Few films weave historical upheaval, supernatural intrigue, and sprawling family drama as ambitiously asBillie August’s 1993 period pieceThe House of the Spirits.Adapted from a successful novel of the same title byIsabel Allende, the film boasts a cast of superstars:Meryl Streep,Antonio Banderas,Glenn Close, andJeremy Irons, among others. It is a movie that attempts to capture 20th-century life in Chile in its entirety, providing multiple perspectives that range from the elite political class, the working class, ordinary people affected by prevailing political factors, andthe fantastical world of ghosts. Its themes are just as sweeping,delving into romance, politics, the supernatural, violence, revenge, family sagas, and class differences.The House of the Spiritsis a melodrama that somehow works because of its grounded stories shared by solid characters, but it sometimes misses beats, in part because of this sweeping approach.
What Is ‘The House of the Spirits’ About?
The House of the Spiritscenters on Esteban Trueba (Irons) and his descendants during his lifetime. Initially an ambitious miner in love with a girl from a rich and powerful family, Estebanpromises to work hard to afford to marry the love of his life, Rosa (Teri Polo). Tragedy hits,and Rosa dies just when Esteban lucks out,and he quietly retires to the ranch he has just bought. He works hard, expending his ruthless cruelty on the tenants tending to his farm, and becomes a respected, wealthy landowner. Esteban marries Clara (Streep), the clairvoyant younger sister to Rosa, who knew from the very beginning about their fate as lovers. Together, they bear a daughter, Blanca (Winona Ryder), not before Esteban has raped another local woman and sired a son, Esteban Garcia (Vincent Gallo),with her.Central to the story isGlenn Close’s Férula Trueba, the unmarried sister to Esteban whose questionable closeness with Clara becomes a thorn in her brother’s jealous flesh.The relationship between the Truebas, where love and loyalty often clash with betrayal and control, drives the film’s plot.For instance, Blanca rebelliously pursues forbidden love with a peasant’s son, Pedro (Banderas), whom Esteban ironically detests for being from a lower class, marking a shift in the family’s dynamics.
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Mixed into this family saga arepolitical elements of the period the film is set in,pitting Esteban’s strong conservative views against the socialist worldview of his disapproved son-in-law, Pedro.The House of the Spiritsexplores howdictatorial tendencies turn against their proponents when power changes hands,emphasizing how power is transient. Weaved into the narrative is the use of the supernatural. Clara’s powers connect the family’s mystical and emotional threads in a saga where relationships bind and fracture the Truebas.Many elements in the film evoke symbolismat a personal and broader level. For instance, the resistance led by Pedro at Esteban’s farm reflects the national struggle against dictatorship, while Esteban’s relationship with his bastard son Garcia, who comes to bite him back, couldsymbolize Esteban’s own destructive political journey.In the same wayHow the West Was Wonexplored different generations of a pioneer family in the Old Westthrough America’s evolving history,The House of the Spiritsis as muchabout afamily’s story as it is about Chile’s history.
‘The House of the Spirits’ Is Unique for Its Blend of Politics and Poltergeists
Comparable toGuillermo del Toro’s 2006 masterworkPan’s Labyrinththat blends political allegory with fantastical storytelling,The House of the Spiritsthrives in this fusion.Esteban rules his estate with an iron fist and prefers the country to be ruled in the same manner. He joins politics just to ensure of this ideology, and when the conservatives that he aligns with are defeated, he does everything in his power to get rid of the new administration.The House of the Spiritsdemonstrates how politics play a part in the everyday lives of its characters,including Esteban, who learns the hard waythe disadvantages of political high-handedness.Just likePan’s Labyrinth, Billie August’s film is filled with the fantastical. Whether it is Clara’s clairvoyance that leads police accident investigators to unearth the whereabouts of her mother’s head that was clipped when a train crashed into their car, her ability to foretell the future and physically move objects by commanding them, or the appearance of ghosts in the movie,The House of the Spiritsuses fantasticalelements to add an otherworldly ornamental layer to its narrative.
In its blend of politics and the fantastical,The House of the Spirits doesn’t shy away from exploring the darker facets of human experience.There are cruel beatings, shootings, sexual assault of minors, political persecution, and torture featured in the film.Hans Zimmer’s evocative scoreamplifies the film’s melodrama,making these violent scenes hauntingly dramaticand tense. Though a miss in the U.S. upon its release, the film performed well in Europe, with some critics arguing that some of its narrative elements were better suited for that audience than its South American setting. However, a second look at its bold exploration of power, love, violence, and history vindicates Billy August,who dared to put one of the most beloved sweeping novels on the big screen.
The House of the Spiritsis available to watch on Prime Video in the U.S.
The House of the Spirits
WATCH ON PRIME VIDEO
