El incendio

A quiet series of seamless long takes and tracking shots of a couple's unhealthy relationship and state in life. This is a hell of a character-driven film to just watch alone. A lot is said without words, though, so there's quite a bit to take in from (probably) every scene. By the end, I felt like I knew the two characters on a deeper level than expected.

(significantly easier to read on my blog)

Things I Like:

1) Da tension

2) How both partners are hiding things

3) Da cinematography

4) Dat sex scene

5) Da hug

6) How much sense the opening scene makes by the end

7) The end credits songs

Side Notes:

There's a scene in which something is casually revealed to the audience. All I'll say about it is that I played it back after it ended and was left wondering how common it is.

The last third of this film is a trip, and I don't get the ending.

To my surprise, it's on Amazon Prime (sub). Again, totally not sponsoring anybody. Just happened to notice while going through my process.

Slight Spoilers From Here On:

Honestly, I feel bad for him. She seems to have some degree of issues that a therapist could help resolve while he has problems and no one to hold him.

Considering what happens with the one who helped her after the incident and bothered to wait for her to finish, I'm going to conclude that she's the type of person that simply cannot be in a healthy relationship for whatever reason (relevant School of Life: "Why Nice People Are Scary").

This film has one of the best sex scenes I've seen. Fully captured. Unapologetic. And with a degree of realism. Dat aftermath, tho. 👌

Favorite Line:

"I'll try to change."

El Incendio (The Fire) is a sneak peek into the lives of a hostile couple who are going through life changing experience and are required to reevaluate their relationship, thanks to their own troubled lives.

The above description is enough to plot out the film but if one chooses to watch the film can clearly see that there are times when the script tried to achieve so much more than just this and fails. The film tried to blend a wholesome narrative of new-generation love and their challenges while setting it up in a slice of the life timeframe. Alas because of limited support from the script it doesn't work.

With little to none character development we end up with long drawn emotional exchange spree that only prompts you to ask questions whose answers are not provided. Like in a scene the lead pair complain to each other that they hate each other. The audience with no resource to either confirm or deny or make any opinion is just a mere spectator of what can be described as a car-wreck of a relationship. With fundamental questions like how do they reach there unanswered.

The only saving grace for the film is the committed performances of the lead pair. Albeit sometimes emotionally exhausting to root for any one we can understand the emotional pain that each character is going through. That's clearly something.