Genre

Metaphors are often effective tools in filmmaking. They can be used in a variety of unique and clever ways to either highlight a particular aspect of story and/or character. They can be used to add an artistic flourish to a movie. They can even be used to drive a plot, if you're careful enough to avoid becoming too abstract. Then there are films like The Burning Plain which attempt to create a film that is metaphor itself. What you often end up with, and certainly here, is something difficult to follow and more acceptable at the festival circuit than at the box office. The movie performed abysmally at the box, and that is in spite of some rather glowing reviews. The general public is never going to “get” a film like this. Honestly, I'm not sure that I even understood it. What I do know is that whatever level of understanding or entertainment I might have gotten here, I had to work too hard to get it. There's a simple equation of investment of resources and return that this film just simply fails to deliver. And if they think I'm harsh, wait until they try to sell it to the average viewer. Most people have less patience than I when it comes to movies, but director and writer Guillermo Arriaga demands far more than I was willing to give. And evidenced by the mere 200 grand at the limited run box office, it was more than most of you were willing to give as well.

The story is told from a perspective of several places and times. We learn that Gina (Basinger) and Nick (deAlmeida) were having an affair. Both had families. They used to rendezvous at a trailer out in the middle of an isolated plain. They are killed in a horrible fire and explosion that burned so hot, we are told, that their bodies melted together and had to be cut apart with a knife. In the aftermath, their families develop a severe hatred for each other, each blaming the other for taking away their parent. But in traditional Romeo and Juliet fashion, two of the children, one from each side, fall in love. The identity of these two and the things that they did would be spoilers here. Suffice it to say that you should spend some time attempting to pick up on the details and nuances here. Another story involves Santiago (Pino) who now lives in Mexico with his young daughter. He owns a crop dusting business. Of course, flying small planes can be a dangerous business. Actually flying is very safe. Crashing, on the other hand can be dangerous. When he is injured, a friend helps his daughter track down the girl's mother, Sylvia (Theron), now living in Oregon running a restaurant. Of course, we know that these stories all have common threads and even common characters.