Ten minutes into the movie there is spoken maybe six words. Ten whole minutes go by and almost no one speaks. It reminded me of "There Will Be Blood" and if you are a fan of that movie I think you would really like this.
The story is simple, it's 1910 and an older man (Vasco) has moved his young wife (Aurea) and her mother (Dona Maria) out into the middle of the Brazilian desert to start anew. With him he has brought a group of other settlers. No one is really happy there, they are basically living on the only spot that has water and is akin to a marsh in the middle of the desert. The other settlers get scared and leave and Vasco gets angry and makes a mistake while building their "house" and kills himself. Now Aurea and Dona Maria are all alone, and Aurea is pregnant.
The meet up with runaway slaves who have been living in the desert for generations. The one that helps them the most in named Massu. He is quiet and pretty mysterious. In fact all the characters are pretty quiet. Aurea gives birth to Maria and after ten years alone out there is getting very desperate to escape. They can't do it on their own, they tried and the desert would kill them.
The film ends up covering fifty years of time. When they jump forward in time they use the actresses who are the mothers to play their daughters so then they all will look like they are actually family, and as I read online they actually are family. The film is just drenched in desolation, there is nothing out there but each other, their money is worthless, they need water and food. The dunes eventually over take their home, nothing is permanent in this landscape. The desert it self is its own character that they are constantly battling. The story is actually an incredibly simple one, it is just about survival on the surface with all of this pent up desire underneath. A desire for Aurea and eventually Maria to escape that place. As well as both of them have the longing of a man even though they are capable of surviving on their own, the need for human touch and interaction.
There is a scene where Aurea comes across some scientists and the army in the desert doing an experiment, when she meets one of the officers he touches her hair and the look on her face says it all, she hasn't been touched like that in 10 years. When she hears one of the soldiers play the violin she breaks into tears, she hadn't heard music in years. The things we take for granted and don't even think about is what they yearn for so much.
The image is so clean in this, the white of the sand in contrast to the black they wear was so visually stimulating it was driving me crazy. The blacks are rich and velvety, it was just blowing me away. The cinematography in this was stellar, I cant say that enough, I loved this movie for so many reasons not the least of which being the amazing shots, I'm talking about every single shot is brilliantly and beautifully composed. Really something to see.
The acting was along the same lines, stark like the images, contrasted and strong, with a deep well of emotion and reflection. The woman who plays Aurea and then eventually the daughter Maris is beautiful, but not in the American way. If this was made here they would have been wafer "girls" where these were strong and passionate women.
I recommend this film to anyone who might read this, it was that good to me. Shot after shot blew me away, scene after scene I got more involved. It is something that I would hope to make one day. 9/10 stars easy.
Director: Andrucha Waddington
Starring: Fernanda Torres, Fernanda Montenegro, Seu Jorge, Ruy Guerra, Enrique Diaz, Stenio Garcia
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