What is the message of the film House of Sand by - Essay Example

Message of ‘’House of Sand’’ The movie ‘House of Sand’ that has been directed by Andrucha Waddington is shot in northern Brazil with its swirling dust, and a dry universe. The protagonists of the movies are two women who exist for three generations, from 1910 to 1969 (Pitman 78). One woman, Aurea follows her husband Vasco to the desert region of Brazil after he acquires new property. The place Vasco intends to settle down has many sand-dunes and harsh conditions, but he is adamant that he would be successful with goat rearing in the region (Ebert 35).

Aurea’s mother and various workers accompany the couple to the desert, and from the introductory shot of the movie, we learn that this area is without human habitation. Upon arriving at the place, Aurea, who is pregnant, urges Vasco to leave the place since they would not have a good environment of raising their child, but Vasco opposes her strongly. This highlights the theme of male domination whereby the producer is showing the viewer that women had no say in family matters in that setting.

Unfortunately, Vasco succumbs to an accident which leaves Aurea as the head of the family. Aurea decides to leave the area but her attempts to abandon this isolated and uncivilized area are rebuffed since there are no transport channels. The only link to the outside world is a salesman who is called Chico, but he also dies leaving Aurea with no options. Asa result of this, she is forced to stay in the desert and accept her fate. She is forced to raise her child, Maria in these conditions. Time elapses into years and decades.

A lot happens in this time; Aurea’s mother is killed by a sandstorm and she begins interacting with the surrounding community. The message here is that despite hardships in life, resilience, industry and hard work is necessary for ensuring one’s survival. Aurea epitomizes hard work and character which enables her to raise Maria in the hard conditions. Besides, she never gives up on her daughter going to the normal world, which illustrates her virtues of hope and belief. She has been used to highlight problems and challenges that women face in family settings, and how they should go about in fighting these challenges.

Aurea is, therefore, a model of women empowerment in society.Therefore, the tale is about survival in the difficult desert conditions, and how this survival has enabled various characters develop. Therefore, the message the author is giving here is that despite hardships that people may face in life, it is possible to transform this situation into an opportunity to interact with people better. Another message by the producer is that, women are able to empower themselves in the society. The producer has used the harsh desert conditions to highlight challenges that women face in life as they struggle to dwell in a male dominated and chauvinistic society.

Despite Vasco dying, mother and daughter are able to fend for themselves for many years to come. This highlights the empowerment that the producer is trying to put across.Works CitedEbert, Roger. Roger Eberts Movie Yearbook 2010. New York: Andrews McMeel Publishing, 2010.Pitman, Randy. The Video librarian, Volume 19. California: Cengage, 2008.