Released 4-22-11
R (2:10)
5/29/11 at the Loft...alone
RT: 91 cag: 96 (yup, I liked it that much)
In French and Arabic with English subtitles
Director: Denis Villeneuve (French Canadian)
based on Lebanese-born Canadian playright Wajdi Mouawad's play "Scorched"
Academy Award Nominee for Best Foreign Language Film
I believe "Incendies" means "raging fires." Fits. And it's better not to know ahead of time what the plot is entirely about...I'd avoid the trailer and only skem through reviews before seeing. I watched the trailer AFTERWARDS and was really, REALLY glad I hadn't seen it first. The trailer gave away at least one surprise that you shouldn't know ahead of time.
Nawal Marwan has just died. She leaves her twin children each a letter, Jeanne is to deliver her letter to her father and Simon is to deliver his to their brother. This is quite shocking and unbelievable, because they've always been told that their father was dead and they've never heard of any brother. We accompany Jeanne as she travels from Canada to the mideast, where she begins to search for clues. The film keeps flashing back to the past to Nawal and lets her, in this way, tell her story. Telling any more would ruin it.
This was one excellent movie. Horrifying. Sad. Mesmerizing. What storytelling...going back in forth in time from mother to daughter and son.....a perfect weaving. A weaving with layers.
There's a very intersting review, particularly because it discusses the absence of an actual locale for the mideastern part of the story. Apparently it was left ambiguous for a reason. However, this article in The Yuppie Activist is quite interesting. Also is one written by Chris Knipp on his blog.There are probably loads more, but these are the ones I found when looking for the locale of the movie. And ofcourse there's always the IMBd review.
