Reviews
The New York Times
A. O. Scott
"Mr. Villeneuve tells Nawal’s story in a way that is both subtle and emphatic, and Ms. Azabal, portraying Nawal from hopeful youth to despairing middle age, gives a performance that is all the more powerful for the restrained, unshakeable sense of dignity she brings to it … The perspective of Jeanne and Simon, modern Canadians wholly unaware of their roots in that history, makes the film into something more elusive and complex, a meditation on memory and identity that recalls some of the recent films of Atom Egoyan."
21/04/2011
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Sight & Sound
Roger Clarke
"[There is] a sense of almost trashy, coincidence-based melodrama at work here that’s not usually seen in sombre, sectarian-issue dramas of this kind. The extraordinary thing is that it works."
01/06/2011
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The Daily Telegraph
David Gritten
"…astonishingly intense but impressively poised … Incendies is no one’s idea of a joyful ride, but it’s a remarkable work, and its complex story etches itself on the memory."
23/06/2011
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The Observer
Jason Solomons
"... muscular, emotional film-making of the highest order, self-confident in its delivery yet always respectful of its characters' plight ... Even as it deals with the tangled knots left by conflict, Villeneuve never seems deceptive with his storytelling. "War has a merciless logic," a former warlord tells Melissa, and this story powers to a climax some might find contrived but which left me reeling, as if whacked over the head with a hardback copy of a Dickens novel."
26/06/2011
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The Scotsman
Siobhan Synnot
"Emotionally tough, compelling and visceral."
21/06/2011
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Empire Magazine
David Parkinson
"Adroitly cutting between flashback and detection, Villeneuve generates thriller-like suspense … he also explores graver themes like the scars of conflict and the cruelty of fate. The performances are as imposing as André Turpin’s imagery. But the key to the film’s credibility is Villeneuve’s restraint … A thriller that twists and turns with an understated power that will have you gripping the arm of your seat. Terrific stuff."
01/06/2011
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The Evening Standard
Derek Malcolm
"It isn't easy to open out a well-respected stage play without losing a lot of its bite and subtlety. But Denis Villeneuve's intelligent adaptation of Wajdi Mouawad's story does it justice."
24/06/2011
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The Independent
Anthony Quinn
"Azabal carries the historic burden of sorrow in a performance of reverberant intensity, but the twin siblings are also powerfully characterised. Once you're out of the film and unpicking the network of fate and coincidence, it may seem rather incredible; but while it's happening you can't tear your eyes from it."
24/06/2011
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The Times
Wendy Ide
"The twist at the end catches you off guard and leaves you gasping — it’s a punch to the stomach, the kind of melodramatic plot device more usually found in a particularly strident soap opera. But thanks to the gravity and intelligence of the storytelling, the audience focuses not on the somewhat lurid nature of the twist but on the quiet horror of its implications."
24/06/2011
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The Sunday Times
Cosmo Landesman
"The film’s central message, “blood begets more blood”, is not new, but Denis Villeneuve’s film is a powerful mystery about love, family and forgiveness."
26/06/2011
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Total Film
Tom Dawson
"Expertly shifting between present and past , writer-director Denis Villeneuve displays an impressive command of his material, patiently building up to an emotionally explosive climax."
13/06/2011
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The Independent on Sunday
Nicholas Barber
"You can understand why Incendies was nominated for a Best Foreign Language Film Oscar. It's a furrow-browed epic concerning the repercussions of war – and it happens to boast some fabulous cinematography, too. If you're going to watch a busload of women and children being machine-gunned by religious fanatics then I suppose the mountain scenery might as well look as crisp and sunny as it does here. But I wonder how many of the Oscar voters who supported it would choose to watch the film a second time."
26/06/2011
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The Guardian
Peter Bradshaw
"It's an intriguing movie, in some ways, but its contrived and even bizarre final revelation depends on coincidences of almost Hardyesque proportions. It is not really believable, and yet if it is not taken literally, but as a cinematic prose-poem, it has undoubted force."
23/06/2011
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Time Out
David Jenkins
"Pain, suffering, humiliation, bloodshed, martyrdom, misogyny, corruption, political instability, family secrets and death: … not what you’d call a laugh riot … let’s call it’s a strong film based on a weak story."
22/06/2011
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