Incendies

In Brief: Denis Villeneuve’s Incendies is the most intense film I’ve seen all year. It’s also one of the most compelling — and, in its own way, one of the most entertaining. The brilliance of Incendies lies in its fragmented presentation of the story as a mystery. This provides the film with that rarest of qualities — the sense of wanting to know what happens next. I’m going to say nothing more about the plot — that should be left to the film — but I do want to note that the performances are quite wonderful, but none matches the intensity of Lubna Azabal. And yet Azabal’s is not a showy performance in the least, offering very few big moments and internalizing its intensity at every turn. There’s nothing of the Oscar-bait we’re so often served in what are commonly thought of as great acting. This is something that completely transcends such. This is the goods. And so is the film, which is a must-see. This excerpt was taken from a review by Ken Hanke originally published on June 7, 2011.