Indie Gems: Incendies

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I've got a secret.

When their mother Nawal (Lubna Azabal) dies, she leaves behind a will requesting her twin children, Jeanne (Mélissa Désormeaux-Poulin) and Simon (Maxim Gaudette) to locate the father they thought was dead, and the brother they never knew they had.

Denis Villeneuve has easily become one of my favorite film makers in the last few years. I've loved all his recent films, so I decided to go back and see what he made before Prisoners put him on my radar. 

Incendies does ask you to suspend a bit of disbelief. Nawal could've just written her story down instead of sending her children on a hunt throughout the Middle East, but hey you're gone. The story is told between Jeanne trying to get more information about her mother and flashbacks showing Nawal's very difficult life.

No seriously, this movie gets pretty fucked up. Even with that, it's a fascinating story and I never wanted to stop learning about these characters. I've grown so used to Villeneuve's style through Roger Deakins' lens that this film felt very different from his others. I like the focus he put on his characters, he let their actions speak volumes.

Grade: B

Watched on: Netflix DVD

Memorable Quote: "I need you here." - Jeanne (Mélissa Désormeaux-Poulin)

Comments

  1. MyerlaSeptember 1, 2017 at 2:43 PM

    This is one of the few films that shocked me to the core. The reveal of the twins father was just...no words.

    ReplyDelete
  2. thevoid99September 1, 2017 at 3:17 PM

    I saw this a few years ago and yeah... that reveal in the end is absolutely fucked.

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousSeptember 1, 2017 at 9:37 PM

    He's a really interesting film maker. This movie, though, jeez. It was tough.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamSeptember 2, 2017 at 8:57 AM

      It was. I thought his other films had tough subject matter...nope.

      Delete
  4. Paskalis DamarSeptember 7, 2017 at 1:58 AM

    I was torn by the ending. It was completely intriguing. Although, I wouldn't say that this movie only works because of the ending.
    Great review, anyway!

    ReplyDelete

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