Whale Rider
16 years ago
Imperial Federation Map
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Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Intermission: Watching and Discussing House of Sand and Fog
As we continue to view the film House of Sand and Fog we have had many opportunities to discuss characters, particular events, and themes. We noted the similarities between the Colonel and Baba from Kite Runner. We couldn't miss the obvious cultural conflicts that escalated the tension between Lester and the Colonel or the pride that contributed to the destruction of three families. However, we haven't really talked about the imagery - the trees, the birds, or all the fog and sand that seamlessly link the story events together. Why are they there? What do they mean? In today's blog response select just one of those repeating images and tell us what you think it might mean and how it figures into the story. (Oh, you cannot say a tree is just a tree here.)
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All the symbols in the movie represent something very important and they all have significant meanings behind them. In the movie, there are numerous scenes where birds appear and this is very significant to the movie. Every time these birds appear, it is usually right after a major event. I think the birds represent strength in this movie and in the end, when the couple dies and bird is shown dead in the water.
ReplyDeleteThe imagery of the trees is throughout the movie, The House of Sand and Fog. I think the trees represent life. In the beginning when Mr. Behrani is cutting down the trees at his old house is mentioned again at the end of the movie and also showed again. When Ishmae, Mr. Behrani’s son, gets shot by the police officer, Mr. Behrani takes his wife’s life by putting pills in the tea and also takes his life. After that scene in the movie, the director shows the tree’s that were cut down. While everything is good during the beginning of the movie, the tree’s at Kathy’s house represents life being lived.
ReplyDeleteIn the film, The House of Sand and Fog, there is much imagery hat symbolizes something. I chose to write about the birds because there are a lot of scenes with birds in them. I think the birds mean freedom or the birds show up when something bad or good happened. I think the birds are figured into the story by having a bird with a broken wing. Mr. Berhani says that Cathy is like a bird with a broken wing and it shows a bird with a broken wing right after he says that. Mr. Berhani also said that when a bird flies into a house it is an angel or a blessing. This happened in the movie when Mrs. Berhani first comes to the house she sees the birds in the bird bath and she gets very excited. I think she felt that the house was blessed because of the birds.
ReplyDeleteAll the symbols in from the movie have significant meanings behind them. They are there because they show the deeper meanings of events and the characters in the movie. When they show the house in the movie being covered in fog, it gave off a sort of spooky vibe. Like if something bad was going to happen. It sort of foreshadows the ending of the movie. This is because the way the fog came over the house. It was as if the fog itself was suffocating the house, like the way Mr. Berani suffocated himself at the end of the film. I believe that the fog in the movie represents some sort of danger because after they showed a foggy scene, something inconvenient always happened. That is what I think the fog in the movie represented.
ReplyDeleteIn the film House of Sand and Fog, the imagery of the trees is there to represent family and life. We constantly see trees throughout the film. Trees stand tall in groups. Usually when one tree dies, the tress that stood around it die also. When Lester leaves his wife and kids, it tears the whole family apart. When the Colonel's son dies, the Colonel kills his wife by putting drugs in her tea, and then suffocates himself. Near the end of the film, we see dead or cut down trees lying on the sand. The cultural and family conflict over the house cost everyone their families or their lives.
ReplyDeleteAll the symbols in from the movie have significant meanings behind them. They are there because they show the deeper meanings of events and the characters in the movie. When they show the house in the movie being covered in fog, it gave off a sort of spooky vibe. Like if something bad was going to happen. It sort of foreshadows the ending of the movie. This is because the way the fog came over the house. It was as if the fog itself was suffocating the house, like the way Mr. Berani suffocated himself at the end of the film. I believe that the fog in the movie represents some sort of danger because after they showed a foggy scene, something inconvenient always happened. That is what I think the fog in the movie represented.
ReplyDeleteIn the movie, House of Sand and Fog, trees are a repeating image. The repetition is to emphasize the importance of the object. The tree represents life in this movie. In the beginning of the film when Coronel Behrani orders the trees to be cut down, the mood is not set happy, sad music is playing, and the look on his wife’s face shows sorrow at the incident. Throughout the movie the same image keeps being shown as a flash back in Mr. Behrani’s thoughts. This image appears when something dreadful had come about. Towards the end of the movie when Ishmael gets shot by the police, yet again the trees being cut down is shown. It figures into the story to show how lives have been destroyed over a simple thing as a house with a view. The only thing standing in the way from the view is the trees.
ReplyDeleteThe imagery represented in the "Sand" in the title has to do with the instability of life. When something is built on a foundation of sand, like the situation in the story, with the ownership of the house, things can sink and shift very quickly.
ReplyDeleteJust like a castle built of sand on the beach, a strong and powerful wave can destroy a beautiful, sculpted masterpiece and draw the sand down into the ocean, so too do the lives of Kathy and the Behranis' get drowned with a giant wave of destruction. this sand is very important describing that something can drown in destruction so easily if it dont have the proper foundation.
In this film the house of sand and fog they has a lot of imagery, one of which constantly talked about is the bird. In the film I believe that the bird represents life, and also represent blessings. In the film Mr. Bermani says that the girl Cathy is a bird with a broken wing. I believe he says this because he thinks her live needs fixing after she tries to take her own life.
ReplyDeleteIn the movie, House of Sand and Fog, birds are repeating imagery. Birds are considering angels in the Behranis life and they consider them very special. Mr. Behrani’s wife saw a dove landed on the birdbath when they first moved into the house and thought of it as a good sign to move in. Mr. Behrani called Kathy a broken bird because she tried to kill herself because nothing was going right for her. Then Mr. Behranis wife had a dream about a bird that kept running into the walls and when she opened the window and flew out and she felt so happy. The birds are a sign of good and when the birds appear good things happen, but not until the end of the movie.
ReplyDeleteI believe that the imagery of the movie is the birds, because the birds are in like every part of the movie. The birds repersent freedom, and life. In one part when Mrs. Behrini was looking out the window a bird sat in the sun light in the bird bath. So the birds in the movie repersented imagery to me.
ReplyDeleteThe one imagery I picked was the birds. I think the birds mean spirits or a representation of some ones freedom or life. The birds figure into the story because every time a bird appears it represents something going on in the movie. For example the bird in the window when Behrani and his family saw the house for the first time represented being blessed. Another example is when Behrani tells Cathy that she is a broken bird. The broken bird actually reflects how Cathy is lost, alone, and having a rough life. The birds fit into the movie because when Behrani’s son dies, a bird was dead floating in the water. It symbolized that his son was gone and that his spirit was gone as well. Basically, the birds help illustrate the events that take place in the movie and the people in the movie.
ReplyDeleteThe imagery in the movie show very significant situations and areas in the movie. The imagery is there to show viewers meanings that are deeper then the movie is actually showing. In the movie there were birds that were always flying around scenes… and every time something bad happens the fog gets deeper which in my eyes is showing depression. The bird are considered like angels and Mr. Borani said that Kathy is like a bird with a broken wing which is saying that there is something that has broken Kathy’s spirits.
ReplyDeleteThe symbol that I felt was significant in the film was the birds because they represented being strong and having strength. Every character in the film had strength in some kind of way. After every important event in the movie a bird showed up on the screen. Especially at the end because when all the crazy parts started happening. Behrani’s son got shot they showed birds, When Kathy walked on the border of the beach they showed birds and when Behrani killed his wife and suffocated himself they showed a bird but the difference was they were dead this time.
ReplyDeleteOne of the imagery senses that happened in the movie is the frost. The frost represents the appearance in not the reality. For instances Belhrani works very hard in a hot dirty place but before he comes home he put a appearance of his-self and where he works that is not true by wearing a suit. Lester is a cop and puts his appearance of himself that he follows the law in a strong ma. But when he do a flash back he can tells his weaknesses and his low self-esteem.
ReplyDeleteI believe the movie was very good but it could have been a little better.
I believe the birds were they to show a number of things. But two things that I saw they were used for were the feeling of being lost and the feeling of being happy. I saw that the birds were used to show the feeling of being lost was in a scene where the lady who originally owned the house was on a dock that was surrounded by birds. The camera started spinning and she seemed to be lost and she didn’t know where she was. Another time that I saw the birds used was when the other family had seen the house for the first time and the wife had walked in the kitchen and looked out the window and saw the bird land on the bird bath and smile. She seemed to look like she found what she was looking for. Something to make her feel like she was at home and that was the home for them to stay at. I believe the birds were used to show a number of things at different parts of the movie.
ReplyDelete