The House of the Spirits

REVIEW
Savagely received by the American film critics but embraced by the European press, this near-epic adaptation of Isabel Allende's acclaimed novel of thwarted love and class distinction fails to fully capture the essence of the original text. But for all its shortcomings, the film possesses a sense of poetry and conviction which counter the heavy dramatics. Set against the backdrop of political upheaval in an unnamed South American country (read: Chile), the story follows the lives of the multi-generational Trueba family: including an oppressive landowner father (Irons); his innocent, clairvoyant wife (Streep); their young daughter (Ryder), who is having an affair with a revolutionary (Banderas); and the family's repressed aunt (the remarkable Close), who has been banished by her unforgiving brother. Awash in mysticism amd romantic symbolism, the film will both intrigue and infuriate with its crystalline emotions and excesses.