INCENDIES
Brilliantly constructed from the bountiful narrative fabric of Wajdi Mouawad's complex stage play about a familial legacy passed down from a mother to her fraternal twins, "Incendies" is one of the most powerful dramas ever conceived.
Director Denis Villeneuve tells the retrospective tale of Nawal (Lubna Azabal), a woman from an unnamed place in the Middle East. Nawal's death enables her will to be passed onto her adult children, Jeanne and Simon Marwan (Mélissa Désormeaux-Poulin and Maxim Gaudette).
The will consists of two envelopes containing letters, one for the father the children believed to be dead, and the other for a brother neither knew existed. The pair travels to the Middle East to retrace their mother's steps that led to their birth. Told in time-flipping flashbacks, "Incendies" slowly builds with layers of dramatic narrative information toward a crescendo of undeniable truth that is staggering in its personal import.
A pure example of refined storytelling with vast repercussions, "Incendies" ("destruction by fire") is a fantastic drama. There is no way to explain the depth of pain at the heart of this unique allegory.
Rated R. 130 mins.
Groupthink doesn't live here, critical thought does.
This website is dedicated to Agnès Varda and to Luis Buñuel.
Get cool rewards when you click on the button to pledge your support through Patreon.
Comments