Fires/Scorched (Drama, Mystery, War)

Actors:

Mélissa D-Poulin    Maxim Gaudette      Lubna Azabal        Rémy Girard

Jeanne Marwan      Simon Marwan        Nawal Marwan      Jean Lebel

Director:

Debus Villeneuve(French Canadian film director)

Plot:

Nawal, an Arab immigrant, dies and leaves a quest for her twin children Simon and Jeanne. She wanted them to find their brother, who was born from wedlock. They go back to their mother’s home country and retrace her steps to try and find their brother. They think initially that their father was Wahab and their brother was born from rape in the prison but they learn that they were the ones that were born in the prison and Nihad was not only their brother but also was their father.

Technical Aspects:

The aspect that enhanced this movie was how we learned about Nawal’s past through the eyes of her children and how the journey of the twins was paralleled with scenes of their mother moving through her life.

Major themes and important Scenes:

Major themes: Religion, War, Family

Important Scenes: The most important scene was without a doubt when the revelation of Nihad being both Nawal’s son and rapist at the pool. It Showed the weight of the journey of both the twins and the mother and the horrors of war.

Strengths and Weaknesses

Strengths: One of the major strengths is how the story was told. It made sure that we were learning of Nawal’s past as she was experiencing it to heighten the story.

Weaknesses: One of the major Weaknesses was how at the beginning, I found it a little difficult to differentiate between the daughter and Nawal at times.

Rating:

This movie kept me in suspense and questioning my ideas on where and who the brother was. The use of paralleling the scenes between the mother experiencing her life and her children retracing her steps really added to the story.