The Burning Plain (2008)

Director:

Guillermo Arriaga

Writer (WGA):

Guillermo Arriaga (written by)

Release Date:

7 November 2008 (Italy)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Romance

Tagline:

Love heals. Love absolves. Love burns.

Plot:

A drama with a two-tiered storyline concerning a mother (Basinger) and daughter (Theron) who try to form a bond after the young woman's difficult childhood.

Plot Keywords:

Daughter | New Mexico | Mother | Family Relationships | Female Nudity

Awards:

1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

Charlize Theron	...	Sylvia
Kim Basinger	...	Gina
Jennifer Lawrence	...	Mariana
José María Yazpik	...	Carlos
Joaquim de Almeida	...	Nick
Tessa Ia	...	Maria
Diego J. Torres	...	Cristobal
J.D. Pardo	...	Young Santiago
Danny Pino	...	Santiago
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
John Corbett	...	John
Brett Cullen	...	Robert
Gray Eubank	...	Lawrence
Rafael Hernández	...	Doctor Armendariz
Toni Marie Lopez	...	The woman
Sean McGrath	...	Scott
Cesar Miramontes	...	Plaza street vendor
Marty Papazian	...	Young Man
TJ Plunkett	...	Pat
Chris Ranney	...	Grocery Shopper
Aide Rodriguez	...	Operator
Fernanda Romero	...	Sophie
Kacie Thomas	...	Vivi
Robin Tunney	...	Laura
Malcolm Ullery	...	Priest's helper
Stacy Marie Warden	...	Monnie
Taylor Warden	...	Bobby

Also Known As:

Camino a la redención (Argentina)

MPAA:

Rated R for sexuality, nudity and language.

Runtime:

Canada:111 min (Toronto International Film Festival) | UK:106 min | Argentina:106 min

Country:

USA | Argentina

Language:

English | Spanish

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | DTS | SDDS

Certification:

USA:R | UK:15 | Netherlands:12 | Sweden:7 | Japan:PG12 | Portugal:M/16 | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:14A (British Columbia/Ontario) | Argentina:13

Filming Locations:

Depoe Bay, Oregon, USA

Company:

2929 Productions

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Siskel & Ebert & the Movies: (2009-09-05)" (2009)

As Astonishing, Moving, and Brilliant Film

This is the film where Charlize Theron shows what she can really do, and her performance is one of the finest cinematic achievements by an actress in years. It was clearly not just acting. There can be no doubt that she had every reason from her own life to feel passionately about the subject of parents, their passions, and their fate. The final shot of her at the end of the film shows more expression than any actress has had in her face for a very long time, and is immensely moving. It was all the more impressive in these days when actresses tend to have frozen faces because of all their facial surgery. After all, who else is there now who can get so many twitches in her forehead? Theron's eyes are haunted at the best of times, and she looks like a beautiful staring ghost even when she is in repose. But when she is conveying overwhelming emotions of guilt, regret, hope, love, despair, and desperate need all at once, her eyes glow with an eerie phosphorescence, and her face is transformed into a mixture of a scared little girl and a disembodied spirit who might at any moment start tapping on walls or streaking down a hallway in a white nightdress whilst wailing pitifully. There can be little doubt that Theron is tormented by inner demons, and when she lets them show, watch out. That's when the eyes glow green in the dark. It is so remarkable that this actress's first language is not even English but Afrikaans, as you would never know it for an instant. One reason she looks so unusual is that she is half German and half French, and first came to America when already grown, so that she does not have an American face, rather more of an extraterrestrial one, hence good for all countries. This film is primarily a tour de force by three separate actresses, each nearly as emotionally powerful as the other. Kim Basinger is astonishing in her bleak loneliness and desperation, her heartbreak, her insecurity as a result of her breast surgery for cancer, and her burning love for a handsome Mexican man (the charming and smiling Joaquim de Almeida, who should act at the Almeida Theatre in London sometime, as they seem so made for each other). Basinger conveys so much in so few words, and is a master of her craft. The biggest surprise of the film is the performance by Jennifer Lawrence (of Louisville, Kentucky, believe it or not, and I wonder if she knows my cousin Mary Lou), who plays Theron as a teenager in the flashback portions of this complex web of a story. Rarely has a girl so young so successfully portrayed an intensely disturbed and resolutely vengeful daughter with such heart-stopping success. It is a pity that she mumbled a lot of her lines, like Dakota Fanning does, because if she could learn to articulate everything she says properly so that we can hear and understand her, there would be no holding her back from a magnificent career. These young girls should take some speech lessons and learn to speak clearly like the older actresses do. After all, we can understand everything Theron says, and she comes from South Africa and speaks a weirdo pseudo-Dutch language with words in it which no one can even pronounce and which has many very harsh sounds to it which would rasp a normal person's throat in an hour and render him or her hoarse. If Theron can speak English properly, why can't Lawrence? Anyway, Lawrence certainly deserved her award for her role at the Venice Film Festival, and let's hope she also got a ride in a gondola, as Kentucky is such a land-locked state that the nearest gondola is at the Venetian in Las Vegas. This multiple and multi-layered tragedy of the two women, Basinger being the mother of Theron/Lawrence, is devastating emotionally. The script is by a master, Guillermo Arriaga, who also directs the film with his unique brand of genius. (The last person named Arriaga who was famous was the 'Spanish Mozart', composer of some of the world's most beautiful string quartets, who died aged only 21. I recommend the recording by the Chilingirian Quartet as the best one.) This story is a real gut-wringer. Be strong, be very very strong. But there is no bloody violence, no guns, no criminals, no drug dealers, no soldiers, no police. Debra Zane gets the gold star for inspired casting in this one, and so many of the Hispanic performances are wonderful that I only wish I could cope with their names and identities. Brett Lunn is marvellous as Basinger's husband. This is a 'people film', not a 'bang bang film'. There is one gas explosion, but all the other explosions are inside the hearts of the sufferers in this tormented tale. You could not find a better example of film-making from the year 2008 anywhere.