Showing posts with label The Burning Plain. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Burning Plain. Show all posts

Monday, July 23, 2012

The Burning Plain

By s. Monday, July 23, 2012 , , , , , , , 16 Comments
65/100 (107 min, 2008)
Plot: A drama with a two-tiered storyline concerning a mother and daughter who try to form a bond after the young woman's difficult childhood.
Director: Guillermo Arriaga
Writer: Guillermo Arriaga
Stars: Charlize Theron, Kim Basigner and Jennifer Lawrence

Love heals. Love absolves. Love burns.

If you are a movie fan you are probably familiar with the name Guillermo Arriaga. He is the guy who wrote scripts for many great Alejandro González Iñárritu's movies including Amores Perros, Babel and 21 Grams. The Burning Plain is his feature film directorial debut and it really shows his lack in experience when it comes to directing. While the story has many strong points and well written characters, the script is too chaotic. However what ultimately drags the movie down is the execution of that script .

To summarize the plot would be an impossible task - we watch three different women - Sylvia, (fantastic Theron) successful but self-destructive woman who hides her regrets and anger by engaging in casual sex, often with men she barely knows, Gina (Kim Basigner) who has recently beaten breast cancer and now finds herself engaged in an affair with a man, while at the same time pulling away from her husband and her daughter Mariana (Jennifer Lawrence) who sees her mother actions and doesn't understand them.