Ararat (2002)

Director:

Atom Egoyan

Writer:

Atom Egoyan (written by)

Release Date:

4 September 2002 (France)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

In a world full of denial, how do you determine who's telling the truth?

Plot:

Interrogated by a customs officer, a young man recounts how his life was changed during the making of a film about the Armenian genocide claims.

Plot Keywords:

Female Nudity | Dead Children | Based On Distorted Reality | Armenia | Genocide

Awards:

12 wins & 9 nominations

Cast

David Alpay	...	Raffi
Charles Aznavour	...	Edward Saroyan
Eric Bogosian	...	Rouben
Brent Carver	...	Philip
Marie-Josée Croze	...	Celia
Bruce Greenwood	...	Martin Harcourt / Clarence Ussher
Arsinée Khanjian	...	Ani
Elias Koteas	...	Ali / Jevdet Bey
Christopher Plummer	...	David
Simon Abkarian	...	Arshile Gorky
Raoul Bhaneja	...	The Photographer
Lousnak Abdalian	...	Shushan Gorky
Garen Boyajian	...	Young Gorky
Setta Keshishian	...	Dinner guest / wailing mother
Shant Srabian	...	Doctor #1 / Actor

MPAA:

Rated R for violence, sexuality/nudity and language.

Runtime:

USA:115 min

Country:

France | Canada

Language:

English | Armenian | French | German

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

Germany:12 | New Zealand:R13 | Argentina:13 | Canada:14A | Denmark:15 | France:U | Hong Kong:IIB | Singapore:R(A) | Spain:13 | Sweden:15 | Switzerland:14 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:14 (canton of Vaud) | UK:15 | USA:R | Brazil:14 | Australia:MA | Iceland:16

Filming Locations:

Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Company:

ARP Sélection

Quotes:

Ani: Did you give her my book?
Raffi: This is too weird for me.
Ani: What is weird Raffi?
[pause]
Ani: Smoking pot, or sleeping with you step-sister?

Movie Connections:

Featured in Weird Sex and Snowshoes: A Trek Through the Canadian Cinematic Psyche (2004) (TV)

Fantastic - and with more layers than you might imagine.

If you are expecting a historic epic about the Armenian genocide this isn't it.

Instead it is a finely crafted, tightly directed look at the historical events of 1915 and how it has affected those that followed. Focusing on four generations, from an Armenian artist who survived the genocide in Van through to Raffi, a Canadian Armenian in his early twenties (played brilliantly by David Alpay in his professional debut) you need to know nothing about the history to get something from this film about the nature of humanity.

The direction is Egoyan's usual unusual style - juxtaposing images one on top of the other to stunning effect, although his narrative style of jumping from thread to thread (and generation to generation) does take some getting used to.

This film will be controversial because of the subject matter, but it isn't two hours of Turk bashing, despite what some of its more biased detractors would say. It does take several of the oft quoted explanations for the genocide and answer them head on, but there are no easy answers.

If you want a film that will leave you stunned both thematically and stylistically then this really is it. I'm now arranging to see it for a second time!