'Incendies' – 4.5 out of 5 stars
Being part of the generation that grew up knowing Disney movies could not exist without having the mother character die, I was understandably skeptical when I saw the preview for the independent film “Incendies.”
Yet, after seeing “Incendies,” you question these common musings of cinema as the film redefines family and storytelling. “Incendies” takes you on a rollercoaster ride that exceeds any preconceived notion of cinema and story.
In “Incendies,” adapted from Wajdi Mouawad's acclaimed play, the two main characters — twins Jeanne (Mélissa Désormeaux-Poulin) and Simon (Maxim Gaudette) Marwan — are given the news about their mother’s (Lubna Azabal) recent death. The twins are thrown into a tumultuous journey to find their brother and father, which they later discover is a quest to reveal the tangled secrets of their family.
A tense and important aspect of the film is its overall setting. Set first in Canada, where the season seemed to almost always be gray and wintery, the audience is placed in a somber mindset. The later and primary setting is in an undisclosed Middle Eastern country, where the contrasting sun beats blisteringly down upon the dusty streets and the conflict-weary people, seeming even to beat upon the audience itself. As the film progresses, the audience learns of the harrowing and brutal violence committed between the Lebanese and Israelis but more importantly between extreme Muslims and Christians in the region. One particular scene viscerally describes these tensions as Jeanne simultaneously witnesses religious violence, a bus fire and heartless murder in a swift and blood-curdling few moments.
The confusing progression of the film has put it under much criticism, and while the sporadic jump from the twins’ present lives to their mother’s past is puzzling, it is this unorthodox progression that is most intriguing about the film.
Denis Villeneuve directs with grace and power, and Azabal, Désormeaux-Poulin and Gaudette act with honesty and emotion through both their dialogue and their silence. André Turpin’s intimate and close cinematography enhances the characters’ desolation and yanks at your heartstrings.
“Incendies” might leave you with a headache and may even cause you to re-assess your family tree. But even as you question whether or not the movie lifted your heart or sunk it down to your shoes, you will not regret seeing “Incendies." It will leave you wishing and waiting for Villeneuve’s next gem.
6:32 p.m., June 5, 2011
Judy said:
I left the theater with a questions that we could not agree on. I said that the twins mother knew the identity of her torturer when he raped her in the prison and did not tell him who she was. Friends said she didn't know who he was. What do others think?