AllMovie

Filmmaker Julio Bressane presents a gently surreal exploration of love and eros in this drama adapted from a pair of short stories by Machado de Assis. A nameless man (Selton Mello) and woman (Alessandra Negrini) meet while they're visiting a cemetery. When the woman trips and falls, the man comes to her rescue, and when he learns she has nowhere to go, he invites her back to his home. While she rests and drinks tea with him, he persuades her to allow him to photograph her in the nude. However, a mouse becomes fascinated with the photographs and in turn teaches the woman an unexpected lesson about eroticism. The man fancies himself an author, and to help him with his latest project, she agrees to take dictation as he spins an unusual tale. As it happens, the story is also unusually long, and in time the manuscript threatens to take over their lives as well as his house. The Herb Of The Rat (aka A Ervo do Rato) was an official selection at the 2008 Venice Film Festival.