Burning Plain

MOVIE DESCRIPTION:

Charlize Theron top-lines the romantic ensemble The Burning Plain, written and directed by Babel screenwriter Guillermo Arriaga. 2929 Production's film tells the tale of a web of interconnecting love stories, with Theron playing Sylvia, a woman with a troubled past who tries to reconcile with her parents. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, Rovi

DVD FEATURES:

• Region: 1
• Number of Discs: 1
• Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1
• Audio: Dolby Digital Stereo, Dolby Digital 5.1
• Encoding: NTSC
• Screen: Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV, Color
• Subtitle: Spanish
• Features:
  • • cc
    • The making of The Burning Plain
    • The music of The Burning Plain
    • HDNet: A look at The Burning Plain

AWARDS

• Palm Springs International Film Festival

•     Film Presented - 2009

• Seattle International Film Festival

•     Film Presented - 2009

• Toronto International Film Festival

•     Film Presented - 2008

• Venice International Film Festival

•     Film Presented - 2008

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

• Director:

  Guillermo Arriaga

• Producer:

  Walter Parkes, Laurie MacDonald

• Screenwriter:

  Guillermo Arriaga

• Cinematographer:

  Robert Elswit, John Toll

• Composer (Music Score):

  Hans Zimmer

• Musical Direction/Supervision:

  Dana Sano, Annette Fradera

• Composer (Music Score):

  Omar Rodriguez-Lopez

• Editor:

  Craig Wood

• Production Designer:

  Dan Leigh

• Art Director:

  Jim Donahue, Naython Vane, Benjamin Hayden

• Co-producer:

  Mike Upton, Beth Kono, Eduardo Costantini

• Associate Producer:

  Adrian Zurita

• Executive Producer:

  Charlize Theron, Alisa Tager, Marc Butan, Ray Angelic, Mark Cuban, Todd Wagner

• Set Decorator:

  Ron Von Blomberg

• Costume Designer:

  Cindy Evans

• Sound/Sound Designer:

  Scott Wolf, Karen Vassar

• First Assistant Director:

  Philip Hardage

• Casting:

  Debra Zane

• Sound Mixer:

  Lori Dovi

• Casting:

  Kathryn Brink, Lana Veenker

• Title Design:

  Pacific Title

• Unit Production Manager:

  Ray Angelic

• Re-Recording Mixer:

  Christian P. Minkler

• Production Coordinator:

  Wendy Kutzner

• Second Assistant Director:

  Keith Potter

• Location Manager:

  Jean Chien

• Production Coordinator:

  Shanti Delsarte

• Script Supervisor:

  Brooke Satrazemis

• Production Supervisor:

  Darren M. Demetre, Marjorie Ergas

• Post Production Supervisor:

  Jamey Pryde

• Re-Recording Mixer:

  Jon Taylor

• Location Manager:

  Doug Hobart

• Costumes Supervisor:

  Barcie Waite

• Supervising Sound Editor:

  Mike Wilhoit

REVIEW:

• Like his screenwriting work in Babel, 21 Grams, and Amores Perros, Guillermo Arriaga's directorial debut is a complex, emotional drama that doesn't limit itself to a single narrative. Instead, The Burning Plain skips back and forth through four different times and stories -- that is, if anything this heavy can be said to skip. Like the lives of its characters, this film is emotionally devastating as the audience witnesses the cruelty people can do to others, and themselves. In one of the four interweaving threads, Oscar winner Charlize Theron stars as Sylvia, a restaurant manager who has no trouble stripping for a succession of lovers, but she cannot be emotionally naked with anyone around her. A mysterious man from Mexico follows her through Portland, OR, and finally forces her to revisit a history she left behind. Another story involves Mariana (Jennifer Lawrence) and Santiago (J.D. Pardo), two teenagers in Las Cruces, NM, who find solace in each other after their parents' destructive affair and deaths. A third arc follows Gina (Oscar-winning actress Kim Basinger) as she is tempted to leave behind her family for a romance with a Mexican-American man (Joaquim de Almeida). Set in Mexico, the fourth plot follows a young girl (Tessa Ia), her father, and her father's best friend after a single moment threatens to upend their existence. As in Arriaga's other work, violence figures prominently, but emotional attacks have the true power to wound. The Burning Plain might attempt to be about resolution, redemption, and forgiveness at its conclusion, but the pervasive feelings here -- including guilt, regret, and anger -- aren't likely to leave the audience with any hope for humanity. The Burning Plain drags its feet through its 111-minute run time, making it a trip that's both tortuous and torturous for its audience. Despite its faults, The Burning Plain is technically strong. Director of photography Robert Elswit, who perfected gorgeous landscape shots on films such as There Will Be Blood and Syriana, brings his talent to the southern-set stories, while John Toll nicely captures the murky gray of Portland. Editor Craig Wood transitions expertly between the different stories, allowing the shots themselves to serve as clues to the mystery that begins with the film's opening shot of a trailer on fire in the New Mexico desert. For his freshman turn as director, Arriaga elicits excellent performances from his cast, particularly his lead actresses. His screenplays have often been more male-centric, but the women in The Burning Plain -- and the actresses who play them -- carry the film. Basinger proves that her Oscar for L.A. Confidential wasn't a fluke with her portrayal of the emotionally and physically scarred Gina, and Theron's eyes -- at once lifeless and haunted -- communicate more than most performers' entire bodies. The cast and crew all seem talented, but it's a shame that they have such dreary material to trudge through. ~ Kimber Myers, Rovi