A drama with a two-tiered storyline concerning a mother and daughter who try to form a bond after the young woman's difficult childhood.A drama with a two-tiered storyline concerning a mother and daughter who try to form a bond after the young woman's difficult childhood.A drama with a two-tiered storyline concerning a mother and daughter who try to form a bond after the young woman's difficult childhood.
- Awards
- 2 wins & 3 nominations
Diego J. Torres
- Cristobal
- (as Diego Torres)
Rosalia De Aragon
- Aunt Rebecca
- (as Rosalia de Aragon)
- Director
- Writer
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaIn a 2008 interview, Charlize Theron said taking her clothes off in front of cameras in this and any other film is is as easy as drinking for her. "I don't really think about it much. I read the scene and if it makes sense I do it. I treat it the same way as I would any other scene. Whether it's a nude moment or sitting at a bar drinking, it's all choices. I don't think about it as nudity."
- GoofsIn the airborne scene of the crop duster dusting the field, the course and actions of the dusting process were inconsistent with real crop dusting. Spraying began at a point well into the field, and no distinct pattern was set such as to avoid missing or re-spraying spots.
- Alternate versionsThere are two versions. Runtimes are: "1h 47m (107 min)" for the theatrical release, and "1h 51m (111 min) (Toronto International) (Canada)".
- SoundtracksFalling Star
Written by Ali Dee (as Ali Theodore), Henry Hey, Alana Da Fonseca (as Alana da Fonseca),
Zach Danziger (as Zach Denziger)
Performed by E. Wilson
Courtesy of DeeTown Entertainment
Featured review
Forced and forceful, gradually makes sense and gets to you...give it time
The Burning Plain (2008)
Following a growing trend toward taking a straight forward story and making it complicated by telling it out of order, The Burning Plain might have shown the fault lines in that method. And it's not that the story, a kind of Romeo and Juliet with child story, isn't riveting. It is. And it's not that the telling of it isn't interesting. It is. But the telling is so forcefully complicated, it draws attention to itself, and away from the more human drama that is at work.
That said, it's also true that every high point here there is a storytelling gaffe. The cross cultural Mexican/American themes are generally underplayed (the exception being the insults thrown at the funeral), and convincing. The basic love story is strong enough, too, and given a nice second layer through time, as you'll see. But there are some quirks that are made both improbable and overly dramatic. One of the tenderhearted heros of the story is shown too visibly as a disturbed stalker. And the lead woman, played with a kind of virtuosic exuberance as usual by Charlize Theron, has almost too much to juggle, emotionally and literally. It just doesn't wash.
Most troubling is the writing. Not the big picture, the plot and the large sequence of events, but the actually dialog. This kind of gritty and dire movie laced with real love has to be convincing above all, and there are dozens of moments and individual lines that just smack as screen writing rather than real characters thinking and speaking.
So it's a mixed bag. An ambitious and promising mixed bag, with some moving and beautiful moments. I think it's worth seeing, but with tolerance.
Following a growing trend toward taking a straight forward story and making it complicated by telling it out of order, The Burning Plain might have shown the fault lines in that method. And it's not that the story, a kind of Romeo and Juliet with child story, isn't riveting. It is. And it's not that the telling of it isn't interesting. It is. But the telling is so forcefully complicated, it draws attention to itself, and away from the more human drama that is at work.
That said, it's also true that every high point here there is a storytelling gaffe. The cross cultural Mexican/American themes are generally underplayed (the exception being the insults thrown at the funeral), and convincing. The basic love story is strong enough, too, and given a nice second layer through time, as you'll see. But there are some quirks that are made both improbable and overly dramatic. One of the tenderhearted heros of the story is shown too visibly as a disturbed stalker. And the lead woman, played with a kind of virtuosic exuberance as usual by Charlize Theron, has almost too much to juggle, emotionally and literally. It just doesn't wash.
Most troubling is the writing. Not the big picture, the plot and the large sequence of events, but the actually dialog. This kind of gritty and dire movie laced with real love has to be convincing above all, and there are dozens of moments and individual lines that just smack as screen writing rather than real characters thinking and speaking.
So it's a mixed bag. An ambitious and promising mixed bag, with some moving and beautiful moments. I think it's worth seeing, but with tolerance.
helpful•3712
- secondtake
- Jun 26, 2010
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Details
- Release date
- Countries of origin
- Official sites
- Languages
- Also known as
- Câu Chuyện Của Lửa, Nước, Khí Và Đất
- Filming locations
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $20,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $200,730
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $58,749
- Sep 20, 2009
- Gross worldwide
- $5,642,478
- Runtime1 hour 47 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 2.35 : 1
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