Three stranded women settle in amid the sandy desolation of coastal Brazil, but one of them longs for civilization.

The landscape looks like the surface of the moon. Set in Brazil's Maranhão desert, House of Sand follows three generations of women, from 1910 to 1969, as they eke out a living from this hostile environment. Oafish Vasco (director Ruy Guerra) brings pregnant wife Áurea (Fernanda Torres) and her mother, Dona Maria (Fernanda Montenegro, Central Station), from the city to make a new start. Shortly after they arrive, fate takes him out of the picture. Mother and daughter muddle through with the help of slave descendents. Wary at first, Massu (Seu Jorge, City of God) takes a particular shine to the duo. The story then skips ahead to 1919, when an escape route materializes. There will be two more shifts in time. By 1942, Áurea's daughter, Maria (Torres), has grown into impetuous womanhood, while Áurea (Montenegro) and Massu (Luiz Melodia) have settled into middle age. In the final section, set during the year of the first lunar landing, Áurea (Montenegro) is around the same age as her mother at the start of the film. With the exception of Camilla Facundes as nine-year-old Maria, Torres and her real-life mother assume every female role. What does it all mean? Andrucha Waddington (Me You Them) doesn't burden his enigmatic epic with a singular message, but those who appreciate dust-swept dramas like Woman in the Dunes and Walkabout aren't likely to hold it against him. The point seems to be that the human--especially the female--capacity for survival knows no bounds. --Kathleen C. Fennessy

Aspect Ratio ‏ : ‎ 2.35:1
MPAA rating ‏ : ‎ R (Restricted)
Director ‏ : ‎ Andrucha Waddington
Media Format ‏ : ‎ Subtitled
Run time ‏ : ‎ 1 hour and 55 minutes
Release date ‏ : ‎ December 12, 2006
Actors ‏ : ‎ Fernanda Montenegro, Fernanda Torres, Ruy Guerra, Seu Jorge, Stenio Garcia
Subtitles: ‏ : ‎ English, French, Portuguese
Producers ‏ : ‎ Andrucha Waddington, Leonardo Monteiro de Barros, Pedro Buarque de Hollanda, Pedro Guimarães
Language ‏ : ‎ Portuguese (Dolby Digital 5.1)
Studio ‏ : ‎ Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Number of discs ‏ : ‎ 1

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