Incendies

Plot

Twins journey to the Middle East to discover their family history, and fulfill their mother's last wishes.

Release Year: 2010

Rating: 8.2/10 (14,847 voted)

Critic's Score: 82/100

Director:
Denis Villeneuve

Stars: Lubna Azabal, Mélissa Désormeaux-Poulin, Maxim Gaudette

Storyline
A mother's last wishes send twins Jeanne and Simon on a journey to 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.

Writers: Denis Villeneuve, Wajdi Mouawad

Cast:

Mustafa Kamel
–

Barbier de la Milice
/
Officer Milice Chrétienne

Hussein Sami
–

Nihad (5ans)

Rémy Girard
–

Notaire Jean Lebel

Mélissa Désormeaux-Poulin
–

Jeanne Marwan

Maxim Gaudette
–

Simon Marwan

Dominique Briand
–

Prodessor Niv Cohen

Lubna Azabal
–

Nawal Marwan

Frédéric Paquet
–

Médecin a l'urgence

Hamed Najem
–

Wahab

Ahmad Massad
–

Bassem Marwan

Bader Alami
–

Nicolas Marwan

Majida Hussein
–

Grand-mére de Nawal

Asriah Nijres
–

Sage-Femme

John Dunn-Hill
–

Professeur Saïd Haidar

Nadia Essadiqi
–

Secrétaire Université

Taglines:
The search began at the opening of their mother's will.

Details

Official Website:
Official Facebook [United Kingdom] |
Official Facebook [United States] |

Release Date: 12 January 2011

Filming Locations: 175 Boulevard Deguire, Montréal, Québec, Canada

Opening Weekend: $CAD177,910
(Canada)
(19 September 2010)

Gross: $6,857,096
(USA)
(25 September 2011)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

Canada: 130 min

Did You Know?

Trivia:

This film won the Best Feature Film awarded by the jury at the 2011 Adelaide Film Festival. Director Denis Villeneuve responded by saying that "As a poetic sign of gratitude to [the] Adelaide Film Festival, I'll give the name of 'Adelaide' to one of my main characters in my next film. So thank you one thousand times to [the] Adelaide Film Festival!"

Quotes:

[subtitled version]

Notary Jean Lebel:
[after making a promise]
To a notary, Mr. Marwan, a promise is a sacred thing.

User Review

Unforgettable

Rating: 10/10


A bona fide masterpiece. As simple as that. It is ironic that one of
the best films about the Middle East conflict, and specifically the
tragic civil war in Lebanon, should be made by a Canadian film maker.
Incendies is based on a play but it feels as though it has been adapted
from a great literary work. In fact there is no specific mention of any
country in the film but no one can be in any doubt that the unnamed
country is Lebanon.

A Canadain-Lebanese woman dies in Canada and in her will she leaves two
letters to her twin son & daughter. One is to be delivered to their
brother (whom they did not know existed) and the other to their father
(whom they had presumed dead). To find these people they have to travel
to Lebanon to unravel the mysterious past of their deceased mother. As
we follow their search, flash backs slowly reveal to us key moments in
the life of their mother.

There are extremely powerful and unforgettable images and scenes in
Incendies. Suffice to say that even if you have no interest in the
history of the Middle East, this film will capture your attention from
the start and grips you right till the end. It is the third great film
(and arguably the best)that I've seen on this topic after Waltz with
Bashir and Lebanon. All of these are essential viewing.