THE HOUSE OF THE SPIRITS is a cinematic rendering of Isabelle Allende's critically acclaimed magical-realist novel about three generations of a Chilean family. The film investigates the personal and social upheavals that tear apart both family country--until, in one moment of understanding, the patriarch, spurred by the diaries of his dead wife, renounces his life of power and oppression in an act of unprecedented heroism.
Based on Isabel Allende's novel and set in a South American country beset by constant turmoil and bloody power struggles, this film follows three generations of the Truebas family from the 1920s through the 1970s. Just as the nation around them is at odds with itself, the family painfully and passionately experiences its own evolution. The talented cast includes Meryl Streep, Glenn Close, Jeremy Irons, and Winona Ryder.
Author Isabelle Allende is the daughter of former Chilean president Salvador Allende, whose regime was overthrown by a violent right-wing coup. When THE HOUSE OF THE SPIRITS was rushed to completion for its German, Swiss, Dutch, and Scandinavian openings, the film ran 145 minutes, but since then director Billie August recut the film to 138 minutes. Video releases run 109 minutes.