Incendies

Incendies

This outstanding Canadian film is the Canadian entry for best foreign film for the Oscars. By the time you read this notice it will have been decided if it is a contender. It has already won awards at both the Vancouver and Toronto film festivals.

The film is currently playing at the TIFF Bell Lightbox. I couldn’t believe it when the 12:30 showing on a Friday afternoon was filled.

Director and writer Denis Villeneuve is the best. The story is captivating. Apparently Villeneuve saw the play, Scorch and was spellbound by the topic.

The music throughout was noteworthy. The cinematography was spectacular. The rolling hills of the dessert like terrain are superbly shown. The film takes place in some unknown Middle East country. It has a fictitious name. It doesn’t even matter which country it is but everyone’s guess is that the story could take place in Lebanon because of the terrain in the picture and the storyline of hatred between Christians and Muslims.

The story goes back and forth from Canada to this Middle East country.

Two twins, Jeanne and Simon living in Canada are called in to the lawyer’s office to hear the will of their mother, Nawal Marwam, an Arab-Canadian. It has a few rather bizarre requests. There is obvious animosity between the twins and the mother. The will orders them to find their lost brother who they knew nothing about) and their father (who they thought was dead) and give them letters. When that is done she will allow them to put a headstone on her grave.

The son wants no part of this. So Jeanne sets out to discover her mother’s past. She visits orphanages, villages a prison asking questions everywhere.

The mother had been born in a small village in this Middle Eastern country. The family was poor. When she became pregnant the brothers wanted an honor killing. The grandmother allowed her to give birth but sent the baby away. The mother was sent to the city to live with an uncle and to be educated. The mother always thought about this lost child.

We follow the intrigue and wanderings of the mother during her life. At one point she became a tutor to a rich family. The father was one of the leaders of the opposition. She states,” I want to teach the enemy what life has taught me.” She kills the leader and is sent to a horrible prison for years. The conditions were unbelievable. The prison had been condemned by international agencies. She kept her sanity by singing. She was brutally raped by the torturer in the prison. As a result she became pregnant and gave birth to the twins.

The war conditions are clearly suggested but the horror is never fully shown on the screen. You see the after effects of burnt out villages and burnt vehicles on the road. Even in the prison you do not see the actual torture at any time. The film makes such an emotional impact.

There is suspense at all times as Jeanne goes back to track her mother’s life.

The ending is most surprising. I felt the tension in the audience throughout this film.

The director has done an amazing job. Each actor is superb in his/her role. I thought this was a magnificent movie. I did have some trouble with the ending but Villeneuve can’t be blamed for that because he was re-telling the story of the play Scorched that had already been written. This is a modern day Greek tragedy.