Dover, England 2009: Panoramic views atop the bluffs. Fog rolling in from the sea. Hard to beat. Certain times and places, in and of themselves, often contain and represent the inexpressible.

Trent Ling’s all-time “Top 40 Movie Chart” ranks his critically chosen winners from his personal, unique, inexplicable, logarithmic, and long-deliberated mosh process.  Out of order, charted films up through 2012 will be revealed on this website. Enjoy! Visit “Movies” for more.

TWL Score: 6.3 (2003; Rated R; 126 Minutes)

Story:

Pained but determined Iranian, Behrani (Ben Kingsley), brings his family to America to rebuild lives displaced by the Islamic revolution.  Finding a tax-loophole deal on a house with property reminiscent of his homeland, Behrani aims for just a taste of his meaningful, honorable, and well-respected past.  A dispute as to home ownership ensues, escalates, and inevitably boils over.

Top 40 Catapults:

1.  Kingsley’s Behrani quickly establishes himself as a man among boys–a rare but welcome sight to see.  Determination, will, and character fuel this man against whom all of the odds, circumstances, and popular votes are stacked.  Behrani’s moving self-sacrifices and quietly resolute demeanor mark a life substantially and remarkably deeper than most.

2.  A dagger in the heart and a snuffing of the spirit understandably drop and defeat even the strongest, most determined, and justified of men.  For them, it is all or nothing.  Juxtaposing Behrani with the casual surroundings of a superficial, me-first world, House of Sand and Fog etches indelibly the chalk outline of a character actually worthy of understanding.  Such rarely glimpsed treasures should never be taken for granted.

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