The Burning Plain Movie
Storyline
TAGLINES PLOT SUMMARY
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.
| Charlize Theron | Sylvia |
| Kim Basinger | Gina |
| Jennifer Lawrence | Mariana |
| José María Yazpik | Carlos |
| Joaquim de Almeida | Nick |
| Diego J. Torres | Cristobal |
| Tessa Ia | Maria |
| J.D. Pardo | Young Santiago |
| Danny Pino | Santiago |
| Brett Cullen | Robert |
| Gray Eubank | Lawrence |
| Sean McGrath | Scott |
| Cesar Miramontes | Plaza street vendor |
| Marty Papazian | Young Man |
| TJ Plunkett | Pat |
| Guillermo Arriaga |
7.20 out of 10 (477 votes)
Visitor Reviews
Life as a series of scars.
posted on 09 Jul 2009Cause harm repeatedly to most parts of the body and they eventually grow desensitised, calloused and indifferent to the pain over time. This dispassionate, earthy and very dry aesthetic that film-maker Guillermo Arriaga applies to the world of his first major directorial outing is king; between the barren desert landscapes that permeate within the backdrops of his strangely distant and out-of-sync characters and the sparse narrative that intertwines it all together, The Burning Plain views life as a series of scars—cold and unrepresentative of the pain that brought them to the surface, but a firm reminder as such that nothing ever quite goes away, no matter how far you run. For the characters of Arriaga's story, a central catastrophe of sorts serves as the unfortunate catalyst that will bring them all together whether they like it or not. A burning trailer, housing two lovers sharing a passionate affair behind their families back, exploding in a rage of flames seemingly caused by accident. For them, the movie opens with their death thus absolving them from living with their irrevocable actions, but for those they leave behind the past stays as a constant and dictates largely how each of their futures will develop.Serving as a somewhat humbled character piece that centres on a small group of intertwining stories between the two conflicted families, The Burning Plain is an unassuming and dry landscape of drama. For the majority of the feature, the movie is split between three narratives, most of which take place over different timelines told in a back-and-forth manner which informs but never confuses the viewer as to where each of these characters are going, and where they have been. This multi-layered and contorted style that Arriaga implements here can obviously get a little confusing at times, yet enough care is taken to allow each of the stories to have their own breathing room. As a result, the characters which take centre stage feel nicely developed and human—something integrally important to a story such as Arriaga's. In the end, while it seems that some plot developments never seem to be heading to any sort of meeting point, there exists a sort of catharsis and closure to the movie that ties everything together nicely, but perhaps too nicely. The ending is somewhat dubious, but nevertheless feels like the logical step when taken in retrospect.As mentioned in the opening paragraph, a central theme to Arriaga's feature here is the suppression of emotion—of a cool, collected and strangely alien approach to relationships with other people. While there are plenty of moments where the director opts to balance such instances out with moments of palpable passion (most of which occur between the two burning lovers), the dominant motif here is that callous and introverted sense of misdirection and ambivalence that plays such a major part in a few of the central characters' stories. The performances then, which can be hard to grasp on to as a result, nevertheless do well to keep things human without ever sacrificing that uniquely cold tone. This isn't a feature that will immediately grasp you with its story or characters, and the performances from the cast are very much the same. Instead The Burning Plain opens up as it goes along, eventually climaxing in a series of finely performed expulsions of emotion. It is in this final act that much of Arriaga's story comes together and pieces fall into place, so it's appropriate that much of the movie's most cathartic, and warmer shades transpire here.For The Burning Plain to truly come off the screen however, one has to feel for the characters that dominate the screenplay from the get-go, which unfortunately is not the case. While it is certainly evident that Arriaga's crafts an interesting and somewhat unique presentation to an otherwise familiar story thanks to his callous approach to much of the proceeding drama, the movie too often falls a little short of its intended destination thanks to the overly cold opening and unsurprising ending. The result is a feature which definitely succeeds in offering two hours of finely plotted drama, but which also fails at making any more of an impression. The characters are compelling in their own strange way, the narrative complicated but not to the extent that all hope is lost—for those two elements alone I could recommend The Burning Plain to viewers and that's not even taking into account the performances and imagery in twine. In the end however, Arriaga doesn't quite reach where he tries to; The Burning Plain is and enjoyable and rewarding experience, but it lacks the extra zest needed to carry it on through to something more profound and memorable.- A review by Jamie Robert Ward (http://www.invocus.net)
Guilt
posted on 05 Jul 2009"Burning Plain" intrigued me from the opening scenes. In fact, I watched this film more or less hoping to see beautiful girls, rather than see a deep plot. It turned out that "Burning Plain" offered me both of these.If I start from the miss-shots in this movie, I have to say that there were some plot holes. There were unfinished developments of quite a few characters, but that is probably because you can't put everything in 100 minutes movie. Thurthermore, I actually enjoyed the twist of the plot, since I understood parts of it immediately, and others were unknown to the very end. I am glad that the plot is not lost during flashbacks and flash-forwards.Secondly, I enjoyed the problems which this film discussed, especially the problem of guilt. I caught myself even pondering, how should we face guilt? Should we run away, or should we welcome it open-handedly? Moreover, the girls were just I expected them to be. Young, beautiful and motivating. I would envy Guillermo Arriaga if I were in film business and I didn't get to work with such beauties.Lastly, the soundtrack. I didn't particularly notice it throughout the film, which is good, because it helped me focus on what is happening, but in the end, when the film had it's most emotional moments, the sound delivered. I understand Hanz Zimmer had something to do with it, and I congratulate him for such a nice participation Generally, films that offer nice girls do not offer awesome plot, but there are exceptions. As problematic as it is, "The Burning Plain" has its prettiness, which makes me rate the film 9/10
A new fragmented tale by Guillermo Arriaga
posted on 29 Jun 2009Following his artistic divorce from Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, writer Guillermo Arriaga, whose Tarantino-inspired interlocked storytelling also formed the basis of Tommy Lee Jones' magnificent The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada, makes his debut as director with The Burning Plain, another recount of connected fates.Whereas his previous screenplays were male-driven, The Burning Plain stands out for having three women at the center of things: Sylvia (Charlize Theron) is a restaurant owner who, despite what appears to be a relationship with one of her employees (John Corbett), is deeply unsatisfied and spends all of her free time smoking cigarettes and sleeping with other men; Gina (Kim Basinger) is your typical housewife, except she's survived breast cancer and is cheating on her husband (Brett Cullen) with a Mexican man named Nick (Joaquim de Almeida); Mariana (Jennifer Lawrence), Gina's daughter, is probably the most messed up of the three, especially after she starts dating Nick's son Santiago. And finally, remaining on the female front, there's also a little girl, Maria, who travels from Mexico to the United States with a family friend to find her long lost mother.As always with Arriaga, these stories are linked by a tragic event: in Amores Perros and 21 Grams it was a car crash, while in Babel it was a gunshot wound. This time, the connection, though not that obvious, is a burning trailer seen in the first scene of the film. The twist is that the writer/director has gotten more ambitious in telling yet another human tragedy: instead of having a geographic separation between the three plot strands, like he did in Babel, he goes for the most classic of choices, namely time shifts, only those aren't proper flashbacks, and therefore, as one can expect, it takes a while before all the pieces fit together. By choosing this narrative solution Arriaga is trying to tell us he can do just as fine a job as his former collaborator Inarritu behind the camera, but it's hardly a surprise to find out he doesn't always succeed: being a first-time director, he prefers to keep things safe with a classic style rather than adapting some of Inarritu's tricks (most notably the chromatic link between character and mood) to his own vision. And it must be said that a more experienced filmmaker would have known how to avoid the emotional flatness that comes from the few scenes (two or three at the most) where Arriaga panders to the genre's most idiotic clichés (three words: hospital, coma, confession).Overall, however, the narrative is very solid, and having learned a valuable lesson from his past creative partners Arriaga has set up a cast that doesn't really include any big names (Theron notwithstanding) but delivers a string of compelling performances: the most touching turns come from Basinger, always good when playing vulnerable, damaged women, and de Almeida, whose tenderness comes off as a real surprise given his fame (in the US at least) as rough crime lords in Desperado and the third season of 24. Lawrence pulls off her tricky role with a maturity that justifies the Mastroianni Award (i.e. Most Promising Newcomer) she won at the Venice Film Festival. Cullen, Corbett and Danny Pino impress despite the limited screen time at their disposal, and Theron, still partially recovering from the Aeon Flux fiasco, portrays Sylvia with the kind of understated intensity that characterizes her best work.Verdict: if you were unmoved by Inarritu's films, this is not for you. Otherwise, give it a try: it's not as mesmerizing as 21 Grams, but in its best moments it comes close enough.
Unexpectedly sad, strong stuff, well-done
posted on 27 Jun 2009I knew nothing about this film before I saw it. With one important exception, the main events in it are all emotional events, the kind that can kill a person from the inside out. It may seem hard to follow, partly because the dialogue was a bit murky in the venue where I saw it, and large patches of spoken Spanish were left un-subtitled. The story starts to break open at about 2/3 of the way through, and if you haven't figured it out before that, the clarity is devastating. One sneaky trick the director, art director, et al., play on the audience is: there are two apparently separate stories going on simultaneously in this film. They eventually come together, but only after having been kept apart *artificially* before that point-no cues at all as to what the connection is, until it's presented to us. In retrospect, the story is complete and convincing, and I don't begrudge the film that artifice. It's a sad film, in the end, but the characters are well-drawn, and I'd rather watch it again, right now, than watch The Dark Knight or Transformers.
Human Redemption on a Smaller Plain in Arriaga's Tentative Directorial Debut
posted on 26 May 2009Screenwriter Guillermo Arriaga's big-screen collaborations with director Alejandro González Iñárritu have produced a trio of highly accomplished films - "Amores Perros", "21 Grams", and "Babel" – that juxtaposed several story lines, all tied together by characters who were damaged souls in search of redemption and connection with one another. Although the two had a very public falling-out, Arriaga still appears to be strongly influenced by his former partner's jumbled film-making style as he takes over the director's chair with this 2009 drama. The chief problem, however, is that Arriaga doesn't really show Iñárritu's passion and audacity as he attempts to pull off the considerable demands of a non-linear narrative with conviction. Moreover, Arriaga the screenwriter lets down Arriaga the director with a script that ultimately feels too predictable and contrived despite strong performances from the cast.There looks to be four separate stories at the outset, which eventually transitions into two. The first involves Sylvia, the manager of an upscale, seaside restaurant in Portland, an extremely pained woman who prefers casual sex followed by self-inflicted punishment. She is obviously anguished over something that motivates her erratic behavior. The second thread takes place in New Mexico near the Mexican border where Gina, an unhappily married mother of four, is carrying on an affair with a local man named Nick, also married with children. The complication here is that her daughter Mariana finds out about the affair and embarks on a relationship with Nick's son Santiago. Meanwhile, in Mexico, a crop-duster plane crash-lands on an open field, as his twelve-year-old daughter Maria watches in horror.Arriaga's fractured approach works for a little while albeit in an emotionally draining, humorless way. However, when the moment of revelation arrives (and much too early), the plot unravels into a Lifetime TV-movie level of sanctimony obscured by the fiery explosion that gives the movie its name. Proving yet again that a beautiful woman can convincingly expose the torment of a soul under fire, Charlize Theron successfully makes the nihilistic Sylvia an ultimately sympathetic figure. Kim Basinger, looking entirely too stunning and wrinkle-free at 55 to be a K-Mart-shopping housewife, manages to get to the heart of a guilt-ridden woman, even as she shows Gina going through the predictable machinations of her illicit actions.The stand-out performance, however, comes from Jennifer Lawrence, a Jewel-look-alike, as the troubled teen Mariana, the dramatic pivot for the whole movie. Tessa Ia makes a strong impression as the pensive Maria, while the men barely make a ripple – John Corbett as a smitten sous-chef in Sylvia's restaurant, Joaquim de Almeida as the passionate Nick, José María Yazpik as the go-between Carlos, and Danny Pino as the pilot. The one exception is J.D. Pardo who plays Santiago as the impetuous Romeo to Lawrence's Juliet. Robin Tunney shows up in a smallish role as Sylvia's one true friend. Robert Elswit and John Toll share cinematography responsibilities here, and they do an excellent job capturing all the locales. At the end of the movie, I couldn't help thinking that Arriaga's yin was fundamentally missing Iñárritu's yang.
Too slow and too confusing
posted on 28 Apr 2009This film is about several seemingly unrelated characters that are in fact related at one point in time.Though the plot is emotional and intense, "The Burning Plain" suffers from incoherence, confusion and slow pacing. The characters are still so unrelated a hour into the movie. By the time I figured out what really happens, which is how Sylvia and Mariana are related, I have already lost interest and have declared it a bore. Guilt is an important theme but it is introduced far too late to be the prevailing theme. If the story is told more linearly, or at least the past and present are indicated clearly, then "The Burning Plain" would be a lot more enjoyable, emotional and touching.
Horrible mistake of a film.
posted on 25 Feb 2009Awful mistake of a film. Anybody can put together a series of miserable moments that doesn't make a film, if I pay 10 Dlls to go to see a film I want to be at least find that a human made an effort to build characters with soul, this film has no soul whatsoever. The film portrays lost and miserable human beings, completely lame individuals, I would rather watch my dog playing that spend 10 minutes with the stupid characters in this films. I was curious because I had liked 21 grams, but this film is worst than anything I have seen. The director Must have tough lets scare the audience with very obscure problems, Dull. Its not scary it's lame. A clear sign that Guillermo Arriaga is nothing with a good director. Please somebody do him a favor and don't let that person direct again.
Time changes everything
posted on 23 Feb 2009I had recently become a fan of both Guillermo Arriaga and Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's work through their previous four films Amores Perros, 21 Grams, The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada, and Babel (in order of release). In hearing of their creative break-up, it certainly stirred, in my own mind, a possibility of double the good films... or a film-making battle accomplishing nothing. "The Burning Plain" by Guillermo Arriaga is the first of these fruits. Good or bad? You decide. I think good... but missing something.The Burning Plain follows the story of several different people separated by time and space -- Sylvia, a woman in Oregon who must undertake an emotional odyssey to rid herself of her past; Mariana and Santiago, two teenagers trying to piece together the shattered lives of their parents in a New Mexico border town; Maria, a little girl who goes on a border-crossing voyage to help her parents find redemption, forgiveness, and love; and Gina and Nick, a couple who must deal with an intense and clandestine affair... because they are both married.Charlize Theron leads the ensemble cast. Theron, I have previously seen in a consortium of roles from Sleepwalking and Monster to The Italian Job. I am glad to say she brings a much more subtle feeling to Sylvia, the central character in the film, without going over the top. The sides we see from the past and present also reflect Sylvia's personality; a side of professionalism brought in by a new skin in the present while her not-forgotten past hiding deep within but brought out by her sexual trysts and self-mutilation.Also leading the present side of the story is newcomer Tessa Ia in a challenging role she takes at face value despite her young age. With Mexican actor Jose Maria Yazpik in a gentle role, along with Theron, the three are arguably the best actors in the film. Ia's performances hails true talent and not nearly enough credit. With a fierce look in the eyes of a child trying to obtain forgiveness in her own soul, Ia is an actress mature beyond her years. The present stories take on these subtleties that audiences will figure out after the film has ended. This is where the second half (figuratively speaking) of the film suffers.Focused too much of what is going on in a certain time in the past, the characters of Gina and Nick suffer due to a lack of development. We know of their affair, we know what is going on and we are given too much of that without enough understanding of who they are on their own. Kim Basinger does her best in the role but ultimately is too flat with her delivery. Gina is a sympathetic character because of the screenplay and where the writing takes her, not because of Basinger's performance. Joaquim de Almeida's Nick is more interesting despite a lack of screen time, also due to the lack of development.The story of Mariana and Santiago also falls flat because of this. However, JD Pardo gives a nice understanding to Santiago and allows for a much better look at the character as an adult when you finally realize who it is (I will not give anything away). However, Jennifer Lawrence as Mariana is probably my most disliked actor of the group. Despite winning the best newcomer award at the Venice Film Festival, her delivery is monotone and lacks any sort of true feeling for what has happened. This also counts for in between two sections of her life... but a nice reaction to a certain event ultimately saved her entire performance.My only problem is that the film doesn't bring anything new to the table. The film has it's own style, which is noticeable fairly quick, and I was hoping that it wouldn't be just a carbon copy of what Inarritu has done before (in an attempt to win an audience). I felt the same way about Three Burials which is why I have rated it with only 8. This is going to be the first major problem for Arriaga on his own creative path. While unfortunate, it is inevitable: audiences will go in expecting the same intense fair Innaritu has been giving them and will see a more tame version of that. Luckily, the wonderful production values and gorgeous cinematography by veteran Robert Elswit and John Toll, tacked on with a beautiful soundtrack, ultimately send the story flying.With a number of events occurring through the story, you are never left bored. Piecing together the puzzle isn't really as difficult as it may seem. For Babel it was all about figuring out which story was in what time period. In The Burning Plain it's about who is who and how time has taken it's toll on the characters, which makes it much more interesting in a more creative way. This is where direction suffers as it is obvious Guillermo Arriaga was more focused on the story than he was his actors, but it all falls together without disrupting anything. Hopefully the creative split will allow audiences to realize there is a large difference between directors and Arriaga and Innaritu are no exception.
Deeply Shaded and Dynamic
posted on 22 Jan 2009Just saw this memorable piece at the Newport International Film Festival. It is a beautifully framed, exquisitely visual movie featuring remarkable, ground-breaking performances by Theron, Bassinger, Lawrence and ALL of the male actors. No clichés attached to "The Burning Plain". The best and most interesting multi-generational family story I have witnessed on screen since Atom Egoyan's "The Sweet Hereafter" was released in the mid-nineties. Ang Lee, move over. We now have another novel artist's eye for familial complexity, Norte Americano style - with all the attendant tears, sweat and LOVE- in Guillermo Arriaga, the masterful director of "The Burning Plain".
Interesting story but technically incoherent
posted on 10 Jan 2009The pace of the film (probably due to poor editing) is inconsistent. The first half of the film is engrossing, but the second half can be easily predicted. A lot of scenes of the second half can be edited out. Apart from the poor editing, the story itself and the way the story was told are intriguing. The film is women centric and portrays many issues concerning women: breast cancer, housework/chores, mother-daughter relationship, postnatal depression etc.. Charlize Theron suits the leading role particularly after her outstanding performance in the film Monster. But there again exists inconsistency of her appearance in the film (probably due to make-up/lighting filming) - sometimes she appears younger and sometimes older. It's understandable as the director's debut, but I think the director needs to work harder in order to coherently deliver an engaging and technically sound film.
.
posted on 15 Dec 2008The movie reminded me of Babel, which is not that crazy since Arriaga wrote and directed Babel together with Alejandro González Iñárritu. (I only found this out after I saw The Burning Plain). Whereas I thought Babel was good but not superb, I absolutely loved The Burning Plain. just like Babel, The Burning Plain doesn't do chronology and I love the way Arriaga uses the lack of a chronological time-line to put you on a sidetrack time and time again. Of course I suspected things but I completely missed one of the biggest twists. Past and present are so mixed up that it isn't until quite far into the movie that you realise how all the characters are connected. And in this connection you'll find the big difference between the two movies. Whereas Babel shows the stories of people that are only connected by coincidence, The Burning Plain goes much further than that. When, almost in the end, you find out what really happened you cannot but acknowledge the genius of the person who wrote the story and the stylish way the movie was directed.Once the 'big twist' is revealed it was like an 'aha-Erlebnis'. From beginning until ending you are wondering about the connections between the characters. "What does Sylvia have to do with Mariana and Santiago, or with Gina and Nick"? When eventually you find out, it is like a puzzle with the last piece falling in place. The result is a beautiful picture with a sad undertone, but not one I would have wanted to miss.
Solid debut for writer Arriaga.
posted on 09 Dec 2008The writer Guillermo Arriaga, much famed for his trilogy of films with director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, namely Amores Perros, 21 grams and Babel, steps behind the camera and debuts his own directing skills with 'The Burning Plain' a multi-layered affair that at its core tries to explore how we deal with guilt. If you didn't like the style of the afore mentioned films then chances are you wont get on with this either. The story is told in interweaving flashbacks and over different time periods and does require some work on the part of the viewer. But with plot pieces trickled out like a breadcrumb trail right up to the end, a great but subtle score and some breathtaking scenery it grips you as you slowly piece it all together. Added to that there are the two brilliant central performances from Charlize Theron and Kim Basinger, as the damaged mother and daughter and a supporting cast that in their various roles are also superb especially Jennifer Lawrence who rightly won an award at the Venice Film Festival. The cinematography is great and the colours are so warm you can almost feel the Mexican heat coming out of the screen. The direction while not quite as good as Inarritu proves that Arriaga was indeed paying attention and the overall feel is eerily similar. The only downside is that it does leave certain characters stories unfinished but that really is just a minor quibble in what is a very emotionally charged and challenging film.
Don't Waste your Time
posted on 21 Nov 2008It's hard to describe what a complete waste of time this movie is (unless you're watching it to catch a few glimpses of an unclothed Charlize - in which case you're done within the first minute.). No wonder it hasn't hit the big screen - in one word, it's terrible. If you were you were at a theater, you would be demanding your money back. This movie drifts back and forth and back and forth until you're dizzy trying to figure out who does what and when. Without giving it away, I'll just tell you that you'll be quite upset when you reach the worthless ending. We watched this on Direct TV and can tell you that we should have done laundry instead.
See it for the cast
posted on 15 Nov 2008Charlize Theron and Kim Bassinger headline a film written and directed by Guillermo Arriaga, who wrote Babel, 3 Burials of Melquides Estrada and 21 Grams, three films who's appeal has eluded me. The time tripping movie has Theron dealing with events in the past and how they effect her present. Beautifully acted by all concerned this is possibly the best ensemble cast I've seen in a long while with everyone concerned disappearing into their roles. The problem is that as compelling as the performances and the sequences are I kind of stopped caring as to what was going on about a half an hour in, don't get me wrong its not that there is anything wrong with it, there's not, its just that the film, like the films I mentioned earlier that were written by the writer/director, is needlessly obtuse. I have no problem working with a film, but I was a good way in before I started to piece who was who and what was when, yes there are clues, cars for example, but at the same time not enough. Yes its great to have an adult film, but at it seems to be trying a bit too hard. My reservations aside, the film is worth a look if you want to see some great acting this is a must see.Between 6 and 7 out of 10----- Addendum thinking about the film over the past couple of months I find its stayed with me more than other "better films" so I've added a star. between 7 and 8 out of 10
Burningly interwoven plains...
posted on 30 Sep 2008This is the first feature directing experience for Guillermo Arriaga. Already an established writer (Amores Perros, Babel, The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada), Arriaga promisingly directs his own script in this movie. The movie follows the characteristic feature of Arriaga's script: fragmented stories, sometimes happening simultaneously, and sometimes happening at different time periods. The editing is intriguing, prompting you to try and seek connections between the different stories. The performances are amazing (especially Charlize Theron and Kim Basinger's). The landscape choices and the cinematography are beautiful. The Burning Plain is a poignant story about desperation, betrayal, trauma, revenge, guilt and self-hatred, with the stories of three female characters and different "plains" burningly interwoven to deliver a moving depiction of these themes... Highly recommended!
complex story revealing itself gradually
posted on 10 Aug 2009Screenwriter Guillermo Arriaga, the one of "21 Grams", employs a very peculiar narrative style to tell stories of different characters, Charlize Theron's Sylvia, Jennifer Lawrence's Marina, and Kim Basinger's Gina. At first everything seems a bit messy (various threads seemingly insignificant) but then the plot gets poignant though a little oppressive. Acting performances are affecting and strong (especially Charlize Theron), the tone is progressively melodramatic. It's undeniable that The Burning Plain possesses the style of a strong drama, never run-of-the-mill and with an emotional resonance resembling 21 Grams. Overall a very good sad film, with a finale that strikes a lot.