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Running head: THE HOUSE OF SAND

The House of Sand

Má rcio Padilha

Lewis-Clark State College

ENGL 258 – Norden

Fall/2010
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The House of Sand

The House of Sand is a very interesting and aesthetically pleasing Brazilian movie.

Appearing to be encapsulated both in time and place, plot development is very interesting.

The story starts in 1910 with Vasco de Sá relocating his family from the City of Sã o Luis to

the “Lençó is Maranhenses”, a remote desert area of the Brazilian State of Maranhã o.

Planning to start a farm there, Vasco’s dreams are soon quashed as he realizes the area is

already inhabited by a group of descendants of runaway slaves who call the region “The

Island", the only permanently fertile spot in a sea of sand. Vasco’s ideals are unrealistic and

his recurring impertinence causes his pregnant wife Á urea to seek help from the black

settlers. Wanting them to take her and her mother Maria away, Á urea offers them her

money, worthless in the local barter economy, which they take yet fail to provide the

promised help. Vasco's workers soon abandon the farm and he dies, leaving the women

stranded at the Island, fighting for a way to find their way back out of there.

From its discovery on April 22, 1500 until September 7, 1822, Brazil was a colonial

Portuguese territory which, nonetheless, was ruled as a monarchy until October 15, 1889.

Therefore, The House of Sand takes place in an era when Brazil had recently emerged as a

republic and, as such, thoughts of monarchy and slavery were still very strongly present in

the Brazilian social collective mind. Twenty years earlier, a military coup d’état

extinguished the then-existing monarchic rule and replaced it with a republican form of

government and now, in 1910, Brazilian society experiences the climate of a presidential

electoral campaign for the first time ever. As part of this new sociopolitical identity

acquiring process, Brazilian society was polarized between two opposing ideologies.

Whereas the social debate between electing either a civilian or a military candidate was
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intense, to no one’s surprise a military president was elected in an electoral process then

referred to as diseased and suspicious. Soon after taking office, President Hermes da

Fonseca faced his first crisis, known as “The Canning Rebellion”. As customary to the era in

question, all non-white naval officers were subject to physical punishment. Then, after a

calculated effort by Black Naval Officer Joã o Câ ndido Felisberto, an insurgence of over 2000

non-white naval personnel ensued in Rio de Janeiro, then the national capital. Whereas the

rebellion was forcefully suppressed by the government, society had been forcefully

exposed to the reality of social unrest. Nevertheless, Maria and Á urea, unaware of the

happenings in the outer world, exist in limbo with Maria, Á urea’s daughter.

After nearly a decade of seclusion, Á urea still longs to return to her former life

beyond the seemingly insurmountable dunes, while her mother seems quite content in

their new situation. On a frustrated attempt to leave, Á urea runs into an international

scientific expedition observing a solar eclipse on May 29, 1919. Besides falling in love with

Luiz, a young soldier escorting the expedition, Á urea hears about World War I for the first

time. Luiz also tells her that he is an officer in Brazil’s newly formed Air Force, a concept

which she does not understand. In seeming possession of their ticket out in hand, Á urea

returns to their hut for her mother and daughter. Nevertheless, the sand had moved,

partially burying their house and entombing Maria, the mother. After making sure that

Maria, the daughter, is fine and taking some time to recompose from the emotional shock,

Á urea and her daughter returned to the place where the scientists were. However, as they

took longer than expected, they were left behind. Not wanting to stay in the desert forever

Á urea confides to her daughter that she misses "music," a concept her daughter does not

understand.
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By 1920, the world’s sociopolitical reality was foreign to Á urea. Albert Einstein’s

Theory of relativity comes into existence. Automobiles are now part of the national

scenario. There has been a World War. The Anarchist Insurrection tried to overthrow the

establishment. Three presidential elections have taken place in Brazil since their exile

began. Maria, the daughter, has never seen a paved road.

Realizing that she had missed her lifeline back to her world, Á urea resigns herself to

her fate and links up with Massu, one of the slave descendants. Maria, the daughter, grows

older and becomes a drunk and cheap prostitute for the young men of the Island.

Additionally, not wanting a family, Maria aborts her babies. Both issues deeply disturb

Á urea.

In 1942, their fate is deeply altered. A Brazilian military plane crashes in the ocean

nearby. A search party, commanded by Luiz, is sent out. He is now married and a high-

ranking officer with the Brazilian Air Force. As Luiz first sees Maria, he is reminded by her

of her mother Á urea. After talking with some slave descendants, he realizes what is

happening. Eventually, he meets Á urea in person again who begs him to take Maria with

him. He abides, promising to look after her, while Á urea contently stays with Massu in the

desert. About three decades later, Maria finally returns to the Lençó is region. She finds her

aged mother, sitting by herself at their old kitchen table. After their happy reunion, Maria

brings deep joy to Á urea when she plays a tape-recording of "real music," a piece by

Chopin. Contemplating the moon together, Maria tells her Á urea that, in 1969, man had

landed on the moon. Á urea asks her daughter what they found on the moon. Maria replies:

Nothing but sand.

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Bibliography

Waddington, A. (Director). (2005). The House of Sand [Motion Picture]