In a Nutshell. Mini reviews of movies old and new. No fuss. No spoilers. And often no sleep.

Sunday 7 September 2014

INCENDIES [2010]

Director Denis Villeneuve's war drama Incendies works on a few different levels but none of them lead to a happy ending or comfortable solution.  
It follows the story of two French Canadian twins' journey to the Middle East (their home country) to fullfill their mother's dying wishes of finding their long lost brother.  It's essentially a deeply intimate human story that's harrowing as it is tragic as the captivating mystery unravels with each distressing reveal.  All this is cleverly used to tell the bigger story of the political, religious and sectarian struggles that's plagued the country with violence, hatred and betrayal all the while it deeply causing an effect on the innocents caught in the crossfire.  We're not always sure who's fighting who in the background but I think that might be the point, when I'm sure the characters are wondering the exact same thing.  Villeneuve tells the story with a stark realism that's natural and quite moving with some unexpected twists 'n turns that are severely upsetting.

4 dots minus one out of 5

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