Incendies (2010)

Directed by: Denis Villeneuve Produced by: Luc Déry , Kim McCraw Screenplay by: Denis Villeneuve, Valérie Beaugrand-Champagne Cast: Lubna Azabal, Melissa Desormeaux-Poulin, Maxim Gaudette, Remy Girard Director: Denis Villeneuve Writer: Denis Villeneuve, Wadji Mouawad Genre: Drama Rating: R Running Time: 130 min. Advisory: for some strong violence and language

Incendies premiered at the Venice and Toronto Film Festivals to extremely positive reviews , but with such a limited audience, it hasn’t had a chance for much buzz to spread. Of course, its recent nomination for Best Foreign Language Film at the Oscars should change all that. Directed by Denis Villeneuve (Maelstrom), this Canadian film tells the story of two twins who, upon hearing their mother’s last wishes, journey to the Middle East in search of their tangled roots. Adapted from Wajdi Mouawad’s acclaimed play ‘Scorched’, the movie is described as a “powerful and moving tale of two young adults’ voyage to the core of deep-rooted hatred, never- ending wars and enduring love”. It was also featured on Peter’s list of Best Movies of 2010 That You Probably Haven’t Heard Of . Watch the trailer after the break. The movie looks interesting, but as tends to be the case for many indie dramas (and in particular foreign dramas) that can’t be easily summed up by money shots and punchlines, the trailer amounts to little more than a rousing score set against a series of calm shots in which not much is happening — save for the pictured one above. Nothing wrong with that, either; this is the sort of film where the trailer doesn’t so much help “sell” the film as it does provide it with exposure. That said, the trailer is still worth watching, if only for the off-chance that the music is accurately reflective of the actual score from the film. It really sounds quite beautiful and hypnotic.