Long but enormously worth it

Rating: 9/10 (14 March 2014)

I'd best begin with an admission. Usually, I only come to post a review on IMDb for what turned out to be the lousy films I paid hard-earned cash to see. I do this in the vain hope that others who also work for their money do not waste it on trashy flicks of which, as we cinema heads know, there are far too many. This time, though, I am here to praise a movie. This, believe me, is a first for me on IMDb.
The plot and characters of 'Incendies' have been discussed elsewhere by those who have reviewed this movie long before I saw it. So, I won't bore you with repeating all that. My intention is different. You see, I am a European expat who has lived and worked in the part of the word this movie is set in for many, many years. I remember very well the horror of seeing bombed out buildings, the dead everywhere, militia on street corners, gangs running amok on shooting sprees. The fear in the eyes of those in blind panic as they faced the dilemma of trying to get to the shop to buy food for their hungry children without being shot by a sniper's bullet.
Now, not for one moment am I suggesting that I ever experienced anything approaching the losses and utter misery of local people. I did not. Rather, what I am saying is that this film is so wholly accurate in depicting the arbitrary nature with which torture, immeasurable pain, and death descend that it left me quite emotional (and, believe me, I'm a tough old so-and so who has seen some real messes from war around the world.) This film is so exquisitely made and so well acted that it has the power to grip from the very first moment as it leads us, oh-so-carefully but painfully, toward the only conclusion available in a world so desperate and lost. It is, quite simply, stunning from beginning to end.
I can give it no higher praise than to say it is required viewing for every adult. Please take the time to watch it.