Casa de Lava
Encyclopedia
Down to Earth is a 1995 Portuguese
drama film
directed by Pedro Costa
. The film is set in Cape Verde Islands, a former Portuguese colony.
The drama is characterized by its reduced narrative
, and photographies of the volcano
in the Cape Verde islands. The title literally means "a house of lava
".
Casa de Lava was screened in the Un Certain Regard
section at 1994 Cannes Film Festival
.
.
She accompanies an immigrant worker in a comatose
sleep on his trip to home.
After she arrives in Cape Verde, she encounters the strange and enigmatic world.
The devoted Portuguese nurse took a journey only to find herself lost in abstract drama.
There she finds that "she brought a living man among the dead."
The director Pedro Costa made the film in a minimalist style.
Some ominous, poetic imageries of local people and Mount Fogo
, the highest active volcano of Cape Verde, are used as esoteric metaphors of the heroine's isolation.
For instance, the eerily first images are of Mount Fogo's volcanic eruption and the lava flowing on its surface, preluding this film about solitary life with juxtaposition of silent
volcanic eruption and locals' close-up
shots accompanied by ominous music.
Cinema of Portugal
Portuguese cinema has a long tradition, reaching back to the birth of the medium in the late 19th century. In the 1950s, Cinema Novo, sprang up as a movement concerned with showing realism in film, in the vein of Italian Neorealism and the French New Wave...
drama film
Drama film
A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...
directed by Pedro Costa
Pedro Costa
Pedro Costa is a Portuguese film director.He is acclaimed for using his ascetic style to depict the marginalised people in desperate living situations...
. The film is set in Cape Verde Islands, a former Portuguese colony.
The drama is characterized by its reduced narrative
Narrative
A narrative is a constructive format that describes a sequence of non-fictional or fictional events. The word derives from the Latin verb narrare, "to recount", and is related to the adjective gnarus, "knowing" or "skilled"...
, and photographies of the volcano
Volcano
2. Bedrock3. Conduit 4. Base5. Sill6. Dike7. Layers of ash emitted by the volcano8. Flank| 9. Layers of lava emitted by the volcano10. Throat11. Parasitic cone12. Lava flow13. Vent14. Crater15...
in the Cape Verde islands. The title literally means "a house of lava
Lava
Lava refers both to molten rock expelled by a volcano during an eruption and the resulting rock after solidification and cooling. This molten rock is formed in the interior of some planets, including Earth, and some of their satellites. When first erupted from a volcanic vent, lava is a liquid at...
".
Casa de Lava was screened in the Un Certain Regard
Un Certain Regard
Un Certain Regard is a section of the Cannes Film Festival's Official Selection. It is run at the Salle Debussy, parallel to the competition for the Palme d'Or.This section was introduced in 1978 by Gilles Jacob...
section at 1994 Cannes Film Festival
1994 Cannes Film Festival
The 1994 Cannes Film Festival started on 12 May and ran until 23 May. The Palme d'Or went to the American film Pulp Fiction directed by Quentin Tarantino.-Official Selection:*Clint Eastwood *Catherine Deneuve...
.
Plot
The film tells a story of Mariana, a depressed nurse working in LisbonLisbon
Lisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban...
.
She accompanies an immigrant worker in a comatose
Coma
In medicine, a coma is a state of unconsciousness, lasting more than 6 hours in which a person cannot be awakened, fails to respond normally to painful stimuli, light or sound, lacks a normal sleep-wake cycle and does not initiate voluntary actions. A person in a state of coma is described as...
sleep on his trip to home.
After she arrives in Cape Verde, she encounters the strange and enigmatic world.
The devoted Portuguese nurse took a journey only to find herself lost in abstract drama.
There she finds that "she brought a living man among the dead."
The director Pedro Costa made the film in a minimalist style.
Some ominous, poetic imageries of local people and Mount Fogo
Mount Fogo
Pico do Fogo is the highest peak of Cape Verde, rising to above sea level. It is an active stratovolcano lying on the island of Fogo. The main cone last erupted in 1675, causing mass emigration from the island, while a subsidiary vent erupted in 1995...
, the highest active volcano of Cape Verde, are used as esoteric metaphors of the heroine's isolation.
For instance, the eerily first images are of Mount Fogo's volcanic eruption and the lava flowing on its surface, preluding this film about solitary life with juxtaposition of silent
Silence
Silence is the relative or total lack of audible sound. By analogy, the word silence may also refer to any absence of communication, even in media other than speech....
volcanic eruption and locals' close-up
Close-up
In filmmaking, television production, still photography and the comic strip medium a close-up tightly frames a person or an object. Close-ups are one of the standard shots used regularly with medium shots and long shots . Close-ups display the most detail, but they do not include the broader scene...
shots accompanied by ominous music.
Cast
- Inês de Medeiros - Mariana (as Inês Medeiros)
- Isaach De BankoléIsaach De BankoléIsaach or Isaac de Bankolé is an Ivorian actor.-Work:He has appeared in over 30 films, including Jim Jarmusch's Night on Earth, Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai, and Coffee and Cigarettes...
- Leão - Edith ScobÉdith ScobEdith Scob is a French actress, best known for her role as the daughter with a disfigured face in Eyes Without a Face.Edith Scob has had several roles in European film and television and is married to Georges Aperghis....
- Edite - Pedro Hestnes - Edite's Son