Films like <Arrival>, <Blade Runner 2049>, and the <Dune> series depict humanity's choices in new and vast environments, exploring the essence of human existence through Denis Villeneuve's mythic narrative, which was already conceived in his film <Incendies>. The tragic narrative of a family in <Incendies> does not end with their story alone. It expands into a universal tale of humanity, cycling through anger and violence. Furthermore, <Incendies> encapsulates the archetype of themes that frequently appear in Denis Villeneuve's universe, such as the exploration of identity. The journey of Jeanne (Mélissa Désormeaux-Poulin) as she discovers her identity is echoed in films that follow Denis Villeneuve. His characters pose existential questions, like K (Ryan Gosling) in <Blade Runner 2049>, who agonises over whether he is human or a replicant, or Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet) in <Dune>, who constantly questions whether he possesses the ability to transcend humanity as a messiah.
Thus, <Incendies> stands at the starting point of Denis Villeneuve's universe. It is also a work that has imprinted his worldview, originating from Quebec, onto the world. On June 25, <Incendies> will be re-released in 4K remastering to celebrate its 15th anniversary. This remastering process involved the cinematographer André Turpin and Denis Villeneuve himself. In a time when wars due to religious conflicts are still ongoing, revisiting <Incendies> will be a meaningful endeavour.
After the death of their mother Nawal Marwan, twin siblings Simon (Maxim Gaudette) and Jeanne receive two letters from a notary. One is a will instructing them to deliver a letter to their father, whom they believed to be dead, and the other to a brother they never knew existed. Following their mother's last wishes, Jeanne heads to her mother's hometown in the Middle East. She embarks on a blind journey towards the truth, tracing her mother's past.
A Modern Variation of the Oedipus Myth
<Incendies> is an adaptation of the play 「Scorched」 by Wajdi Mouawad, a Quebec writer born in Lebanon. Denis Villeneuve retains the core narrative from the original, where the twin siblings follow their mother's will to uncover family secrets and confront their tragic fate. However, while the original directly reveals the personal trauma of Mouawad related to the Lebanese Civil War, <Incendies> expands into a symbolic space of war entangled with Middle Eastern conflicts and religious disputes by not specifically situating the film's space. The film evolves into a more universal and mythic story, establishing a distinct identity from the original.
<Incendies> intersects the realism of a documentary film with mythic tragedy. Jeanne's journey to her mother's hometown is depicted with the immediacy and vividness of a documentary. At the same time, the inescapable shadow of fate looming over a family evokes the tragic Oedipus myth. In the process of tracing her mother Nawal's past, Jeanne discovers that her mother gave birth to a child of a Muslim refugee. Born into a Christian family, Nawal is considered a disgrace to her family because of this, and she sends the newborn to an orphanage with only three dots tattooed on the child's right heel. The tattoo on the child's heel connects to the wounded foot of Oedipus (the name 'Oedipus' means 'swollen foot'). King Laius orders a shepherd to take the newborn Oedipus, who has a wound on his foot, and kill him. The marks inscribed upon their birth carry tragic truths and illustrate the inescapable yoke of fate. Just as Oedipus confronts the tragic truth of patricide and incest while trying to escape the prophecy, Jeanne and Simon in <Incendies> also come to learn an unbearable truth. However, <Incendies> modernises the Oedipus myth by explicitly stating that the anger and violence of humanity, entangled in religious disputes and civil wars, are the starting point and reason for tragedy.
※ From here on, the article contains spoilers for the film.
The Promise of Forgiveness that Breaks the Cycle of Anger
The child of Nawal sent to the orphanage is named Nihar. Nihar is raised by Muslim forces to become a sniper targeting Christians. Later, after being captured by the enemy, he is turned into a torturer by Christian forces. After assassinating the leader of a Christian militia, Nawal is sent to the southern prison of Kfar Ryat, a place where political prisoners like her are held, marked by the horrors of massacre and civil war. The guards, unable to break Nawal's spirit as she sings every day, send the torturer Abu Tarek to her. Abu Tarek repeatedly rapes her, and she ultimately becomes pregnant with his child. Thus, another tragedy is added to their already tragic tale. Unbeknownst to him, Abu Tarek becomes the Oedipus who has committed incest with his mother, Nawal, whom he sent away. The intended recipients of the letters meant for Jeanne and Simon were never anyone else but one person. The tragic narratives of Nawal and Nihar reveal the blurred lines between victim and perpetrator in a cycle of recurring violence, as well as the disintegration of family and the boundaries of others. The film goes further to dismantle the boundaries between forgiveness and revenge. Nawal leaves a final letter for Jeanne and Simon, stating, "The beginning of your story is a promise. A promise that breaks the flow of anger. Thanks to that, you have finally kept the promise. The flow has been broken. Being together is a wonderful thing."
