Casa de Areia

From Brazil begins this unusual tale taking place in their early 20th century's untamed deserts, leading a distraught man, his wife, with family and following, to the absurd notion of settling into the middle of an elusive waterhole, centered in the middle of an endless sandscape, into one eventual House of Sand. What transpires from the mysterious setup of this piece is captured with quite dignity, accentuated with the production values that would have any techie humbled by the tough shoot this crew must have undergone to balance the artsy direction to the harsh environment. It is to the film's detriment then, that the vast majority of time is spent milking the unique aesthetics involved here, insensitively editing many of the beautifully photographed shots which adds up to a whole that unwittingly imitates it's protagonist's plight a little too closely- that of sinking into the ground of nothingness. Fortunately a cleverly conceived, though questionably rendered plot device snaps the viewer's interest back late in the game, even rounding out the mostly one trick affair on a profound note. This extra dimension carved out in the third act does save this House from blowing away for the artistic excuse a lot of it seems to be.

CASA DE AREIA ('HOUSE OF SAND) is a masterpiece of film-making from Brazil. Written by Elena Soarez and Luis Carlos Barreto the story seems more a magical metaphor than a tale of real life - until the film concludes and the immediacy and universality of the messages haunt the viewer's mind for hours. It is a film directed by Andrucha Waddington with a cast of superb actors but the focus of the film, the films central character, is the bleak isolation of the sweeping desert of Northern Brazil.

The film opens in 1910 with a caravan of wind swept characters appearing in the distance of the dunes of the desert, a group of wayfarers apparently escaping the poverty of the bog city to find a home of their own, land that can be called something that belongs to them. They are led by Vasco de Sá (Ruy Guerra) and his wife Áurea (Fernanda Torres) and her mother Dona Maria (Fernanda Montenegro), both of whom plead with Vasco to let them return to the poverty of the city instead of being forced to attempt to exist in the sands of the windy desert. Vasco is determined, builds a house, forces the women to live there and the others to pitch tents to exist. Áurea becomes pregnant, Vasco is confronted by the real owners of the land led by Massu (Seu Jorge), and must trade his possessions to remain in his 'home', a home which crashes around him leaving Vasco dead and Áurea and Dona Maria to fend for themselves. The others desert the two women and the women find their only help in Massu.

Time passes slowly (to 1919) and the changing sands begin to bury the house. Áurea, now a mother of a daughter Maria (Camilla Facundes), finds a telescope and sets out to see if she can find its owner and a way out of the desert. She encounters a group of scientists photographing the solar eclipse, a group protected by Luiz (Enrique Díaz) who bonds with Áurea, has a night affair with her, and then promises to take Áurea, her old mother Dona Maria, and her young daughter Maria to the city. Áurea sets out for her house only to find it now covered with a dune, her mother dead and her daughter Maria traumatized: the chance for escape is gone.

We move to 1942 and daughter Maria is now a woman (played by Fernanda Montenegro) who has bonded with Massu (now played by Luiz Melodia) and her sensual daughter Maria (played by Fernanda Torres) are still waiting for the return of Luiz. The older Luiz (Stênio Garcia) returns and Maria seduces him, even though Luiz knows she is his old lover's daughter. He returns to the house, meets the 'Áurea/Maria' he loved and ultimately agrees to take the younger Maria to the city: the older Maria elects to stay with Massu. Again time leaps to 1970 and the younger Maria in hippie outfit drives out to see her mother (both Marias are now played by Fernanda Montenegro) and the reunion of hopes and dreams of over 60 years are realized in a manner that brings the film to a haunting conclusion.

The cast is extraordinarily fine, blending into the movement of nature and symbolizing the elements of love, longing, loneliness, destiny, and survival. The repeated use of the two major actresses is a stroke of genius: we are caught up in the intuitive understanding of all the manifestations of these two women over time as they change roles not only as actresses but also as blending characters.

In a fine touch of genius, the films credits are rolled as Brazilian pianist Nelson Friere plays the Chopin 'Raindrop Prelude'. It is a moving ending to a magnificent film. Highly recommended. In Portuguese with English subtitles. Grady Harp

This film is a slow-starter but patient viewers will be rewarded with something quite magical and probably memorable. The 2 lead actresses are very famous in Brazil and their performances here are superb. The film brings to my mind Jane Campion's late 90s 'The Piano', which is similarly arty, demanding on the viewer and takes place years ago in a remote part of New Zealand. One tends to either like it a lot or not at all. I grade it 7.5 and recommend it with the disclaimer that, except for the star power of the actresses, it is not commercial. It's ambitious, arguably pretentious, but effective. If you let it get to you it will.

In 1910, in Maranhão, the insane Vasco de Sá moves with his pregnant urban wife Áurea (Fernanda Torres) and her mother Maria (Fernanda Montenegro) to a wilderness land near a lagoon and surrounded by shifting dunes. Sooner his workers abandon the place, and Vasco dies, leaving the two women alone and without any resources. They are supported by a local son of a former slave, Massu (Seu Jorge), and they learn how to survive creating goats. Along the years, Áurea raises her daughter Maria (Camilla Facundes), hoping to move back to the capital someday. Her hope becomes anguish and despair as years go by, until her final adaptation to the place.

"Casa de Areia" is a beautiful story of hope and missed dreams. The first point to call the attention of the viewer is the wonderful landscape where the story takes place. The wind is so intense in the beginning that I need to put subtitles to understand the dialogs. The cast is leaded by two icons of the Brazilian cinema, the awesome Fernanda Montenegro and her daughter, Fernanda Torres. The story is engaging and depressive, showing the phases of loneliness, fight for survival, hope, anguish, despair and adaptation of Áurea. In the end, as a kind of consolation, she is informed by her daughter that the man reached the moon and found nothing but sand. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Casa de Areia" ("House of Sand")

This movie is frustrating to watch because it had such strong potential to be a sweeping drama that intertwines the wonders of nature and humanity through the passage of time.

It started out swimmingly in the waves of pastured wind blown sand and dunes. But slowly it gives way to lack of plausibility and stifled characters, focusing instead on the sweeping white-washed landscape to drive the movie.

While the actress playing the daughter is a competent actress, she is just not right for the role. This is the character which holds the thread of time throughout the entire movie, from the past (with her mother) to the present (herself) and future (her daughter), a parallel for the changes in the world (via Brazil) from the early 1900's to the 1960's. For this to work, this main character needs to have the ability to draw one in, such that one inadvertently has the emotional perspective of things through her eyes. This could not be achieved with this actress, hence one remains but simply an observer of an obstinate unlikeable woman plodding along a very uneven plot, too consciously framed by wonderful landscapes. It enriches the eyes, but not the heart and spirit.

The quick jump of time frame doesn't help, especially when no proper explanations are provided for improbable event.s Example: how did two woman with no farming resources nor skill amass a herd of goats? Or, how did they get an endless supply of clothing's for three woman if they are supposedly so far removed from civilization that they can't even leave the place? Or, why chop down a tree for no reason when she could enquire from nearby others where her daughter and mother was? Why suddenly have sex with the man (for the first time) in broad daylight when there was opportunities a plenty through the many many years? And on and on….

Utilizing the same two actresses to play each other in successive generations is a big mistake - they are so unalike in looks and characters, the ploy just make it jarring and disconnected … dissociating the viewer further from these characters.

In the end, one has to just ignore the emotionally distant characters (except the mother/grandmother) and disconnectedness of it all and just enjoy the sceneries. It seems the director is trying hard to just string scenes together, and creating implausible situations and disjointed dialogue just to get some particular outcome, and hope the plot holds up … it doesn't unfortunately.

Like the sand dunes, this one builds up early but get blown away in bits, and in the end remains just something visually 'nice' but only in temporary form, and from a distance.