Last night I caught Guillermo Arriaga’s “The Burning Plain,” and like Guy, I’m having trouble settling my thoughts on the piece. I suppose our combined ponderings will have to serve as the film’s review here at In Contention, but unlike Guy’s relatively reserved recommendation, I have to say I wholeheartedly endorse it as perhaps Arriaga’s most focused and, therefore, effective work yet.
As a screenwriter in tandem with filmmaker Alejandro González Iñárritu (a partnership which crumbled around the production of 2006’s “Babel”), Arriaga has proved adept at twisting his narratives with potent themes and powerful, evocative structures. But “The Burning Plain” represents a brave move inward rather than forward.
I agree with Guy’s notion that the debuting director may have been “looking to safely downshift gears by making a tasteful, intelligent mainstream melodrama,” but more than that, I believe the film to be Arriaga’s most successful character study to date.
The narrative hinges on a pair of mother-daughter relationships coming from different but familiar directions. At it’s core, however, “The Burning Plain” is, in my view, a tone poem on the effects of betrayal in its many nuanced forms, an idea that takes on a whole different meaning when you consider Arriaga’s falling out with Iñárritu three years ago.
Charlize Theron is stunning in the film’s purest leading role, a reminder that “Monster” was no fluke and that the actress is hungry to carry across truth with her portrayals. But I was equally impressed with Kim Basinger as an unfaithful housewife with scars both deep and on the surface, as well as the beautiful Jennifer Lawrence, a real find.
The film’s planned Video On Demand release (on DirecTV, for a change) was mentioned in today’s round-up. I can only hope that the progressive strategy won’t affect the film’s Oscar chances, but I’m also not sure Theron can land the nomination she deserves unless Magnolia Films was willing to drum up a considerable campaign.
I emailed Arriaga after the screening to pass along my praise because I’m so proud of the guy. We haven’t spoken since the “Babel” days but it’s good to hear from old acquaintances. He’s in Morocco now, his first visit ever to the country he wrote about in “Babel.” He also recently visited Japan for the first time and with the filming of “The Burning Plain,” it was his first trip to Oregon. All three locations, he said, were quite close to what he had in mind when hammering out the screenplays. The imagination is a fascinating thing.
Whatever the case, “The Burning Plain” is, in my view, one of the year’s best, a sterling success for Arriaga and a welcome respite from the high concept entertainment of the last few months. The film will be released On Demand August 21 and theatrically September 18.
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5 responses to “‘Burning Plain’ is Arriaga at his best”
I may disagree with you slightly on the film itself, but I wholeheartedly echo your praise for the performances. Lawrence has a massive future, and Basinger’s turn has lingered with me more than I thought it would — easily the best work of her career. If Theron gets an awards push, they deserve one too.
I pretty much liked it when I got around to watching it this week, but I’d be lying if I said I found it terribly interesting (I’d hew closer to “mildly”). Dare I say I prefer his ‘showy’ jumping through narrative hoops — was a bit more absorbed in the material the last few outings.
This might be a dumb question, but since they are releasing it OnDemand first, does that disqualify it from Oscar consideration? I thought a film must be released in theatres first…
Maybe it has more chance to win Emmy and Globes than Oscars, that’s why it’s premiering on TV in the US.
The same happened with The Life and Death of Peter Sellers, it premiered at Cannes and then it was shown on TV in the US and it got a shitload of Emmys.
Parts of this movie were shot in the town I live in, and Arriaga is coming back in September to do a special Q&A at our tiny arthouse theater… I’m definitely going to be attending that.