Review of Casa de Areia

Aurea (Fernanda Torres), heads with her visionary husband, her feeble mother and a few deluded colonists through sand dune after sand dune to some marshy land near the sea, hundreds of miles from civilization. Shortly after arriving, the rest of the colonists decide this was a bad idea and take off. Aurea's husband, angry at the quitters, tries to finish his hut himself and within minutes knocks some poles over on his head and dies. Now Aurea, several months pregnant, and her old mother are left pretty much to themselves in the absolute middle of nowhere. They find the remnants of a fugitive slave camp nearby and get a few meager supplies there. They plan on leaving, 10 years later, they are still planning on leaving. Aurea finally hooks up with one of the dudes from the colony and decides it isn't so bad. 20 more years pass, Aurea has transformed into her mother who died earlier in a sand accident and is now played by Fernanda Montenegro and Maria the daughter born in the desert in now played by Fernanda Torres. Maria is a carefree, lazy girl, drinking and hooking up with the local youth. But what can you expect when you live in the sand without civilization.

This movie is like eating a picnic on the beach. You've got some egg salad sandwiches, some apple slices and some chocolate chip cookies, but as you eat, you notice a particular crunch. Yes, there is sand in the egg salad, yes there is sand on the apples, yes there is sand in the cookies. But it's not so bad, it's still pretty good. What's more there's sand in your ear and even in your butt crack (where there should never be sand). You have been invaded by sand, but what can you do but lay back and let it take over, it's part of the beach experience. 7/10

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