As long as the intricacies of family exist, films will always have a source for compelling stories with complex themes. Exactly how a writer tells these stories and the context he weaves them into can vary wildly with both time and setting, and the resulting effort will sometimes equal something as great as Denis Villeneuve’s Incendies. While the emotional heart and soul of Incendies lies in the story of twins discovering a side they never knew of their deceased mother, where it takes them and the world it exposes them to offers an equally jarring drama. What could have been a simple, quiet story builds into an adrenaline-spiked journey that’s as apt to ply at your heartstrings as it is to punch you in the gut and leave you winded.
Twins Jeanne (Melissa Desormeaux-Poulin) and Simon (Maxim Gaudette) lived with their mother (Lubna Azabal) in Canada never hearing much about her life before she immigrated and thus never learning much about their father. Upon her death, she leaves her two children a message telling them to travel to her former home in the Middle East where they are to track down her lover and their father. When they arrive, they find a side of the world they’ve never known and ethnic prejudices, which once seemed nothing but news stories distant and immaterial, suddenly become the law of the land. The more they learn about their father and themselves, mostly revealed through the observations of others, the more they come to understand the circumstances that kept their family separated all these years.
Director Villeneuve has created a puzzle that takes its time revealing the bigger picture to the audience, and in so doing sets them up for some truly spectacular scenes of carnage, both emotional and sociopolitical. The constant fear and tension of living in a city possessed by guerilla warfare hits home time and time again thanks to the film’s framing and the outstanding performances of Melissa Desormeaux-Poulin and Maxim Gaudette. The glimpses we get of Lubna Azabal also work wonders instilling at once the clarity of why the twins feel compelled to understand their mother further and where she’s coming from, revealed as the pieces fall into place. The film’s visuals are rich and mesmerizing, and a few key moments will likely stay with you for days after the film.
Blu-ray Bonus Features
There’s a modest audio commentary with the director, which offers a little insight but is never too interesting, but it’s the behind-the-scenes retrospective that holds the best material.
"Incendies" is on sale September 13, 2011 and is rated R. Drama, Mystery, War. Directed by Denis Villeneuve. Written by Denis Villeneuve (written by), Wajdi Mouawad (play). Starring Lubna Azabal, Melissa Desormeaux Poulin, Maxim Gaudette.
