Review: Incendies

19, March 2011Approved By NP, ReviewsView Comments

Dir. DENIS VILLENEUVE

2010

Have you ever peered deep into the eyes of a parent or grandparent and thought about the life they had long ago? A life before kids; before grandkids. A life you’ll probably never know. For most, that look has nothing to hide, but for others the life they once lived and the atrocities once witnessed will forever be etched into the complexion of their faces. You understand that these are moments of their past that to bring up now would only evoke sorrow. But what if you did find out? And what if what you found out was something you’d rather have not of known in the first place?

Based on the play Scorched written by Wajdi Mouawad, Denis Villeneuve’s Canadian production, Incendies, is a haunting coming-of-age tale that begins in a Quebec lawyer’s office with two siblings, Simon (played by Maxim Gaudette) and Jeanne (played by Mélissa Désormeaux-Poulin), who through the reading of their late mother’s will have been requested to deliver a letter to their father, who they thought had died long ago, and another letter to their brother, who they never knew even existed. This request takes them back to the Middle East, where their mother was born, and it is at this moment that Incendies adopts a dual story-line structure, paralleling Simon’s and Jeanne’s search for their lost kin with the horrifying account of their mother’s past. As their pursuit comes to its devastating close a paralyzing truth is revealed, leaving both Simon and Jeanne to depend upon the strength they have in each other to ensure that their mother’s last request is fulfilled.

Using the framework of a Greek Tragedy, Incendies boldly endeavors to capture two siblings as they struggle to uncover the truth about their mother. Cold and often distant, she was a woman who carried with her the weight of a troubled past, but when the truth is unraveled Simon and Jeanne realize that the woman they knew was just a shade of the women she was. Belgian actress Lubna Azabal gives a jaw-dropping performance as their mother, Nawal Marwan, a woman who through so much hardship, continued to fight to be with the one she loved. One twist after the other, the film unfolds in excruciating fashion and the moment we think, we have a grasp on this complicated individual, something transpires that quickly forces us to rearrange our thought process. Incendies is the best film to come out of Canada in years and and is well deserving of its Academy Award Nomination for Best Foreign Picture. While, the film’s content will prove too overwhelming for some viewers, it richness and emotional complexity should still be enough to keep them and everyone else watching.

94/100 - While, the film’s content will prove too overwhelming for some viewers, it richness and emotional complexity should still be enough to keep them and everyone else watching.

Christopher Misch

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I've always loved movies, but it wasn't until under the tutelage of Professor Garry Leonard at the University of Toronto that my passion for the industry became an understanding of an art form. With a specific fascination in both the western genre and Asian cinema in general, I am of the view that good movies are either enlightening or entertaining, and if you are truly lucky they are both.