Casa de Areia

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.

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.

Like "2001: A Space Odyssey", lots of people (critics included) are undoubtedly struggling to get a handle on this film. Here is an odyssey of another dimension, through shifting sands of time and perspective.

On one hand, the film is surrealistic -- it leaves many questions unanswered. It seems to purposely throw the unbelievable into our faces, like Gabriel Garcia Marquez in "100 Years of Solitude". For instance, how do the stranded women survive? What do they eat? It's a Robinson Crusoe epic without explanations.

On the other hand, the film is meticulously honest with fact and detail. The eclipse portrayed in the film was in fact observed in northern Brazil on 29 May 1919. The 7 successful photographic plates from the Brazilian expedition were fundamental in proving Einstein's theory of general (as opposed to special) relativity. Also, contrary to what another IMDb commenter has incorrectly characterized as "pseudo-scientific", one of the space-time implications of Einstein's theory is very accurately alluded to in the film.

We as viewers are left to sort out the broadly surreal from the minutely exact. We must decode the poetry of this film for ourselves. And, as with poetry, appreciation for this film will likely grow with reflection and repeated viewings.

"House of Sand" is a little jewel with hidden facets. See it on a wide screen with a good sound system to fully appreciate it.

This is a beautiful, poignant movie that reminded me of "The English Patient'. Filmed in the deserts of the Brazilian state of Maranhao it has stunning scenery that brings a backdrop of authenticity to the story line. I recommend viewing 'the making of' featurette, which depicts the difficulties, encountered in filming in such a harsh environment. It is interesting to note that although there are relatively few characters, the story can still rivet. I was able to identify with the main characters and feel their emotions. I do admit that the story is slow at first but in the end, it will leave you smiling and clamoring for more.

The one negative comment I have is about the scene(s) that caused the film to be rated 'R'. Although I can understand the need for it, I think the producer could have use some restraint and toned it down a bit, this would have made for a different rating and permitted a broader audience to appreciate this gem.

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