Ararat (2002)

Director:

Atom Egoyan

Writer:

Atom Egoyan (written by)

Release Date:

4 September 2002 (France)

Genre:

Drama | War

Tagline:

A Quest For Truth... Among Lies, Deception And Denial.

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:

Armenian | Genocide | Armenian Genocide | Turkish | Death

Awards:

12 wins & 9 nominations

Cast

Simon Abkarian	...	Arshile Gorky
Charles Aznavour	...	Edward Sorayan
Christopher Plummer	...	David
Arsinée Khanjian	...	Ani
Setta Keshishian	...	Dinner Guest / Wailing Mother
David Alpay	...	Raffi
Shant Srabian	...	Dinner Guest #3 / Doctor #1
Marie-Josée Croze	...	Celia
Elias Koteas	...	Ali / Jevdet Bay
Brent Carver	...	Philip
Max Morrow	...	Tony
Christie MacFadyen	...	Janet
Dawn Roach	...	Customs Officer
Garen Boyajian	...	Young Gorky
Lousnak Abdalian	...	Gorky's Mother

MPAA:

Rated R for violence, sexuality/nudity and language.

Runtime:

USA:115 min

Country:

Canada | France

Language:

English | Armenian | French | German | Turkish

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

New Zealand:R13 | Germany:12 | Argentina:13 | Canada:14A (Canadian Home Video rating) | 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:

Alliance Atlantis Communications

Quotes:

Raffi: But he thinks Turkey was at war with Armenia. Doesn't it bother you that he doesn't get the history?
Edward Saroyan: No, not really.
Raffi: I mean why didn't you explain to him that we were citizens, we were Turkish citizens. We had a right to be protected.
Edward Saroyan: Are you driving him home?
Raffi: Yeah.
Edward Saroyan: Huh. Take this.
[hands him dollar bills]
Edward Saroyan: Buy him a bottle of champagne. Let him think that he has done something special.
Raffi: Something special? I'm sorry, Mr Saroyan, I don't think I understand.
Edward Saroyan: Young man, do you know what still causes so much pain? It's not the people we lost, or the land. It's to know that we could be so hated. Who are these people, who could hate us so much? How can they still deny their hatred? And so hate us... hate us even more?

Movie Connections:

Featured in The Making of 'Ararat' (2003) (V)

Soundtrack:

P.L.U.C.K.

Disappointing

This is a very flawed movie by a well-regarded director.

One major problem is the star-role presence of his ubiquitous (in his films) wife, who can't act well and simply cannot use her voice expressively or effectively. Her monotonic droning, in film after film, is irritating.

Another is that he doesn't have the directorial chops to film in an epic style such as the Armenian battle scenes require.

The lopsided voting pattern here seems to be the result of ethnocentric ballot-box stuffing. All those "10"s could only mean that thousands of Egoyan's compatriots have invaded the board and voted politically rather than esthetically or rationally.