Skip to main content

Incendies (2010)

 


Incendies (2010) is a French movie directed by Denis Villeneuve. The opening scene of the film is by far the most unnerving I have ever watched. It begins with a wide-angle shot of a large landscape and gradually zooms in on the inside of a shattered building. Inside, there were a few children whose hair was being trimmed by some adults. As one of the kids’ hair was being cut, the camera focused on him. And that kid gives a cold stare down, looking right at us through the camera. That stare was so unnerving for me as it was trying to say a lot of things. That stare was filled with sadness, helplessness, and pure anger. The stare was so diabolical that it looked straight at my soul and said, “You take your life for granted, and I am angry at you for that.”

This 3-minute opening of Incendies is a movie of its own. A kid with lots of questions and confusion on what is happening, a kid who was born in a world filled with hatred and horror. And the anger that he feels is something that never deflates to any sort of peaceful resolution. The wound he carries will always refuse to heal, which only fuels his anger and causes him to grow as the most feared adult. No human being is born a criminal or an evil person. The life they live, molded by hatred, will forge him to be the one the world will fear and despise.

The most haunting thing about wars is not death; it is not the uprooting of trees; it is not just the displacements of millions from their home. The most haunting thing about war is what it does to the children. Being born in a world full of anger and horror will teach them only those things. They sprout like wild vines only to spread more violence. As they grow up, the anger towards the world will make more sense to them than any love that they never received. Like a never-ending vicious circle, they come, following the threads of hatred left by those before them.


***

 

“You watch my story through this monitor, with snacks to please your taste buds, with a blanket to cover your feet.

I am jealous of you; I am angry at you; I want my Ummah and Abba to take me from here; I hate it here; I hate you.

Who is a Muslim? Who is a Christian? Who is a Jew? What is Israel? What is Palestine? Who is Jesus? Who is Muhammad? Where is Ummah? Where is Abba?

Why am I to be killed? Or why am I the one who kills?

You may sympathize with me and my story, and you may lose a night’s sleep thinking about me. You may curse the world for making me what I am now; you will pretend to be angry at the world for me. But then you will move on the next morning; you will be worried about yourself, and I will have to continue living this same life forever.

I don’t want your sympathy; your sympathy fuels my anger. Your sympathy is a mockery of my world.

I prefer to watch this world burn to ashes along with me than to redeem myself to live in it peacefully, like you.”


***

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Frangipani, Artists, and Angels.

“In the yellow street lights, to the cool breeze of a full moon night, a flower floated towards us. Nila grasped it in between her fingers, offered it to me, and asked, ‘Its name is Frangipanni, whenever you see this, will you think of me?” Thus wrote Kaber Vasuki in his song ‘Frangipanni’, about a girl named Nila. She is a beacon of hope that sheds light on the souls lost in life's chaos. She isn’t so pure as it might seem, or is there any human being that has ever been devoid of any impurities? But her presence was soothing for those who had the grace of knowing her. Nila is someone who giggles when the night’s cold breeze wafts the thick smell of Jasmine flowers along with it; she is someone who packs her bag and leaves for Calcutta because, why not? She is someone whom you will wish to know, to have that shed of light to reach upon you, when described by such a songwriter as Kaber Vasuki. That is why, when her death flows in like a poem in this song, I felt my heart yearning ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Dude review and what its takes to be a hero in 2K25

  Dude is unconventional; this movie deals with subjects that may offend the larger audience. But here is the highlight: it's not a ‘cuckhold movie’ or any other derogatory term could not be tagged to this movie. After its initial release, this movie got bashed left and right for portraying a love triangle most unconventionally; this initial response made me reluctant to go watch it. But after its OTT release, I thought I could give it a try, and not going to lie, I enjoyed every bit of this movie. Although the first 10 minutes of the movie were too chaotic for me to handle, and with the unpleasant mix of oorum blood song, the chaos was unbearable. I almost went to switch it off, as there was a predetermined opinion about this movie that exists within me from all the online responses. But I am very much glad that I watched it, and I loved it. I loved it, but.. Dude is not a great movie; it has its own flaws for a movie from a debutant director. This is the kind of movie that we...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Karur Incident. The rise of a hypocrite leader or another fall of an actor turned politician?

  TVK (Tamilaga Vetri Kazhagam) and its leader Vijay’s political career can be distinguished as before and after ‘The Karur Incident’. The developments after the dreadful incident in Karur, where 41 civilians had been suffocated to death in a stampede, will either sow the seeds for a new leader or witness yet another failure of an actor turned politician. Whereas the chance of the latter happening is more prominent, considering the magnitude of the incident, it is still possible to say that Vijay can make a positive political career out of all this. For that to happen, the political decisions of the TVK leader should be more critical. It is also important to note that if Vijay makes all the decisions that lead him to become the future leader, then the leader we get might not be such a charismatic one, but rather a hypocritical leader. And Vijay had already taken the steps to be one such leader. In the video he posted two days after the tragic incident, Vijay failed to take respon...
Post a Comment
Read more