Review of Ararat (2002) by Eduardo C — 05 Jun 2007

It would have been simple enough to make a straightforward film about the Armenian genocide (the first genocide of the 20th century and the original holocaust). What Atom Egoyan has done here is make a film that is permeated with a primal rage at the apathy and the ignorance about the genocide today. Even this was not enough for him, however, the film shows multiple points of view within the Armenian community (about what to do with what has happened) and the Turkish (about what, if anything, did happen) one as well.

There are scenes of such heartbreaking, illusrative brilliance (the film-within-a-film reenactment of the genocide features U.S. actors in prominent roles, a U.S. volunteer hospital as the main setting, and the delivery of the KEY line "Go to the embassy...tell them AMERICAN LIVES...are in danger" which perfectly illustrates Egoyan's anger not just at what happened, but how little it has meant because of who it happened to), that pose such challenging questions ("Who, after all, speaks today of the annihilation of the Aemrnians?", a quote often attributed to Hitler, is used here in a particularly poignant scene between an Armenian gaffer and a Turkish actor, both working in the film-within-a-film) that the film's messy, uneven, disjointed structure can be forgiven. It is not a perfect film, definitely not a flawless one, but when faced with such passion, such rage and such talent it is impossible to end up with anything other than a work of art. This is the kind of film that can be discussed for hours and hours on end.