By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3.5 cats
Director: Andrucha Waddington
Starring: Fernanda Montenegro | Fernanda Torres | Seu Jorge
Original language title: Casa de Areia
Country: brazil
Year: 2006
Running time: 103
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0456875/
Michael says: “Brazilian filmmaker Andrucha Waddington’s visual tour de force HOUSE OF SAND takes advantage of the spectacular, desolate landscape of the desert dunes in Northern Brazil, but benefits even more from the unparalleled acting of its two leads actresses, Chlotrudis nominee Fernanda Montenegro and her real-life daughter Fernanda Torres. Spanning 50 years, from 1919 – 1969, Montengra and Torres play three generations of women left alone in an isolated, unforgiving landscape of sand. With harsh seasons spanning desert and torrential flooding that changes the already unstable sandy base, Áurea is dragged by her husband from her home in the capital with her mother and unborn child before she is abandoned by their slaves and left widowed by husband. Áurea devotes the next ten years of her life desperate to return to civilization until a crucial turning point in her life changes her point-of-view.
“Montenegro plays Áurea’s practical mother, then plays Áurea herself in the 1940’s. By the time the calendar reaches 1969, Montenegro plays both Áurea and her grown daughter Maria. Torres starts off as a young Áurea before taking on the role of her adult daughter Maria. Both women are adept a becoming the characters they play, leaving now reminders that the actresses have simply switched roles. Ricardo Della Rosa blends some cinematographic magic with the stunning landscapes creating a visual backdrop that never becomes ordinary. If there is a weak spot, it’s with the screenplay, which tells a story of adapting to the circumstances of life in the guise of a historical romance. For the most part it works, with only occasional moments of melodrama. But a scene toward the end of the film, when Áurea is at last given the opportunity to leave the harsh, shifting landscape that had become her home, lingers on Montenegro’s face and the silent emotion that radiates from her face tells the story better than any words could hope. 3 ½ cats”