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(7) THE BURNING PLAIN with Charlize Theron, Kim Basinger, Jose Maria Yazpik, Joaquim de Almeida and Tessa la. Written and directed by Guillermo Arriaga. Uptown Theatres. Reviewed by Lana Breedt ARTS CORRESPONDENT
IN a small town in New Mexico live two families. Gina (Kim Basinger) is a wife and the mother of four children.
She is having an affair with Nick Martinez (Joaquim de Almeida) who also has a family of his own. Mariana (Jennifer Lawrence), Gina‘s eldest daughter, gets an inkling of the love affair and repeatedly confronts her mother. She follows them to the trailer where they meet and witnesses her mother and her mother‘s lover die in a mysterious explosion.
The families, who despise each other, are left devastated. Out of curiosity about the tragic incident, Mariana and Santiago (JD Pardo), son of Nick Martinez, start a relationship of their own. The disapproval of their families causes them to flee to Mexico.
As the story develops, enter Sylvia (Charlize Theron), who is beautiful, licentious and obviously has a troubled past which leads her to being suicidal and masochistic. Carlos (Jose Maria Yazpik) and a young girl, Maria (Tessa la), follow her around and Sylvia gets re-introduced to her past that she has been trying to run away from for so long.
The movie constantly jumps back and forth which is rather confusing. As with some of his previous works, the director Guillermo Arriaga (21 grams and Babel), connects his characters in an extraordinary way in order to create a story that is intimate, intriguing and well worth watching.
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