Incendies
Directed by:
Denis VilleneuveCinematography:
André TurpinComposer:
Grégoire HetzelCast:
Rémy Girard, Lubna Azabal, Mélissa Désormeaux-Poulin, Maxim Gaudette, Mohamed Majd, Ahmad Massad, Dominique Briand, Frédéric Paquet, Baya Belal (more)Plots(1)
When history is a secret, when family is a lie... what price would you pay for the truth? Twins Jeanne and Simon are left two envelopes in their mothers will, asking them to find a brother they never knew existed, and father they believed to be dead. Journeying from Canada to Lebanon to unravel this mystery, they begin to uncover the terrifying secrets of their mothers tumultuous and brutal past, the twists and turns of their discoveries moving them ever closer to a gut-wrenching and inevitable truth that will define their very existence. Powerful, raw and gripping, this Oscar-nominated and multi award-winning thriller was one of the most ambitious and momentous films of the year. (Trinity Home Entertainment)
(more)Reviews (4)
Like peeling an onion, where each new layer gives out an increasingly pungent odor, and when you get to the core, you just have to close your eyes. Incendies is a hellishly strong, masterfully narrated story with a slightly artsy attitude, but a very viewer-friendly topic. Typical Villeneuve. The delivery of the point while being aware of the connections seemed to me both more functional and emotional than in Arrival, where it (surprisingly) didn’t quite work for me. Why hasn’t Mélissa Désormeaux-Poulin appeared in major projects after this?
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I’m mad because halfway into the film I came up with a twist I would have used if I’d had had written this story myself. But the screenwriters wrote a completely different ending, which deprived me of a shock, goosebumps and maybe also a tear or two. In any case, an excellent and strong film, though it had the potential to be more ingenious :-(
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The fires burn deep into your memory and then they keep on smoldering and fuming a long time after... Not just because of the powerful story, but mainly due to the depressing atmosphere that digs in deep under your skin. Seeing as it’s basically “just" a relationships drama, it explores other paths (all with different themes), but most of the time this wider scope is good for the movie. I would personally have done without the finale literalness and the present day encounters with officialdom which slightly waters down the impact of the fates of Nawal Marwan.
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For the first 30-40 minutes, it's basically just a palette of long takes and pieces to a seemingly complex story puzzle. However, once all the main points are revealed and the whole starts to "glue" together, Incendies becomes a completely different film – urgent, uncompromising, authentic. Each successive shot becomes more and more painful and emotionally cathartic until the finale. A finale that will affect each viewer differently, but one that no one will forget. Before Villeneuve went big-budget, dark and visually lavish, he was able to make darkness on a fraction of the budget, with similar filmmaking qualities, in shabby sets and with unknown actors. It's worth making a comparison.
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