House of Fools
Picture: B- Sound: B- Extras: D Film: B-
Imagine a Russian version
of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest mixed with Girl Interrupted
all occurring during a war and you pretty much have House of Fools
narrowed down. While the film
incorporates some differences, this at least gives you an idea. Our story occurs during the Chechen War as
psychiatric patients at one particular facility are split up in order to find a
safer hospital for them. Soldiers
eventually find the asylum they retreat to, which is where the meat of our
story takes place. One patient
(Vysotskaya) falls in love with one of the soldiers, even though she has a
boyfriend. Believe it or not her
boyfriend is Byran Adams! Yeah, you
know the guy that sings songs like Summer of 69.
This is certainly one of
the more interesting pictures to come out of Russia in a long time. Director Andrei Konchalovsky has a talent
for telling a story; this one is apparently based on a true story. I suppose it also tells a different aspect
of war, in that it deals with the ‘outside’ elements. What I mean by this is that during time of war there are parts
that are more ‘inside’ such as the actual soldiers fighting, the locations
being destroyed, etc. The ‘outside’
parts are the ones being affected in a non-direct sort of way. War effects so many things, that it is
impossible to list all the ways in which it does, but to simply acknowledge
that it does.
Paramount issues very few
foreign films to DVD, this being an exception.
Presented here with a decent 1.85 X 1 transfer, the image looks
pleasing. Softness can be a problem
from time to time. The actual film was
shot with a neutral palette in mind to begin with similar to that of One
Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. This
creates a very sterile look, which is appropriate for a film of this
nature. The Dolby Digital 5.1 is
average as well, directional effects can be heard throughout the surround mix
and dialogue is strongly front heavy, although many will be reading the yellow
subtitles.
No extras here at
all! No trailer! Nothing!
Since this is just an average film, perhaps the inclusion of some extras
might make this DVD more sought after, but not the case here. Luckily the technical qualities are good
enough making its purchase somewhat admissible.
- Nate Goss
