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MOVIES / ON DVD / HOUSE OF SAND
House of Sand

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House of Sand (2005)

79%
100%
68%
N/A
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N/A
79 %
Reviews Counted: 66 Fresh: 52  Rotten:14 Average Rating: 7.2/10
 
Consensus: Beautifully filmed with wonderful performances, this Brazilian tale deftly explores the passage of time and prolonged isolation in several decades of a mother and daughter relationship.
 

How does the Tomatometer work?

The Tomatometer measures the percentage of positive reviews from Approved Tomatometer Critics for a certain movie.[-]

Runtime: 1 hr 43 mins

Synopsis: Áurea's saga starts in 1910, when, in pursuing a dream she never shared, she arrives in a caravan at a labyrinth of sand in Maranhão, northern Brazil. Her husband, Vasco, believes this land to be prosperous and she is condemned to a life in this barren place, her only female company being her... Áurea's saga starts in 1910, when, in pursuing a dream she never shared, she arrives in a caravan at a labyrinth of sand in Maranhão, northern Brazil. Her husband, Vasco, believes this land to be prosperous and she is condemned to a life in this barren place, her only female company being her mother, Dona Maria. Pregnant and dissatisfied with her destiny, she tries everything to find a way out. She spends 59 years living with an imminent departure. At first Áurea is hindered by Vasco and is forced to live in a house on the top of a dune, until one day, alongside her mother, she witnesses the death of her husband, buried by his own insanity. With a mixture of both pain and relief, she believes herself to be free. But the truth is, her fate is in the hands of destiny. Abandoned in the desert with her daughter, Dona Maria goes in search of a small settlement originally founded by runaway slaves. Here she meets Massu, who becomes an important companion for the two women. It is he who teaches them how to trade belongings for food. And salt, brought from afar by Chico, the only man able to come and go as he pleases, and whom Áurea clings to in the hope of leaving after she gives birth. A girl is born, also called Maria. Nine years pass and Dona Maria is the first to realize that there is some sense to that place. But Áurea remains stubborn, only waiting for her daughter to grow up in order to face the journey. The possibility of realizing her greatest wish comes to life again with the return of the salt salesman. Just as everything seems set, Massu surprises them all by hindering their departure. Desperate, Áurea runs across the sandy plains after Chico. Instead of finding him, she encounters Lieutenant Luiz, a young guide leading a group of scientists researching of the total solar eclipse in the region. In an emotional passage she is able to rescue her feelings, rediscover sex and is given a chance to restart her life. However, once again, circumstances beyond her will force Áurea to remain on the sandy plains. Alongside Massu, she discovers that she does belong here, after all. --© Sony Pictures Classics [More]

Genre: Dramas

Starring: Fernanda Montenegro, Fernanda Torres, Ruy Guerra, Seu Jorge, Emiliano Queiroz

Director: Andrucha Waddington
Screenwriter: Elena Soarez
Story: Elena Soarez, Luis Carlos Barreto, Andrucha Waddington
Producer: Luis Carlos Barreto, Lucy Barreto, Walter Salles

DVD Info

Release:

Dec 12, 2006

[DVD Details]

DVD Features:

  • Anamorphic Widescreen - 2.35

Audio:

  • Dolby Digital 5.1 - Portuguese
  • Subtitles - English, French, Portuguese - Optional

Reviews

 
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1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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Ratings Image
4/5

Click to read the article

Full Review | comment Comment
04/21/07
Film Threat
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C+

It all seems as bleak and empty as the desert.

Full Review | comment Comment
12/21/06
Dennis Schwartz
Ozus' World Movie Reviews
Ratings Image
2/4

Both characters make gradual evolutions, but don't blame audiences if they're too dazed and dry-mouthed to notice.

Full Review | comment Comment
11/09/06
Phil Villarreal
Arizona Daily Star
Ratings Image
88/100

...a part of a classic art-house tradition, that of the starkly beautiful yet chilly movie that haunts the memory without compelling any particular attention.

Full Review | comment Comment
11/03/06
Philip Martin
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
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7/10

House of Sand boasts the hypnotic power of its landscape and a pair of powerful and passionate performances by Montenegro and Torres.

Full Review | comment Comment
10/28/06
Beth Accomando
KPBS.org
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N/A

A devastating yet beautiful film from Brazil, House of Sand tells an epic story of love and desolation.

Full Review | comment Comment
10/27/06
John Wirt
Advocate (Baton Rouge, LA)
Ratings Image
3.5/4

At once allegorical and grimly naturalistic -- a contemplation of the sands of time set amid the drifting dunes of Brazil's unforgiving Maranahao desert.

Full Review | comment Comment
10/13/06
John Beifuss
Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)
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2.5/4

This beautifully photographed drama feels slow and lethargic.

Full Review | comment Comment
10/06/06
Jeff Vice
Deseret News, Salt Lake City
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3/5

Evocative as it can be, House of Sand doesn't have enough story or incident to justify the investment in time.

Full Review | comment Comment
09/29/06
Roger Moore
Orlando Sentinel
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4/5

The dramatic and often sad lives led by the women yield surprisingly intimate dramas considering such limitless surroundings, a contrast that's played up by the excellent cinematography.

Full Review | comment Comment
09/28/06
Jason Ferguson
Orlando Weekly
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B

Cinematographer Ricardo della Rosa ... has created images of rare beauty in the midst of terrain so spectacularly strange that it sometimes seems to speak a language all its own.

Full Review | comment Comment
09/22/06
Robert Denerstein
Denver Rocky Mountain News
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3/4

It is a wondrous place, almost of another planet, and more than compensation for the effort to get there.

Full Review | comment Comment
09/22/06
Michael Booth
Denver Post
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N/A

Visually dazzling, epic in its sweep and deeply romantic in its sensibility, The House of Sand is one of those films whose images and ideas linger long after the lights come on, having been burned into the viewer's consciousness.

Full Review | comment Comment
09/15/06
Ann Hornaday
Washington Post
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2/4

[Waddington] is bothersomely casual with the time-jumps and never makes their long survival quite believable.

Full Review | comment Comment
09/15/06
David Elliott
San Diego Union-Tribune
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3.5/4

A visual work of art and its simple story moves as effortlessly as the sands in a forsaken desert in northern Brazil.

Full Review | comment Comment
09/15/06
Marta Barber
Miami Herald
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2/4

It ends up like an impressionist painting without a subject, one we stare at longingly, waiting for its purpose to emerge.

Full Review | comment Comment
09/15/06
Terry Lawson
Detroit Free Press
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3/4

The thrill of seeing this movie is in the realization that we've seen nothing like it before.

Full Review | comment Comment
09/14/06
Mary-Liz Shaw
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
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3.5/4

Sensual, dreamlike, both intimate and epic, The House of Sand is a cinematic tour de force.

Full Review | comment Comment
09/08/06
Steven Rea
Philadelphia Inquirer
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B+

The movie has a power that's as hard to firmly grasp as the stuff on which these women build their home.

Full Review | comment Comment
09/08/06
Marc Mohan
Oregonian
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3/4

Both Waddington and Soarez understand the impotence of words in this dusty setting, or the potency of just the right ones.

Full Review | comment Comment
09/08/06
Amy Biancolli
Houston Chronicle
1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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Related Forums

REEL_REVIEWER
Andrucha Waddington's HOUSE OF SAND pushed back to August 11, 2006 in NYC & LA!!!
by: REEL_REVIEWER 2/2/07


REEL_REVIEWER
Andrucha Waddington's HOUSE OF SAND pushed back to August 11, 2006 in NYC & LA!!!
by: REEL_REVIEWER 2/2/07


REEL_REVIEWER
Andrucha Waddington's HOUSE OF SAND pushed back to August 11, 2006 in NYC & LA!!!
by: REEL_REVIEWER 2/2/07


REEL_REVIEWER
Andrucha Waddington's HOUSE OF SAND pushed back to August 11, 2006 in NYC & LA!!!
by: REEL_REVIEWER 2/2/07


REEL_REVIEWER
Andrucha Waddington's HOUSE OF SAND will open July 28th, 2006 in NY & LA!!!
by: REEL_REVIEWER 6/19/06
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