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Twins from Montreal get summoned to the office of their mother’s employer after her death. She had worked for him close to two decades ago after fleeing from a country steeped in sectarian violence, similar to Lebanon. To their utter shock, they discover she left behind two letters. Jeanne (Melissa Desormeaux-Poulin) gets asked to give her letter to a father she has never met. Meanwhile, Simon (Maxim Gaudette) is informed he has an unknown brother and is instructed to give the letter to him.
This is incredibly engaging for a thriller, and “Incendies”, which was nominated for an Oscar does not shy away from this fact. However, it also goes beyond being just a thriller, and succeeds in reasoning why it makes no sense to hate others because of their religion. Religions are not necessarily chosen, but a practice that one is born into, and “Incendies” teaches us the unfortunate truth that birth is not a justifiable reason for hatred.
The author of two letters is Nawal the twins’ mother, and it is she who comes to this conclusion. Jeanne goes to the Middle East to fulfill her mother’s wishes. Simon, on the other hand, holds onto Canada bitterly for a while in the story. In flashbacks that are triggered by Jeanne’s meetings and conversations, we learn about Nawal’s earlier years. Nawal was born a Christian and married a Muslim which, at that time, was impossible for both of them. This thoroughly sent her on a romantic, religious, and mythical political adventure which pushed her to do the unthinkable.
She is not the only one with absurd qualities. Other people not of a murderous nature chose to kill others and defend it in the name of their gods. The inhumane deeds of gruesome slaughters changed the face of crowded places. The gods became a thing of the past, for once people started praying to seek vengeance for war, the need for the tribe completely ceased. A season of violence committed by fanatics turned into years of violence done by the innocent who were given weapons. Villeneuve is particularly terrifying when portraying adolescents with guns killing others.
The storyline of “Incendies” revolves around a Wajdi Mouawad play that has been described as having elements of dramatic monologues. Villeneuve’s screenplay restructures the piece to make it more cinematic, where action often takes precedence over description. This particular story could almost pass as a noir novel anywhere in the world with a few modifications, taking its pick of the many somber reasons men fabricate for murder.
The film works in its Middle Eastern setting because the region’s strife adds a more modern touch and the sequences of combat, rape, and torture are brutally effective and to the point. Whenever Lubna Azabal performs Nawal in her later years, she is always stunning and helps the audience grasp why she does what she does, which, unfortunately for her, she has little control over. Along with that, the writing from Villeneuve makes every effort to clarify events that may have become muddied. He reveals his film’s jaw-dropping secret in the most specific manner, doing so through cryptic dialogue, which is spectacular.
You will be amazed by the last scene of the film, as I do not intend to spoil it for you. From the perspective of rigid reasoning, I do not know if this fully works out, but when the goal is revelation, the logic can be set aside. And that revelation, when it comes, unveils the pathos of “justified” murder and gifted acts of cruelty. And this mysteries motives placing context clues throughout the film had me staying till the end.
So the question that I want you to ponder after watching the film is what was the mother’s intention in leaving the letters behind for her kids? Yes, we can see, They deserve to know the truth about their father and their brother. However, Diana assumed the children would, on the whole, take to the letters during electrical shock treatment. What she did was assign them a mission that was bound to fail. If the children in question never learned the truth, then what purpose do the letters serve? It is indeed puzzling.
Those letters provide the motive for Jeanne’s journey which, for Simon, is fundamentally different. They are just plot devices. What does bother me is the function I’m so much acquainted with through comic books. It’s called a MacGuffin. “Incendies” has a disturbing way of telling it and that’s why I’m not so bothered with the device.
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