Page - 193 - in JRFM - Journal Religion Film Media, Volume 03/01

Review: Regards croisés sur Incendies | 193www.jrfm.eu 2017, 3/1, 191–193 ences to the figure of Oedipus. Jean Van Schaftingen’s contribution explains the dramaturgic role of mathematics in Incendies. Jeanne, one of the protag- onists, is a mathematician, and mathematical problems are combined with the narrative on many levels. the discussion of the mathematical problems that are staged within the film and Van Schaftingen’s diegesis therefore offer deep in- sight into the construction of the film. The chapter by Jean-Luc Maroy focuses on explicit religious references in Incendies, not only in the form of explicit re- ligious symbols, but also in the interaction between religious communities and violence, with fundamental categories such as “revelation” and “promise” cru- cial. The analysis of Villeneuve’s film is completed by the contribution by Walter Lesch, who reads the filmic narration from an ethical perspective and focuses on the role of the testament and its essential function in sustaining the charac- ters in their search for identity. the volume concludes with research by Patricia Cortes on the reception of the film by selected groups of women in Bolivia. the well-written essays are worth reading, but the volume is worth more than the sum of its parts. Taken as a collective project, the book as a whole highlights the artistic complexity of the different forms of staging for Mouawad’s theatrical play. The film appears as a narrative and aesthetic perfor- mance in dialogue with the text and mise-en-scènes of Incendies. this broader inter-medial project is presented as an artistic attempt to deal with universal and crucial aspects of the human condition, especially in the specific context of religiously motivated violence. in this sense, the book emphasises the ability of the arts to elaborate historical experience. this volume is recommended highly, not only as a critical reading of the work of Villeneuve and Mouawad, but also as a stepping stone in preparing academic courses on religion, violence, and exile. fiLMOGrAPhy Incendies (Fires, Denis Villeneuve, CN/fr 2011).