A one-man revolution in cinematic storytelling, Academy Award®-nominee Guillermo Arriaga is best known as the screenwriter for director Alenjandro Gonzàlez Iñàrritu's critically acclaimed films Amores perros, 21 Grams and Babel, as well as Tommy Lee Jones's The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada. In his directorial debut, Arriaga assumes full control of The Burning Plain, as beautifully constructed and emotionally moving as anything he has ever crafted.
The first image is both shocking and striking: an old trailer home in a parched landscape, consumed in a blazing fire. From there, Arriaga doubles back to explore a series of relationships among several characters who at first appear unrelated. Marina (Jennifer Lawrence) is a sixteen-year-old girl in a Mexican border town, coming to terms with her parents' increasingly dysfunctional relationship. Hundreds of miles away in Portland, Oregon, Sylvia (Charlize Theron) is a self-destructive, tormented young woman. As she comes and goes from the high-end restaurant where she works, she is followed by a mysterious man. Back in the southwest, Gina (Kim Basinger, in an intensely affecting role) and Nick (Joaquim de Almeida) are in the throes of a passionate, illicit love affair. And Maria (Tessa Ia) is an adolescent girl on a border-crossing voyage to reunite her estranged mother with her badly injured, hospitalized father. As Arriaga draws us deeper into each character's world, the bonds that unite them begin to come into focus.
Arriaga draws new subtleties from Theron, an actor who has already established an impressive collection of performances. The film's lush, classical look serves as a lovely counterpoint to the daring twists of the story. Shot by cinematographer Robert Elswit (There Will Be Blood, Michael Clayton), The Burning Plain could succeed as a beautiful mood piece alone. But the way Arriaga introduces, observes and connects his characters reveals a director pursuing far more than just style. As in his earlier stories directed by Iñárritu, Arriaga combines audacious narrative decisions with an emotional impact that is direct and straight to the heart.
Michèle Maheux
Guillermo Arriaga was born in Mexico City and received a B.A. in communications and an M.A. in psychology from the Universidad Iberoamericana. He is the author of the award-winning screenplays for Amores perros (00), 21 Grams (01), The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada (05) and Babel (07). He has directed two short films, Campeones sin límite (97) and Rogelio (00). The Burning Plain (08) is his feature directing debut.