House of Cards

Drama, Italy/United States 1993

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Ever since her father, an archaeologist, died on a Mayan expedition in Mexico, little Sally has gone silent. She also reacts distraught (and disturbing to others) to the slightest changes in her environment. Mother Ruth (Kathleen Turner), who returns to the USA with her two children after the accidental death and moves to a quiet suburb, is disturbed. Especially when Sally begins to erect a huge house of playing cards, photographs and postcards in her children's room. When child psychiatrist Jake Beerlander (Tommy Lee Jones) meets the six-year-old, the diagnosis seems clear: autism. The mother, on the other hand, sees the traumatic experience of loss as the root of her suffering. This house of cards, which the architect Ruth builds in a piece of woodland in survival size, seems to symbolize Sally's inner life - and it serves as the mother's literal access to her lost daughter. Michael Lessac achieves the feat of turning a story that on paper seems rather overstretched into a production that actually appeals to both the heart and the mind. Supported by the superb acting of Kathleen Turner and the young debutante actress Asha Menina, a touching mother-daughter drama develops that revolves around questions of childhood trauma, exceptional family circumstances and how the adult world deals with mentally unstable children whose world is thrown out of kilter.
105 min
HD
FSK 12
Audio language:
EnglishGerman

More information

Director:

Michael Lessac

Composer:

James Horner

Editor:

Walter Murch

Cast:

Tommy Lee Jones (Jake Beerlander)

Asha Menina (Sally Matthews)

Kathleen Turner (Ruth Matthews)

Shiloh Strong (Michael Matthews)

Esther Rolle (Adelle)

Park Overall (Lillian Huber)

Michael Horse (Stoker)

Anne Pitoniak (Judge)

Original title:

House of Cards

Original language:

English

Format:

16:9 HD, Color

Age rating:

FSK 12

Audio language:

EnglishGerman