Incendies

Mysteries always tread a fine line between hiding too much and not hiding enough. Canadian film Incendies is a great example of a mystery drama that does get it right.

The film starts with an intriguing shot of a landscape and pulls back to reveal a boy having his head shaved. Without any explanation the film then switches elegantly to a scene where a notary is about to read out a will. Already I'm wondering what the connection is. Was the first scene in the past? Is the reading the present? We find out, of course, but never immediately... we have to keep watching.

After the opening scenes the film is a mixture of the consequences moving forward in time and the causes in the past. Big red words mark the transitions... often naming people who are about to be introduced to us. I think the writer/director Denis Villeneuve gets this spot-on; I don't recall ever thinking that I was being stalled; the story flows really well and the scenes from the past show you just what you need to know without spoiling the conclusion.

The central character played by Lubna Azabal holds everything together nicely. The daughter (Mélissa Désormeaux-Poulin) is very convincing; and a couple of times I initially mistook scenes which began with her as ones showing the younger Nawal. The son (Maxim Gaudette) is very brooding... you have to make your own mind up about whether he's justified or not.

We are presented with many tragedies which make us think. This is a very emotional film. It is delivered very cleverly to have maximum impact.

After the film was over I found myself wondering which characters knew what and when. I think I figured out most of it; but that doesn't really matter. The important thing isn't whether the exact sequence of events portrayed is possible, it is the realisation that wars destroy lives... and the hope that good people can rebuild them.