ShareThisBy PHIL VILLARREAL
Sunday, November 19, 2006
"House of Sand" begins on a note borrowed from "Lawrence of Arabia." The screen is composed almost entirely of sweeping sands of desert plains. Tiny specs emerge and turn out to be a caravan struggling across the desolate landscape.
Sadly, the sequence is a metaphor for the viewers' struggle to endure the too-long, too-dry drama.
Brazilian director Andrucha Waddington follows three generations of women over six decades in a remote, arid region of Brazil. The film tackles women's liberation themes in a hard-nosed, head-on manner but seems more interested in preaching than relating an intelligible tale. The film works in all-too-brief flashes interspersed between long, drawn-out silences.
Waddington seems content to sit back and let the sumptuous photography from cinematographer Ricardo Della Rosa do all the talking, but the pretty pictures lose their impact after a while and there isn't enough dramatic thrust to carry the stories forward.
"House of Sand" picks up in 1910, when Aurea _ played first by Fernanda Torres, then by two other actresses as the character ages _ gets a shot at a new life once her cruel nomadic husband dies. She raises her daughter, Maria, with a stern hand, hoping for a better life for her.
This inspires a contentious relationship between the two that turns into drab, soap opera-like conflicts that draw out for the rest of the movie.
Maria becomes her own woman, making choices and entering affairs Aurea doubts. Both characters make gradual evolutions, but don't blame audiences if they're too dazed and dry-mouthed to notice.
Grade: 2 stars out of 4
Rated: R for some graphic sexuality.
Cast: Fernanda Montenegro, Fernanda Torres, Ray Guerra, Seu Jorge.
Director: Andrucha Waddington.
Family call: Not for kids.
Running time: 114 minutes.
Et cetera: In Portuguese, with English subtitles.
(Read Phil Villarreal's blog at scrippsnews.com/philmguy and contact him at pvillarreal(at)azstarnet.com.)
