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Movies / On DVD / House of Sand
House of Sand

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House of Sand (2005)

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Reviews Counted:67

Fresh:52

Rotten:15

Average Rating:7.1/10

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.

Runtime: 1 hr 43 mins

Genre: Dramas

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... 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]

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

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

Director: Andrucha Waddington

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

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Reviews for House of Sand

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1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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Disregards the political shifts of Brazil's history by isolating the sprawling narrative from the rest of the nation, so that nothing can distract the director from his finicky composing

Full Review Source: CinePassion | comment Comment
08/30/09
Fernando F. Croce
Fernando F. Croce
CinePassion

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Film Threat | comment Comment
04/21/07
Film Threat

It all seems as bleak and empty as the desert.

Full Review Source: Ozus' World Movie Reviews | comment Comment
12/21/06
Dennis Schwartz
Dennis Schwartz
Ozus' World Movie Reviews

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

Full Review Source: Arizona Daily Star | comment Comment
11/09/06
Phil Villarreal
Phil Villarreal
Arizona Daily Star

...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 Source: Arkansas Democrat-Gazette | comment Comment
11/03/06
Philip Martin
Philip Martin
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

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

Full Review Source: KPBS.org | comment Comment
10/28/06
Beth Accomando
Beth Accomando
KPBS.org

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

Full Review Source: Advocate (Baton Rouge, LA) | comment Comment
10/27/06
John Wirt
John Wirt
Advocate (Baton Rouge, LA)

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 Source: Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN) | comment Comment
10/13/06
John Beifuss
John Beifuss
Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)

This beautifully photographed drama feels slow and lethargic.

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

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

Full Review Source: Orlando Sentinel | comment Comment
09/29/06
Roger Moore
Roger Moore
Orlando Sentinel

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 Source: Orlando Weekly | comment Comment
09/28/06
Jason Ferguson
Jason Ferguson
Orlando Weekly
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch | comment Comment
09/23/06
St. Louis Post-Dispatch

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 Source: Denver Rocky Mountain News | comment Comment
09/22/06
Robert Denerstein
Robert Denerstein
Denver Rocky Mountain News

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

Full Review Source: Denver Post | comment Comment
09/22/06
Michael Booth
Michael Booth
Denver Post

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 Source: Washington Post | comment Comment
09/15/06
Ann Hornaday
Ann Hornaday
Washington Post

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

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

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

Full Review Source: Miami Herald | comment Comment
09/15/06
Marta Barber
Marta Barber
Miami Herald

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

Full Review Source: Detroit Free Press | comment Comment
09/15/06
Terry Lawson
Terry Lawson
Detroit Free Press

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

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

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

Full Review Source: Philadelphia Inquirer | comment Comment
09/08/06
Steven Rea
Steven Rea
Philadelphia Inquirer
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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