I watched a film made by a Québec born writer/director Denis Villeneuve, because I have been watching some French movies made in France lately (but Canada Day is tomorrow), it is highly rated, and I love other movies Villeneuve has made, (Prisoners and Sicario). Incendies is a drama about two siblings who travel to the Middle East to fulfill their mother’s will and discover more about their family. Based on a play by Wajdi Mouawad, Incendies was nominated for best foreign language film at the 2011 Oscars. Music in the film was composed by Grégoire Hetzel and featured 2 tracks from Radiohead (perfectly appropriate for the feeling of the film). One of the reasons I really enjoy Villeneuve’s movies is for the movement of the camera, and how much room he gives the actors to work, and sometimes they even walk right by the camera and it doesn’t move. Using wide shots, the actors have the freedom to use the space and feel more natural, and most of those angles had long takes before a cut is made. This tends to build a deep connection with the leads as we are forced to note their reactions to the sights and sounds. Also helpful with this technique is when it sounds like everything is underwater, as if you also physically experience what the character is going through, along with seeing it.

Incendies builds suspense in the mystery by revealing secrets at a measured pace, keeping you interested and guessing, while still moving the plot forward. I like when movies use enormous font on top of the scene to announce a change in location, and the slow moving establishing shots set the pace and tone for the scenes that follow. The dvd version I watched was in the original French language (in addition to Arabic), with English subtitles. Normally I watch movies with subtitles and this one I felt a little confused as most of the Arabic lines were not subtitled, (I hope that was intended as if I was the lead character and could not speak it either). Some scenes were heavy emotionally, Lubna and Mélissa delivered sympathy inducing performances, you feel their pain looking into their eyes. They are strong willed, resourceful, and do not let others stop them from acting on their emotions. The film stars Lubna Azabal, Mélissa Désormeaux-Poulin, and Maxim Gaudette, and was filmed in Québec and in Jordan.

2010, 14A, 2h 10m
Distributor – Sony Classics
Budget – $6.8 million

Cast & Crew
Writer and director Denis Villeneuve previously made Maelstrom (2000), Polytechnique (2009), and would next make Prisoners (2013 with Hugh Jackman), Enemy (2013 with Jake Gyllenhaal), Sicario (2015 with Emily Blunt), Arrival (2016 with Amy Adams, Villeneuve was nominated for best director Oscar for this film), and will next release Blade Runner 2049 with Harrison Ford. Lubna Azabal was previously in Body of Lies (2008 with Leonardo DiCaprio) and would next be in the Shakespeare film Coriolanus (2011 with Ralph Fiennes). Mélissa Désormeaux-Poulin was previously in Dédé, à travers les brumes (2009, English title is Dede, through the mists) and would next be in all 23 episodes of Les rescapés (2010-2012, English title is The survivors) and Beyond the Walls (2012). Maxim Gaudette was in Villeneuve’s previous film Polytechnique and would co-star with Mélissa in Les rescapés.

Links
IMDB – 8.2
Box Office Mojo
Wikipedia

Spoilers
(please do not continue reading if you have not seen the movie and do not want to read a spoiler)

This is a movie that people need to see to begin to understand what others have been through in other less fortunate countries. Having children enlisted (or brainwashed) into combat, women raped, innocents murdered based on religion, and other violent acts makes you wonder how people in those situations are able to get through it and have a life beyond those horrors. One scene that stood out for me is when the mother of the lead characters is crying, but the shots are of the people outside the house, trying to act as if they can not hear her suffering. I had a bit of trouble following the names of the characters and even the jumping back and forth in time, a trick Villeneuve would use again in Arrival. The references to mathematics was interesting, including the revelation that the phrase ‘1 plus 1 equals 1’ turned out to be about their dad also being their half brother. I found the two lead’s journey into their mother’s home country fascinating, how they had to deal with their own reservations and the challenges of the war ravaged country. It was with a heavy heart to see the child marked, given away, the orphanage burned, the bus scene, and hear about the attacks to the school, life should not be so traumatic but it was for their mother. A lesson that they learn the hard way, and we also experience as the viewer.