casa de Ariae ("smelio namai")

Brasilian film in "Lithuania cinema spring festival"

I could make a copy for those who have not seen yet :)

Produced by	Pedro Buarque de Hollanda
Written by	Elena Soarez
Starring	Fernanda Montenegro Fernanda Torres
Music by	João Barone Carlo Bartolini
Cinematography	Ricardo Della Rosa
Editing by	Sérgio Mekler
Distributed by	ARP Sélection Columbia TriStar Sony Pictures trigon-film
Release date(s)	July 28, 2006
Running time	115 min
Country	Brazil
Language	Portuguese

In 1910, pregnant Áurea (Torres) along with her mother, Maria (Montenegro) arrive at a remote, desert-like part of the Brazilian state of Maranhão -- called the Lençóis Maranhenses -- where her fanatical husband Vasco de Sá (Ruy Guerra) has relocated the family from the state's capital, São Luís, to start a farm. Soon the white settlers realize that they are not alone: a group of descendants of runaway slaves live in the area, in a settlement -- generally known as a quilombo -- they call "The Island" because it is the only permanently fertile spot in a sea of sand where it rains only during the rainy season. Due to the madness of Vasco, Maria seeks to bribe the black settlers to kill Vasco, but they, while taking her money (it is basically useless in the local barter economy), do no such thing.

However, soon enough Vasco's workers abandon the farm. Vasco, enraged over this betrayal, dies when he accidentally buries himself under a heap of construction matieral for the half-finished house. This leaves the two women with no way of returning to the city. Left to their own devices, the two women venture out to explore the area. They find a fishing hut on the shores of the ocean and notice that Massu (Seu Jorge), the fisherman, has salt which he regularly obtains from his father who lives in the nearby Island. Massu takes them there, as they seek to follow the salt trail out of the desert. However, Massu's father does not know where the salt comes from since he is the grandson of a runaway slave; he already had been born in the sanctuary; he does not know the world beyond the confines of the Island. Yet soon they establish contact with the itinerant trader who brings the salt (fittingly called Chico do Sal), but he too does not offer any viable connection back to the civilization Maria and Áurea grew up in.

Unable to return for now, Áurea and Maria get settled and with the help of Massu start a small farming operation. About ten years after their arrival, Áurea still longs to return to her former life beyond the seemingly insurmountable dunes, while her mother seems quite content in their new situation since she feels she does not have anything worthwhile to return to. Quietly, Áurea has been purchasing beasts of burden to venture out of the sandy trap. In fact, when the old trader dies, Áurea, following a fresh trail in the sand by herself, sets out to return her family to civilization as she knew it. This civilization she finds in the form of an international scientific expedition that, for the purpose of observing an annular solar eclipse on May 29, 1919, had come to the remote desert to verify claims made by Albert Einstein's theory of General Relativity concerning the curvature of space.^[1] Áurea falls in love with Luiz, a young soldier escorting the expedition, whom she also asks to request permission for her and her family to return home with the scientists. The permission is granted, and Áurea hurries back home to bring her mother and daughter to where the expedition is. However, when she returns to her "house of sand," the dunes have further encroached upon her house; she fears that her mother and daughter (both are called Maria) are buried under the sand. This turns out not to be the case -- the mother had died, the daughter had found refuge with Massu -- but precious time is lost: they miss the expedition.

Unikaliame brazilų režisieriaus Andrucha Waddingtono filme pirmą kartą vaidina dvi garsiausios Brazilijos aktorės - "Oscaro" premijai nominuota Fernanda Montenegro ("Centrinė stotis") ir Kanų festivalio prizu už geriausią vaidybą apdovanota Fernanda Torres ("Mylėk mane amžinai arba niekuomet"). Lyg žvaigždės tamsioje naktyje jos švyti jaudinančioje dramoje apie trijų kartų moterų gyvenimą Šiaurės Brazilijos smėlio kopose.

Drąsi moteris Aureja į Šiaurės Brazilijoje esantį miestą Maranhao atvyksta verčiama kuoktelėjusio sutuoktinio Vasko. Šis yra klaidingai įsitikinęs, kad nederlingą žemę smėlynuose įmanoma pelningai užsėti grūdais. Tačiau viskas nutinka kitaip, nei planuota ir kūdikio besilaukianti Aureja kartu su savo motina Marija lieka visiškai vienos dykumoje smėlio užpiltame name. Po alinančių klajonių ir paieškų joms pavyksta susidraugauti su vietiniu vyru Massu ir rasti maisto. Aureja iš visų jėgų kovoja su nelaiminga lemtimi, bet po truputį pripranta prie naujo gyvenimo ritmo smėlio kopose.

Sparčiai bėgant metams mes sutiksime Aureją galutinai susitaikiusią su žiauraus likimo išdaigomis. Tačiau pasiutusi, aistringa ir seksualinių santykių ištroškusi duktė Marija neranda sau vietos bekraščiuose smėlynuose. Mergina beprotiškai nori pamatyti ir pajausti už dykumos esantį pasaulį, kol vieną dieną ši svajonė išsipildo...

Dramatiško epo veiksmas užtrunka net 59 metus, o režisierius Andrucha Waddingtonas meniškai įkomponuoja į scenarijų svarbiausius įvykius pasaulio istorijoje. Iš apie prasidėjusį karą nenutuokiančių žmonių perspektyvos mes stebėsime amerikiečių lėktuvų bandymus išvengti susidūrimo su vokiečių povandeniniais laivais, tapsime Einšteino realityvumo teoriją įrodžiusio 1919-ųjų saulės užtemimo liudininkais, išgirsime stulbinančias naujienas apie pirmuosius žmogaus žingsnius Mėnulyje.

"Sundance" nepriklausomo kino festivalyje 20 tūkst. JAV dolerių vertės specialiuoju prizu apdovanotąjį filmą galima drąsiai pavadinti vienos šeimos afera, nes tris skirtingus vaidmenis sukūrusi Fernanda Montenegro yra dvi personažes įkūnyjančios Fernanda'os Torres mama ir režisieriaus Andrucha'os Waddingtono uošvė.