The Case for Fire Play

I had heard really good things about the Canadian film Incendies, and (to cut to the chase) the film definitely lived up to that hype. 

Sure, my knowledge of French was sorely taxed by some of the quicker Quebecois utterances, and my knowledge of Arabic is non existent, but the subtitles were clear and the dialogue slow enough to allow plenty of time for the slower readers amongst us to be able to grasp what was said as well as enjoying the beautiful cinematography on display.

Being a foreign language film, the session I saw at the Lighthouse in Petone was on the deserted side, with those of the blue-rinse set who did attend having some very loud conversations along the way.  I could understand their need to do so: the film jumps all over the place in time and space, and while the film is incredibly good at taking the audience with it on this time-hopping journey without the need for "time and place stamps" at every shift, there are still moments that take a while to adjust to.  That, plus the fact that there is no real explanation about the motivations and developments in the conflict in the Middle Eastern country (I assumed it was Lebanon due to the Christian/Muslim clashes) in which most of the film is set, means there were a few things that the more ignorant amongst us (myself included) were wanting to find out.

So, what makes the film so awesome?  As mentioned, it is amazingly put together.  There are no big, fancy special effects; there are just large, blood red letters that overpower the screen the tell us where we are and then, in the different time frames, the stories that take place in those locales unfold.

The story is that of Nawal, who left her Middle Eastern home to raise her twins in Canada.  The twins, on her death, realise that they know nothing about their mother's origins.  Incendies then is their voyage of discovery - and a harrowing one it is, to be sure.

Religious intolerance, family pride, war, torture, politics. there are a lot of things that shape Nawal's life and shock the viewer.  The Middle East itself, even when awash with blood or the smoke of burned out buildings, is beautifully stark, from the rock-strewn countryside to the crumbling beige towns.  Oddly, it is the shots of Canada that look less welcoming, the usual images of Mounties and beautiful pristine nature ignored in favour of pot-holed streets and drab inner city apartments.  It is hard to believe a film so cinematic ever started life as a play.

The performances of the actors as well are absolutely incredible, if occasionally incomprehensible (the Canadians speak clearer French when they head to the Middle East, thankfully).  While the aging process for some of the main actors involves makeup that would not go amiss in a Bride of Frankenstein flick, nothing can hide the passion with which they deliver their performance, even if most of that passion is of the depressing variety.

About the only thing I found hard to process with this film was one of the revelations, as I was struggling to do the math as to how this all could have come about, the lack of "signposting" of dates and locations, while awesome in one way, adding to my confusion at this point.  I will say no more about it, should anyone wish to see this film.

Verdict:  Incendies was an amazing movie.  Definitely not a film for everyone, considering its pretty traumatic subject matter coupled with its subtitled nature, but it is a well crafted, multi-cultural and powerful film that Canada/Quebec seems so incredibly capable of doing.  The ending left me a little unsatisfied (having to do math tends to do that to me), but overall, I was really glad I made the effort to see it.  9 cups of tea out of 10.