Sometimes, death is only the beginning of a story. Such is the case with Jeanne and Simon, a twin brother and sister who go to a notary’s office to hear the reading of their mother’s will. Speaking to them from beyond, as it were, she says she will not rest in peace until they locate their father and brother. Since neither one of them knew they had another sibling, and believed their father was dead, this comes as quite a shock. Simon wants nothing to do with this, but Jeanne decides to travel to her ancestral Middle Eastern homeland to learn what she can. Meanwhile, and through carefully crafted flashbacks, we learn about the mother’s past; her forbidden love (she was born a christian and fell in love with a muslim) and abandonment, which eventually led her to do unthinkable things. And it is only through her story that we understand why she acts as she does, under the horrible circumstances she was forced to inherit.
The movie, which was nominated for an oscar this year as Best Foreign Language film, is nothing short of a triumph. And regardless of the outcome of the Academy Awards, “Incendies” is still a wonderful achievement for Canadian cinema. But I find it difficult to discuss it without revealing too much of the plot. Suffice to say that it’s a spectacular experience, and one that I’m bound to remember for a long time to come. The film also includes enough emotional power and shocking revelations to keep you absorbed at every turn. It’s meant to hit us right between the eyes, and does. If this isn’t brilliant filmmaking, then I don’t know what is. “Incendies” is my favorite movie of the year so far (note that it was released in 2010 in some countries), and I highly recommend it.
Rating: 4/4
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Categories: 4/4, drama, MUST-SEES, NON-HOLLYWOOD, other, The Twenty-First Century
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Anis, I was looking for 4/4 of u … so here it is 🙂 I saw the trailer, a drama so emotional movie which involve east and west! mmmmmm will watched and have some tissues for my for sure tears 😛
haha yea it’s pretty moving, and the story is just perfectly told. Im sure u’ll love it aswell 😀
4/4 😀 ? wow that doesn’t happen much 😀 checking asap
haha true true :p it rarely happens, but the movie really blew me away!
Totally agree with you! such an intense movie!
Simply loved it!
I can’t believe I am 3 years behind. Simply blew me away. Anis You rock keep it up (Y)
The movie is nothing compared to the book though, Wajdi Mouawad really knows how to build up suspense in words
Haven’t read the book. Are you saying it’s even better?
Yes I highly recomend it. The story is in fact a play and adapted to theaters before being made into a movie
Hey Anis!
Was checking your 4/4 & decided to watch this. It is beyond amazing & I absolutely loved it.
One thing though, the Arabic accent in the movie & names of places sounded so Palestinian but the setting (Christian vs Muslim wars) and timeline point to Lebanon.
What do you think of that?
Well they never mention the name of the country. But I read somewhere that it was set in Lebanon. I’m still trying to figure it out. I watched it again not long ago and it still sends shivers down my spine. It’s amazing!
You should read the book by Wajdi Mouawad its a 1000 times better than the movie