Review of The House of Sand (2005) by Matthew L — 26 May 2007
In this quiet, windswept drama, director Andrucha Waddington and his cinematographer Ricardo Della Rosa capture the barren deserts of Brazil with a grandeur to rival David Lean. But the true mastery of "The House of Sand (Casa de Areia)" is its deep intimacy.
Told with haunting grace, this story of three generations of women living lonely, restless lives stranded in the barren Brazilian desert is the stuff of which grand epics are made, but Waddington keeps the focus deeply personal with the hand of a born enthraller, using real life mother and daughter Fernanda Montenegro and Fernanda Torres to play the three women at various stages in their lives.
Told without music (the sound of the wind and the shifting sands provide the soundtrack), "The House of Sand" is a moving and deeply felt examination of the relationship between mothers and daughters, and the ties that bind us across generations.
It doesn?t just take your breath away - it steals it.
This review of The House of Sand (2005) was written by Matthew L on 26 May 2007.
The House of Sand has generally received positive reviews.
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