Fires


I have a lot on my plate right now and I'm really really tired. Hence the not blogging much. Basically I'm sleeping my weekend away and you know what, I don't feel guilty about it AT ALL.

Last weekend, which was the long weekend for us Canadians, I had a chance to see Denis Villeneuve's Incendies (E1 Films Canada 2010), a film I have been wanting to see since last year's TIFF (it wasn't one of the films I picked to go to because I knew it would be easy to watch here in Canada). Uh, WOW, WOW, WOW! This movie was unbelievable. I went with two other friends and we were basically left speechless by the end. The whole audience was, in fact. You could hear audible gasps throughout the movie as the plot unfolded and at times I was trying to wrap my head around what I was figuring out in my mind. It takes place in an unnamed Middle Eastern country, but it basically is Lebanon by all accounts. Nawal Marwan has died in Montreal and has left specific instructions to her twin children, Jeanne and Simon, to find their Brother (unknown to them until that point in time) and their Father and give them letters she has written to them. Only then can she be buried properly. It is a fascinating journey, with twists & turns and just a lot of tension throughout. I loved it & highly recommend it. But it's not easy to watch. Very very heavy.


The use of music throughout Incendies was very effective too. Denis used Radiohead's You And Whose Army and I thought it was a fantastic choice for the opening scene. See?



I've only seen one other film by Denis Villeneuve, which was his short, Next Floor (CBC Television 2008) that played at the Toronto After Dark Film Festival. It was pretty brilliant too. Let me just say, it's not your average Dinner Party! Here's the trailer:



I think Denis is extremely talented and it's great to see him get recognition outside of Canada. One of the other films he is well known for is Polytechnique (Alliance 2009). It is based on the Montreal Massacre of 1989 at École Polytechnique in Montreal where Marc Lépine killed 14 women - 12 Engineering students, 1 Nursing student and 1 Employee. I haven't been able to watch it because I remember that tragedy so well. I was still in University, actually writing my Exams, when I heard about it. I went to a University known for its Math & Engineering programs, so to hear that this man went on a well planned killing rampage of female students at an Engineering School was so disturbing & shocking. It really affected not only me, but everyone at University, heck, across Canada. My ex-boyfriend also happened to live in Montreal so it was a very weird feeling all around. I thought about it for months. I guess that is why I haven't been able to watch this film, and I'm not sure if I will ever be able to.