According the BBC's documentary "The Other 9/11" (a film looking back at the coup in Chile in 1973), half the nation, half the people, supported Pinochet, or rather were opposed to Allende's massive nationalization of private property, and against the government providing a larger group of social services at the expense of private industry.With that in mind, it means that the other half supported Allende. The nation was split down the middle.So what does that have to do with this film? This film shows a Chilean Hacienda owner brutalizing women, and forcing himself on others to get what he wants. And then, towards the end of the film, he has a change of heart.Huh.The problem here is that the conservative right wing, of which Jeremy Irons' character is a part, are shown as sexually repressed or twisted individuals. Whereas the free and family loving faction (predominantly women) are shown as normal and, on that note, having a kind of divinity which helps them overcome the repressions of a fathers right-leaning home dictatorship. Jeremy Irons, Meryl Streep, Antonio Banderas, Glenn Close and other contemporary actors form an all star cast for what really is an exceptionally well put together film.The problem comes down to the fact that it is factually flawed to push an agenda, as are a lot of films of this ilk. Like I said in my opening, half the people actually did support Pinochet and his coup. That's not to excuse the abuses of the Chilean military, but it should give people pause to wonder why there was such a split in Chilean society. This is never addressed.What is shown is Jeremy Irons' character being what the director believes is an archetypal successful businessman. Well, I suppose if that were true, then the founder of American Airlines, ABC, Microsoft, Intel, Del Monte Foods, Goodyear Tires, Lurssen Yachts (and a host of private firms world wide) were all sexually repressed rapists who impregnated women so they could give birth to pedophilia rapists. Further, that said businessmen frequented prostitutes to satiate sexual desires.For anyone who owns a business, has gone into business for themselves, or who has worked into a management position, ask yourself, how true is that of you? How about your competition? Was Steve Jobs or Bill Gates molded from such DNA?Answer; no.To the director; if you're going to make a film about a familie's personal history regarding the Chilean coup of 1973 (which I remember), then make that film. Don't push some political agenda to share your skewed version of how you think things should be. Make the film of how things were.A finely crafted film. It looks good, it moves well in the story department, it does get pretty hokey with the spirituality (borderline laughable), but otherwise it's an okay piece of cinema.But, as a pro-business American who is hawkish on international politics, I think this movie's theme is poor at best. Tragically flawed and an outright lie and shame upon the director at worst.

This film was a bomb, losing millions of dollars. And I'm not surprised. It's a very serious film which would be likely to attract a very specific and small audience. Thank goodness films like this occasionally get made.I know it sounds as if I just contradicted myself, but just because it was a bomb, didn't mean that it's not a fine film. And the strength of this film are the performances. The strongest of the performances is by Glenn Close, who plays the lead male's sister who has lesbian inclinations. She's been treated unfairly her whole life and suffers for most of it. A strong, strong performance. Next is Meryl Streep. Just about as good as always as the psychic wife of the male lead.Then we come to Jeremy Irons. Hmmmmm. I have mixed feelings here. Irons' character here is so despicable that you know he will get his comeuppance before the movie ends. Is it wise to be that obvious? To play it that "hard"? I think not. So I'll reserve judgment here simply because, typically, Irons is a wonderful actor.In supporting roles, the most notable are those of Winona Ryder as the daughter and Antonio Banderas as her poor lover. Both do great jobs. I enjoyed seeing Vanessa Redgrave and Armin Mueller-Stahl as the parents of Streep, but they didn't get enough screen time.Now as to the script. It's good...perhaps a tad slow in a few places. But character development is rather thorough. The story is of a relatively poor young man who falls in love, but works to strike gold in order to marry a relatively rich girl. He does, but she dies. So, eventually he marries her sister (Streep), who doesn't talk...by her own choice. She does talk with him, however, and for a while they have a happy life. But he is a bitter shell of a man who has become a patrone who treats pretty much everyone harshly, always insisting he is boss. You know, as I mentioned earlier, that he will get his comeuppance, but it's cleverly done here in a way that combines personal tragedy with the history of so many South American countries.Although it's never made clear in the film, the country depicted is Chile. A special note should be made of the makeup used to age the main characters. It's done very well here...a much better job than in a lot of films.I recommend this film IF you like serious movies. Otherwise, it may bore you. I found it rather compelling.

I have always been a fan of Jeremy Irons and I am yet to find anybody who is not one of Meryl Streep.. They particularly excel if the roles are of serious tone and have a touch of melancholy.. the characters they play in this movie, are exactly that.. The stand out performance in the movie is that of Glenn Close , who has made the character come alive.. Winona Ryder looking stunning and could have been given more screen-time along with Antonio Banderas, both being versatile actors..The story moves though three generation in just above two hours and you feel it..

This should have been retitled "The House of the Wooden Spirits". It bears no resemblance to the wonderful spirit of the book, mainly because of the utterly hopeless performance of Jeremy Irons. He is stiff, speaks as if he has marbles in his mouth, and throughout the film plays only one role - "look at me the gruff, tough self made man" - but in a totally unconvincing and forced way. He has never been a good actor, but in this film he "under-excels" himself. And talk about a house with absolutely no spirit! Hopefully the location manager never got another job! One curious thing was that from Blanca's birth until I got bored with the film (ie when she leaves school), which in the film should have been about 17-18 years, nothing grew on the property. The grass didn't grow, no shrubs grew, and no trees. Isn't that curious to say the least or is it just one more example of Hollywood treating us as dumb a**es?