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Product Description
Sylvia (Charlize Theron) is a beautiful restaurant manager whose cool, professional demeanour masks the sexually-charged storm within. When a stranger from Mexico confronts her with her dark and hidden past, Sylvia is launched into a journey, painfully forcing her to face her demons and the past she thought she had left behind. From the internationally acclaimed writer of Babel, 21 Grams and Amores Perros, and starring Oscar Winners Charlize Theron and Kim Basinger, The Burning Plain depicts the harrowing story of a woman on the edge who takes and emotional journey back to the defining moment of her life.
Product Description
United Kingdom released, PAL/Region 2 DVD: LANGUAGES: English ( Dolby Digital 2.0 ), English ( Dolby Digital 5.1 ), ANAMORPHIC WIDESCREEN (1.78:1), SPECIAL FEATURES: Anamorphic Widescreen, Interactive Menu, Scene Access, SYNOPSIS: Sylvia (Charlize Theron) is a beautiful restaurant manager whose cool, professional demeanour masks the sexually-charged storm within. When a stranger from Mexico confronts her with her dark and hidden past, Sylvia is launched into a journey, painfully forcing her to face her demons and the past she thought she had left behind. From the internationally acclaimed writer of Babel, 21 Grams and Amores Perros, and starring Oscar Winners Charlize Theron and Kim Basinger, The Burning Plain depicts the harrowing story of a woman on the edge who takes and emotional journey back to the defining moment of her life. SCREENED/AWARDED AT: Venice Film Festival, ...The Burning Plain
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
25 of 25 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase
The directorial debut of Guillermo Arriaga, screenwriter of 21 grams and Babel, is a tortured piece of work. Rather like its characters, it is beautiful to look at but bleak as we come to understand it. Thankfully, we are left with a message of hope, but it's a fragmented journey getting there as we experience love as it evolves not just through joy and happiness but through pain and scars.
It's one of those multi-stranded stories Arriaga specialises in... except this time, it is not always different characters we are observing - it's the same ones, in different times. One strand with Kim Basinger, involves a married woman, sneaking off from her empty marriage at lunchtime to her lover, in a trailer on a plain. It's this trailer on fire which gives the film its title. Then, there is the teenage daughter who has her own secrets and is drawn to the young Mexican man who she meets at his father's funeral. Finally, Charlize Theron plays the beautiful restaurateur, who away from the style and poise of her role at work, seeks empty sex and self inflicted wounds.. what pain is she trying to hide? Does the answer lie in the Mexican man who follows her? If the strands don't stand fully composed as short stories in their own right, it's because they rely on each other.. so that the performance of one actress relies on notes set up by another. It's a typically convoluted piece of writing by Arriega. A final point, and this is where critics were on the whole less than kind, is that for much of the movie it is frustratingly ambiguous who is who and in what time, until gradually the picture becomes clear. It's a tangled story for the most part, and if you dislike activating your brain cells, then steer clear. In the end, the story is actually quite slight.. and yet it has some depth of feeling, scraping underneath the characters surface instead of adding layers onto them. It might not have much to say, and the characters may not always be endearing, but it is nonetheless thought provoking and beautifully shot in sparsely filled though elegantly framed widescreen. Frankly I found it more satisfying than the more star-studded and acclaimed Babel. Certainly, the performances from the three leads: Theron, Basinger and relative newcomer Jennifer Lawrence are utterly outstanding. There is no grandstanding here.. just terrific understated turns from some of Hollywood's best.
If bleak cinema and tragic characters are your thing, then step right in. If it's action or easy moral certainties you seek.. move along, there's nothing for you here.
It's one of those multi-stranded stories Arriaga specialises in... except this time, it is not always different characters we are observing - it's the same ones, in different times. One strand with Kim Basinger, involves a married woman, sneaking off from her empty marriage at lunchtime to her lover, in a trailer on a plain. It's this trailer on fire which gives the film its title. Then, there is the teenage daughter who has her own secrets and is drawn to the young Mexican man who she meets at his father's funeral. Finally, Charlize Theron plays the beautiful restaurateur, who away from the style and poise of her role at work, seeks empty sex and self inflicted wounds.. what pain is she trying to hide? Does the answer lie in the Mexican man who follows her? If the strands don't stand fully composed as short stories in their own right, it's because they rely on each other.. so that the performance of one actress relies on notes set up by another. It's a typically convoluted piece of writing by Arriega. A final point, and this is where critics were on the whole less than kind, is that for much of the movie it is frustratingly ambiguous who is who and in what time, until gradually the picture becomes clear. It's a tangled story for the most part, and if you dislike activating your brain cells, then steer clear. In the end, the story is actually quite slight.. and yet it has some depth of feeling, scraping underneath the characters surface instead of adding layers onto them. It might not have much to say, and the characters may not always be endearing, but it is nonetheless thought provoking and beautifully shot in sparsely filled though elegantly framed widescreen. Frankly I found it more satisfying than the more star-studded and acclaimed Babel. Certainly, the performances from the three leads: Theron, Basinger and relative newcomer Jennifer Lawrence are utterly outstanding. There is no grandstanding here.. just terrific understated turns from some of Hollywood's best.
If bleak cinema and tragic characters are your thing, then step right in. If it's action or easy moral certainties you seek.. move along, there's nothing for you here.
14 of 14 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
Kim Basinger again proves she can do no wrong, turning in a superb, low-key performance that is charged with electricity as a woman being torn apart by loves (plural intended). Likewise the always impressive Charlize Theron, who never fails to impress. But as superb as both performances are, the rest of the cast achieve the same high level. One of the great pleasures of the film is piecing it all together through the moves from present to past and back again, and again...so I won't rob you of that pleasure by divulging the plot. The script is superb, rings with truth and grips from beginning to end. Direction, likewise, is flawless and the cinematography beautifully depicts the coolness of the present and the heat of the past. Very highly recommended. Saw it on TV last night and definitely placing an order to add it to my collection.
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase
Shortly into the film, there is a scene where Charlize Theron has three men pursuing her, literally at the same time and place. Well, I know she's attractive but...however, all is explained. One of them is crucial, and he is the one not just after a quick leg-over. This is exactly the kind of film I enjoy, it may start in the middle and zap about a bit in time, but it ends at the end, with everything explained, and I found it easy enough to pick up what was going on. Eventually. The casting is brilliant, which means all the scenes are believable. Basically it's a plot about the far-reaching consequences of a bored and lonely mother who feels ugly after a mastectomy, having an affair with the father of another family. I found myself gripped, waiting for the inevitable catastrophe, exactly as I was during Amores Perros [DVD] [2001], which was written, as was The Burning Plain, by Guillermo Arriaga. Like that film, this deserves a second viewing. The crop-spraying scenes are especially evocative.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Three Stars Plus, almost Four Stars
I give this film Three Stars Plus, almost, but not quite, four.
I am glad I watched it. It has very good, even memorable (in an understated way) performances form... Read more
I am glad I watched it. It has very good, even memorable (in an understated way) performances form... Read more
Published 11 months ago by Legal Vampire
an intriguing story with great acting
one of the best movies I've seen lately. A story that draws you in from the very beginning and keeps you glued and breathless all the way. Read more
Published 13 months ago by Kick-Azz-Angel
Good storyline and dialogue ... well acted and shot
I really enjoyed this film with its atmosphere and movement from one time to another. The film is extremely well shot and the dialogue is realistic and as the film develops things... Read more
Published 18 months ago by Mr. S. P. Walshe
The Burning Plain
Excellent film, with real edge of the seat 'thriller'. Although difficult to get into the plot at first, it is well worth staying with. The only disappointment was Kim Basingger.
Published on 25 Feb 2010 by Flicks
Excellent moody film
We really enjoyed this fim which links the hot dry plains of New Mexico with the grey windy coastline of Portland in a story of loss love and betrayal. Read more
Published on 2 Nov 2009 by N. K. Bullock
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