Best Movie Ever

Rating: 10/10 (31 July 2012)

I have probably by now watched this movie over ten times, in counting all the times that I have shown it to friends. Â…And every one of them loved itÂ… This movie I should not have liked, because it started a little bit slow. I didn't know what I was dealing with, and what significance the initial scenes would have throughout the movie. First the scene of the child whose hair is being shaved, then an ugly file room with a man standing there and then a will being read to two other protagonists. Â…hmmmÂ… Definitely a boring movie. NOT SO... Approximately five minutes into the movie I was hooked.
I have to admit though that I did watch the trailer and that I was attracted to this movie by the part where it was mentioned that "your mother was not crazy." This was enough to entice me to watch it. Throughout the movie, the facial expressions and display of emotions of the actors, especially the ones of Lubna Azabal were stunning. It made me an immediate fan of hers. The acting was just superb this movie all around.
This is not your typical movie and not your typical feel-good storyline. It is something new and refreshing, something that I had not seen before. Very few movies made in Hollywood have good plots now-a-days. The few recent Hollywood movies that were memorable in my opinion were Doubt and Precious, because the plots were unique. With that said, I am usually underwhelmed by the lack of a good plot/story-line/twists, or just shocked at how they overstep the imagination in order to somehow come up with a " TWIST," Watching Incendies was a great experience. This movie made me go on the search for non-Hollywood movies left and right.
I read some reviews criticizing such things as Lubna's accent and how the scenery didn't match every aspect of Lebanon (the presumed country where this was taking place). I disagree with that finding, as after all, this is all fiction, and as such, it does not have to be 100 percent perfect. Being that I know that this is fiction, I understand and tolerate the fact that the plot development and culmination are unrealistic, but that's what art is all about. After all, this movie came from a play, correct? You might as well criticize the play, instead of the movie.
Compared to the crap that Hollywood feeds us most of the time, I say that this movie is probably one of the best ever made. I could give this movie an 11 out of 10, because it really deserves it.