The Burning Plain by Guillermo Arriaga

The Burning Plain is the debut feature from the astonishing writer Guillermo Arriaga.

Arriaga was formerly responsible for such spellbinding films like Babel, 21 Grams, Ameros Perros and The Three Burials Of Melquiades Estrada. Each of these films I was absolutely enthralled by and they would often make my top ten lists of that year. The films are thought provoking yet passionately engaged.

The Burning Plain is not in the same league as Arriaga other work but is still some of the most challenging work you will see. For the mere fact that it deals with two great female characters with such depth and honesty that is rarely seen today in cinema. BOth Charlize Theron and Kim Basinger give beautifully nuanced work. I was particularly moved by one scene in particular with Basinger who is so over come with passion for the first time in a long time that her body turns into a quivering mess. It is both heartbreaking and life affirming at the same time.

The film follows a similar path to Arriaga's other screenplays in that it opens with an incident that will effect the lives of others and then shoots off and investigates all of these lives whether they be before the event or after. The problem I had was that I got to the ending before the Arriaga, that is not to say there is a twist it's just that the last 10 to 15 minutes of the film goes about trying to tie things up, not neatly but connectedly and I either knew or didn't know. So it led to a prolonged ending that really spoilt the rest of the film for me. Which is a shame because the film is beautiful.

But as drama's go, there will be very few and far between that will be as rewarding as The Burning Plain this year. Not to mention very few films will give the audience so much credit and not pander for the easy option.

Thank you to all of those people involved for making smart and challengin drama in a fresh way.