ameliek81 Review of The Bonfire of Destiny

The Bonfire of Destiny (2019)

It should have ended at episode 1

[5/10 · 2 January 2020]

First, I have to say the English title is ridiculous, almost offensive. To refer to a fire that took place because of negligence and killed 126 people (mostly women) as a "bonfire of destiny" is absurd. Why they chose to call it that is beyond me. They could have just translated the French title to "The Charity Bazaar" (which is the event that was taking place when the fire started). Now about the series. With each episode, it becomes less and less about the fire and more and more about the fictional stories. The fire is simply a trigger to the fictionalized stories. And what stories they created! It's just one soap opera type storyline after another. A mafia head, a rich family gone broke needing to marry off their daughter for money, secret affairs, rich woman falling in love with a man living in poverty, a dead woman is actually alive, a living woman is actually dead, there's even a secret rendez-vous by horse back! (None of these are spoilers, it's not hidden from the audience) All the cliches you can think of rolled into one mini series. Just when you think they're all in there, one more cliche is thrown into the story. I mean, one character is burned around one of her eyes we're suppose to believe she's unrecognizable. Really? So if you're looking at your friend from the side you wouldn't be able to recognize them from the profile of their face? Or their mouth, their eyes, their chin... I started skipping through the episodes by episode 5, it just got to be too ridiculous and I wanted to get to the end. Only to be disappointed by that as well.

There are some redeeming qualities to the series. The actors are excellent (watch it in the original version with subtitles, the voice actors for the English dubbing are horrible), the cinematography, the sets, the costumes, and the kids were excellent as well. If you're going to watch, go in with low expectations.