This movie is frustrating to watch because it had such strong potential to be a sweeping drama that intertwines the wonders of nature and humanity through the passage of time.
It started out swimmingly in the waves of pastured wind blown sand and dunes. But slowly it gives way to lack of plausibility and stifled characters, focusing instead on the sweeping white-washed landscape to drive the movie.
While the actress playing the daughter is a competent actress, she is just not right for the role. This is the character which holds the thread of time throughout the entire movie, from the past (with her mother) to the present (herself) and future (her daughter), a parallel for the changes in the world (via Brazil) from the early 1900's to the 1960's. For this to work, this main character needs to have the ability to draw one in, such that one inadvertently has the emotional perspective of things through her eyes. This could not be achieved with this actress, hence one remains but simply an observer of an obstinate unlikeable woman plodding along a very uneven plot, too consciously framed by wonderful landscapes. It enriches the eyes, but not the heart and spirit.
The quick jump of time frame doesn't help, especially when no proper explanations are provided for improbable event.s Example: how did two woman with no farming resources nor skill amass a herd of goats? Or, how did they get an endless supply of clothing's for three woman if they are supposedly so far removed from civilization that they can't even leave the place? Or, why chop down a tree for no reason when she could enquire from nearby others where her daughter and mother was? Why suddenly have sex with the man (for the first time) in broad daylight when there was opportunities a plenty through the many many years? And on and on
.
Utilizing the same two actresses to play each other in successive generations is a big mistake - they are so unalike in looks and characters, the ploy just make it jarring and disconnected
dissociating the viewer further from these characters.
In the end, one has to just ignore the emotionally distant characters (except the mother/grandmother) and disconnectedness of it all and just enjoy the sceneries. It seems the director is trying hard to just string scenes together, and creating implausible situations and disjointed dialogue just to get some particular outcome, and hope the plot holds up
it doesn't unfortunately.
Like the sand dunes, this one builds up early but get blown away in bits, and in the end remains just something visually 'nice' but only in temporary form, and from a distance.
