Incendiary (2008)

An adulterous woman's life is torn apart when her husband and infant son are killed in a suicide bombing at a soccer match.

Director:

Sharon Maguire

Writers:

Chris Cleave (novel), Sharon Maguire

Stars:

Michelle Williams, Ewan McGregor, Matthew Macfadyen

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Michelle Williams	...	Young Mother
Ewan McGregor	...	Jasper Black
Matthew Macfadyen	...	Terrence Butcher
Nicholas Gleaves	...	Lenny
Sidney Johnston	...	The Boy
Usman Khokhar	...	The Bomber's Son
Sasha Behar	...	The Bomber's Wife
Ed Hughes	...	Danny Walsh (as Edward Hughes)
Alibe Parsons	...	Pearl
Stewart Wright	...	Charlie
Al Ashton	...	Male Survivor (as Al Hunter Ashton)
Benjamin Wilkin	...	Young Policeman
Robin Berry	...	Dazed Supporter
Mercy Ojelade	...	Nurse Mena
Joe Marshall	...	Gary / VT Man

Storyline

Grief, guilt, and betrayal. In North London, a young mother dotes on her four-year-old son and lives in a modest flat with her husband, a cop in the bomb squad. The Arsenal football team is their religion. On May Day, a major terrorist attack brings tragedy while she is in the arms of a rich reporter who lives over the road. She wishes she were dead. In grief and guilt, she pursues revenge, faces betrayal, experiences delusions, and may be suicidal. Two men seek her affection: the reporter and a colleague of her husband's who imagines caravan camping with her on a beach. In London, the city of the Great Fire and of Hitler's bombardment, is there any way back to life for her?

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Plot Keywords:

guilt | grief | soccer match | beach | caravan | 

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Taglines:

The truth can blow you apart.

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Genres:

Drama | Romance | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for a strong sex scene and brief language

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [jp]

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

24 October 2008 (UK)

Also Known As:

Blown Apart

Filming Locations:

Camber Sands, Camber, East Sussex, England, UK

Box Office

Budget:

$10,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Aramid Entertainment Fund, Archer Street Productions, Capitol Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

96 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color Black and White (archive footage)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Natalie Dormer filmed two days, playing the role of Ewan McGregor's girlfriend, but her role ended up on the cutting room floor. Nevertheless, she called it a "great experience".

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Goofs

When Ewan MacGregor's character is checking the attendees list for the May Day game the game shows as Chelsea v Arsenal indicating that Chelsea were the home team, however the explosion was said to be in North London, presumably at Arsenal's Emirates Stadium, and the Chelsea ground is in West London.

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Quotes

[first lines]
The Boy: 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, Go...
The Boy: Mummy you blinked, I won.
Young Mother: Yes you did. Now in you get. Tomorrow we're going to the sea-side.
Young Mother: [narration - boy running on the beach] So, if I'm going to show you my life, better start here. My boy, in Camber Sands. Why this and why now? I'll come back to that.
The Boy: Mummy!
Young Mother: [narration] A force of nature was what the midwife called him when he came howling into this world four years ago. And he hasn't stopped since.
The Boy: Mummy!
Young Mother: [narration] Me and him spend a lot of time ...
[...]

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Connections

References Top Gear (2002)

User Reviews

expectations..

i think the main problem with the movie isn't the movie, it's that people are going in expecting a thriller instead of a drama. yes the major plot points could be covered in 5 minutes.. but that's not the point of drama. your average thriller is about things that happen and happen to have people in them. this movie is about the people and how they feel and cope when something momentous happens. if you appreciate that you'll appreciate the movie better, or not watch it cos it's not something that appeals to you.. and that's fair enough.

As far as the film goes, Michelle Williams carries it well. The accent's fine and the various states she goes through as she tries to deal with what has happened never feel you leaving disconnected or not understanding how she got there.

McGregor is his usual charming self, tho his is not really a major part (likewise MacFadyen), this is a movie about the mother and so these two don't get an awful lot of screen time.

The one fault i'd say is that the passage of time is not particularly well expressed particularly right at the end of the film when what seems to be a present day Ewan is wearing the exact same outfit as in the next scene which must be set sometime after.

Regardless, it's a decent movie, but requiring empathy.. so if you prefer action flicks, watch something else.