best-sel ...
'' upon publication in 1982, but did not agree to option the work until Danish filmmaker
Bille August Bille August (born 9 November 1948) is a Danish director, screenwriter, and cinematographer of film and television. In a career spanning over four decades, he has been the recipient of numerous accolades, making him one of the most acclaimed co ...
convinced her with his vision for the film. In January 1993,
Miramax Miramax, LLC, also known as Miramax Films, is an American film and television production and distribution company founded on December 19, 1979, by brothers Harvey and Bob Weinstein, and based in Los Angeles, California. It was initially a leadi ...
acquired North American distribution rights for the film.


Casting

Controversy occurred over the casting of predominantly white English-speaking actors in a
Latin American Latin Americans ( es, Latinoamericanos; pt, Latino-americanos; ) are the citizens of Latin American countries (or people with cultural, ancestral or national origins in Latin America). Latin American countries and their diasporas are multi-eth ...
period film. Producer Bernd Eichinger defended the decision on the basis that the film needed internationally recognized actors. The film’s premiere in the U.S. was met with protests from Latino actors over the casting issue.


Filming

Principal photography took place in
Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...
, with some scenes filmed in
Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...
and
Alentejo Alentejo ( , ) is a geographical, historical, and cultural region of south–central and southern Portugal. In Portuguese, its name means "beyond () the Tagus river" (''Tejo''). Alentejo includes the regions of Alto Alentejo and Baixo Alent ...
, Portugal, from January 1993 to April.


Release

The film premiered in Germany in October 1993 as a 145-minute theatrical cut that was also released in Switzerland, The Netherlands, and Scandinavia. The film was released in the United States on April 1, 1994 in a 132-minute cut version.


Reception

The film has a 32% rating on
Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
based on 38 reviews. The website’s consensus states: "An enviable collection of sterling actors are all woefully miscast in ''The House of the Spirits'', a plodding saga of magical realism that lacks much magic or realism." Two oft-cited reasons for the poor critical reception were its diffusely episodic structure and the casting of mostly Anglo actors in Latin American roles. The film grossed $6 million in the United States and more than $55 million in Europe. Angle Errigo of ''
Empire An empire is a "political unit" made up of several territories and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the empire (sometimes referred to as the metropole) ex ...
'' gave ''The House of the Spirits'' two out of five stars and stated that: "If this had been a Latin American production, one might have been more generous towards the fumblings of a fairly fetching saga; given the talents involved, the film's hesitations in style and consistent failure to really move must be counted as a major disappointment."


Awards and nominations

The film won multiple awards:
Bavarian Film Awards The Bavarian Film Awards (german: Bayerischer Filmpreis) have been awarded annually since 1979 by the state government of Bavaria in Germany for “exceptional achievement in German filmmaking.” Along with the German Film Awards, these are th ...
,
German Film Awards German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...
, the Golden Screen (Germany),
Havana Film Festival The Havana Film Festival is a Cuban festival that focuses on the promotion of Latin American filmmakers. It is also known in Spanish as ''Festival Internacional del Nuevo Cine Latinoamericano de La Habana,'' and in English as International Festiva ...
, and
Robert Awards The Robert Award ( da, Robert prisen) is a Danish film prize awarded each year by the Danish Film Academy. It is the Danish equivalent of the American Oscars, British BAFTAs for films and Australian AACTA Awards. The award—voted only by aca ...
(Denmark), the German Phono Academy, and the Guild of German Art House Cinemas. * 1994
Bavarian Film Award The Bavarian Film Awards (german: Bayerischer Filmpreis) have been awarded annually since 1979 by the state government of Bavaria in Germany for “exceptional achievement in German filmmaking.” Along with the German Film Awards, these are the ...
for Best Costume Design (Barbara Baum) Won * 1994 Bavarian Film Award for Best Production (Bernd Eichinger) Won * 1994
German Film Award The German Film Award (), also known as Lola after its prize statuette, is the national film award of Germany. It is presented at an annual ceremony honouring cinematic achievements in the German film industry. Besides being the most important ...
in Gold for Outstanding Individual Achievement: Over All Concept (Bernd Eichinger) Won * 1994 German Phono Academy Echo Award for Film Music of the Year (Hans Zimmer) Won * 1994 Guild of German Art House Cinemas Award (Gold) for German Film (Bille August) Won * 1994
Havana Film Festival The Havana Film Festival is a Cuban festival that focuses on the promotion of Latin American filmmakers. It is also known in Spanish as ''Festival Internacional del Nuevo Cine Latinoamericano de La Habana,'' and in English as International Festiva ...
Coral Award for Best Work of a Non-Latin American Director on a Latin America Subject (Bille August) Won * 1994
Robert Award The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, hono ...
for Best Editing (Janus Billeskov Jansen) Won * 1994 Robert Award for Best Film (Bille August) Won * 1994 Robert Award for Best Screenplay (Bille August) Won * 1994 Robert Award for Best Sound (Niels Arild) Won


Year-end worst-of lists

* 1st – Glenn Lovell, ''
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'' * 1st – Michael Mills, ''
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'' * 4th –
Peter Travers Peter Joseph Travers (born ) is an American film critic, journalist, and television presenter. He reviews films for ABC News and previously served as a movie critic for ''People'' and ''Rolling Stone''. Travers also hosts the film interview prog ...
, ''
Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...
'' * Top 10 (listed alphabetically, not ranked) – Mike Mayo, ''
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'' * Top 12 (listed alphabetically, not ranked) – David Elliott, ''
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''


Soundtrack

The music for the film was composed by award winner
Hans Zimmer Hans Florian Zimmer (; born 12 September 1957) is a German film score composer and music producer. He has won two Academy Awards, Oscars and four Grammy Awards, Grammys, and has been nominated for two Primetime Emmy Awards, Emmys and a Tony Awar ...
. Additionally, two songs appear in the film: "
La Paloma "La Paloma", "The Dove" in English, is a popular Spanish song that has been produced and reinterpreted in diverse cultures, settings, arrangements, and recordings over the last 140 years. The song was written by the Spanish Basque composer Seb ...
", a Spanish–Cuban–Mexican tune sung by popular Chilean singer Rosita Serrano; and " La Cumparsita", a classic Uruguayan tango tune performed by German bandleader Adalbert Lutter and his orchestra.


References


External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:House of the Spirits, The 1993 drama films 1993 films Best Danish Film Robert Award winners Cold War films Danish drama films 1990s English-language films English-language Danish films English-language German films Films about the Chilean military dictatorship Films based on Chilean novels Films directed by Bille August Films produced by Bernd Eichinger Films scored by Hans Zimmer Films set in 1926 Films set in the 1920s Films set in the 1930s Films set in the 1940s Films set in the 1950s Films set in the 1960s Films set in the 1970s Films set in 1973 Films set in South America Films set in Chile Films shot in Denmark Films shot in Portugal German drama films Miramax films Portuguese speculative fiction films Rape and revenge films Films about coups d'état Portuguese drama films 1990s German films