Immersed in culture (film locations include Canada and Jordan) and critics’ approval (it was thought to be a shoo-in for the Academy Awards’ Best Foreign Language Film), INCENDIES (2010) leaves a richness in scenery that can only be in good taste for international mysteries. Director Denis Villeneuve (also responsible for one of last year’s most teeth-grating box office dramas) adopts the skeletal backbone of Wajdi Mouawad’s play and the life events of actual Lebanese assassin Souha Bechara to bring together a story of a twin brother and sister (Maxim Gaudette and Melissa Desourmeaux-Poulin) who finds out, upon their mother’s deathbed, that they have a brother and father to find. Enter in religious warfare, infamous prisons, and chaotic family ties, and we complete Villeneuve’s usual complicated knots tied by one-word titles (“incendies” is a French word for “destruction by fire” or “scorched”).

INCENDIES (2010) [130 min.]
Thursday, May 22 at 6 PM @ the French Cultural Center
Followed by an open discussion led by the FCC Film expert Barbara Bouquegneau
FREE ADMISSION (suggested donation of $5)