Incendies

Incendies (2010)

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R - 139 min - Drama, Mystery, War - 12 January 2011
Big Blue Sky Rating : 8.1/10

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Director : Denis Villeneuve
Writers : Valérie Beaugrand-Champagne, Wajdi Mouawad
Stars : Lubna Azabal, Mélissa Désormeaux-Poulin, Maxim Gaudette, Mustafa Kamel

A mother's last wishes send twins Jeanne and Simon on a journey to the Middle East in search of their tangled roots. Adapted from Wajdi Mouawad's acclaimed play, Incendies tells the powerful and moving tale of two young adults' voyage to the core of deep-rooted hatred, never-ending wars and enduring love.

Fantastic! Villeneuve's best film yet

This film is extraordinary on just about every level. The script is terrific, the actors are perfect, the direction and cinematography are all you could hope for. I recommend it without hesitation.

Anyone who has seen any of Villeneuve's previous work--or Andre Turpin's Zigrail--knows that these filmmakers have bodies of work that are almost without peer in contemporary cinema world-wide and are unparallelled in the history of Canadian cinema (until seeing Incendies, Maelstrom was my favourite Canadian film). Incendies does not betray that "legacy". You should absolutely see it.

In a film as stunning as this one it's odd to single out one aspect, but I must say that Lubna Azabal's performance is among the best I've ever seen. Though I've watched a few films that she's been in in the past, she never really stood out for me. She is devastatingly good in this picture.

I do hope that this film gets submitted to the AMPAS for Oscar selection as it is definitely the best film I've seen this year and a shoe-in for the foreign picture Oscar.

My only complaint about the film was the use of music by Radiohead, which took me out of the film each time it played. The rest of the music cues were spot-on and quite excellent, but Thom Yorke's voice belonged nowhere near this film.

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Prisoners

Prisoners (2013)

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R - 153 min - Crime, Drama, Thriller - 20 September 2013
Big Blue Sky Rating : 8.2/10

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Director : Denis Villeneuve
Writers : Aaron Guzikowski
Stars : Hugh Jackman, Jake Gyllenhaal, Viola Davis, Melissa Leo

How far would you go to protect your family? Keller Dover is facing every parent's worst nightmare. His six-year-old daughter, Anna, is missing, together with her young friend, Joy, and as minutes turn to hours, panic sets in. The only lead is a dilapidated RV that had earlier been parked on their street. Heading the investigation, Detective Loki arrests its driver, Alex Jones, but a lack of evidence forces his release. As the police pursue multiple leads and pressure mounts, knowing his child's life is at stake the frantic Dover decides he has no choice but to take matters into his own hands. But just how far will this desperate father go to protect his family?

Spellbinding

Prisoners is extremely suspenseful and equally disturbing. Canadian director Denis Villeneuve, whose last film was the equally spellbinding and disturbing Incendies, builds up the tension from the first frame and does not let up for the full 153 minutes of the movie. Aaron Guzikowski's script, though on the surface a child kidnapping thriller, bucks all Hollywood trends and, as well as being a taut thriller, poses serious moral issues. It also helps that the film has a first rate cast doing outstanding work: Hugh Jackman, Jake Gyllenhaal, Paul Dano, Terence Howard, Melissa Leo, Maria Bello and Viola Davis. Prisoners is not for the faint heated but is likely to feature strongly at next year's Oscars.

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Prisoners

Prisoners (2013)

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R - 153 min - Crime, Drama, Thriller - 20 September 2013
Big Blue Sky Rating : 8.2/10

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Director : Denis Villeneuve
Writers : Aaron Guzikowski
Stars : Hugh Jackman, Jake Gyllenhaal, Viola Davis, Melissa Leo

How far would you go to protect your family? Keller Dover is facing every parent's worst nightmare. His six-year-old daughter, Anna, is missing, together with her young friend, Joy, and as minutes turn to hours, panic sets in. The only lead is a dilapidated RV that had earlier been parked on their street. Heading the investigation, Detective Loki arrests its driver, Alex Jones, but a lack of evidence forces his release. As the police pursue multiple leads and pressure mounts, knowing his child's life is at stake the frantic Dover decides he has no choice but to take matters into his own hands. But just how far will this desperate father go to protect his family?

the must see movie of the year

Prisoners is without a doubt what has to be the movie of the year. There's stunning work from this great ensemble cast, Hugh Jackman & Jake Gyllenhaal both give award worthy performances. Paul Dano gives a good take on a troubled teen with much subtlety. This is a very tense movie that will capture your attention and keep it the whole way through. This movie's cinematography by Roger Deakins is beautiful, the screenplay while based on an idea that's not original shows you a different take on it. The conversations the characters have are so riveting, you feel yourself questioning your own morality, and if you would do some of the actions these characters take. 10/10

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Incendies

Incendies (2010)

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R - 139 min - Drama, Mystery, War - 12 January 2011
Big Blue Sky Rating : 8.1/10

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Director : Denis Villeneuve
Writers : Valérie Beaugrand-Champagne, Wajdi Mouawad
Stars : Lubna Azabal, Mélissa Désormeaux-Poulin, Maxim Gaudette, Mustafa Kamel

A mother's last wishes send twins Jeanne and Simon on a journey to the Middle East in search of their tangled roots. Adapted from Wajdi Mouawad's acclaimed play, Incendies tells the powerful and moving tale of two young adults' voyage to the core of deep-rooted hatred, never-ending wars and enduring love.

Recommended viewing

During the reading of the will of their mother's, a twin brother and sister learn of some unusual last wishes. Amongst other requests, two envelopes need to be delivered to respectively the father of the two and a brother whom are both unknown. The quest leads the twins through the Middle East where they slowly learn of the horrific tales which is the life history of their late mother.

The movie tells a very graphic but endearing story, perfectly shot and acted allowing the viewer to get fully immersed into the journey and findings of the twins. Through flashbacks we learn about the hardship of the mother and, eventually, the fate of the father and brother. As a treat, there is a great twist at the end which is really the icing on the cake.

Highly recommended.

92/100

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