From the opening shots of immense bleached white sand dunes and scalloped, barren earth, to the strange caravan of humans and animals dwarfed by the natural landscape, a willing viewer can be transported to a world not ordinary, and what follows is a mesmerizing tale of physical and emotional survival under the worst of circumstances--and yet--there exists a mesmerizing study of human relationships, of mother and daughter, of races in conflict, of self trying to find a way home. This is not a noisy film, as films these days generally are, it is not bombastic nor particularly easy to watch; there is even a narrative trick tossed in midway which may at first confuse most viewers. But like another brilliant immersion in a stark world, the film Behind The Sun, this Brazilian gem is exquisitely photographed, convincingly acted, and hugely rewarding--if your goal in movie viewing is not to just be passively entertained.

This movie is excellent, bizarre, and surreal, all at the same time. Wind, water, sand, time, theory of relativity, a lunar eclipse, and travel to the moon intermingle in the lives of three women. In 1910 a family moves to an impossible location somewhere in the dunes of north Brazil, where only sand and despair can "grow." The main protagonist tries several times to escape but all her attempts fail, until she surrenders to her reality. Her daughter, born in the sands, grows not knowing any other reality, until eventually she goes away to live the unfulfilled dreams of her mother. The sound of the wind is a constant reminder of the harsh environment, the whiteness of the sand portrays the simplicity of their primitive life, and the richness of the sky and the nights full of stars remind us that the protagonist have a complex soul.

it lets you get a lot from this film, it gives itself to you. it could be mistaken for a drama set within a interesting set of variables, but it is more a piece of art about humanity/nature/time/space...wish i could elaborate better. It is defineately grammy or whatever Oscar worthy, it gives you that amazing emotional happy/sad/inspired/impowered/deep type feeling. sorry that's my review, i'm glad i don't have to read it. okay, they are making right more lines, how about something specific, umm, no. how about, it's a bunch of little things that you are trying to put together and make sense of, each of those parts is compelling in itself with amazing scenes sound etc. then at the end you realize the overall feeling of the movie is deep and grander then you thought. you don't hate or love any of the characters, the characters in this movie are more like the medium, with the desert being the canvas, you see stroke by stroke then an amazing full shot at the end........................another thought is having these humans interacting in this huge space, it allows the feelings to fill the whole space showing how big egos,feelings etc are., amazing perspective

To say this movie is inert is much too great an understatement. It makes the dictionary look like an explosive dramatic novel. Critics would have you believe that great cinematography and scenery can substitute substance. Such a belief is akin to touting grass growing as breakthrough cinema just because it's being broadcasted in HD.The movie establishes from the beginning that the true star is the scenery. There are but a dozen words in the first 20 minutes of the film, a trend that continues throughout and grows weary if you can manage to stay up. The sound of the wind and crashing waves are terrific for putting you to sleep. But they hardly constitute a gripping drama.For reasons that are never explained, a very stubborn man takes his wife and her mother to what amount to a sand dune. What follows is a very long depiction of the most uninteresting lives in the entire continent of South America. If the premise is not absurd enough, we get treated to three generations of insignificant characters and a whole lot of desert nature. A desert that's much too kind in my opinion. A real desert would've killed the first generation in this boring movie and spared me 90 minutes of garbage.