The House

Imrich has an unenviable job in a Slovakian bottling plant. His big dream in life is to build each of his two daughters her own house—in his backyard. His ham-fisted attempts at providing for them have thus turned into a nightmare. Daughter number one marries a man Imrich can't stand, so he stops work on her house and forbids her from contacting the family. Daughter number two, Eva, is a teenager who's horrified by the thought of living on her father's property. She wants to leave Slovakia altogether and run away to glamorous London. Still, Imrich makes Eva work on the house—her “gift”—every hour of the day. THE HOUSE is a satirical drama about the family ties that bind so tightly you can't even breathe. For Imrich's generation of Eastern Europeans, nothing is more precious than a home of one's own. Their children, accustomed to freedom, fear being tied down. A sensitive, intelligent film by young director Zuzana Liová. (In Slovak and Czech with subtitles) – B.B.