Arahet (2005) User Reviews

Great Movie

[shushana · 9/10 · 13 January 2010]

This is a great movie. I don't understand why its rating is so low... It truthfully shows the real life of immigrants. They work from the morning till night and dream to get home, but once they get there, they understand that there is no place for them. The mood of the movies is melancholy, as the moods of the main hero and all the immigrants. It would be also interesting for those who live in their home-countries and dream to get to the U.S. to see that life there is far from being a paradise, like many imagine. I understand the disappearance of the path as a sign that at that point Avetik realized that his place is California.

I liked the way the movie is made, liked insertion of taxi-stories (which seemed to be documentaries, though I'm not sure). A gave this movie 9 out of 10 only because it is not for general audience and also may be non-immigrants and those who don't strive for getting to the U.S. will not understand it as much.

USA and immigration

[yarkis · 8/10 · 7 December 2007]

This movie deals with an immigrant's sad story. The hero is transferred back and forth to his home country realizing that he has left his soul over there but struggles to stay in USA as there is little choice left for him anyway.

While driving on a Hollywood highway, he finds a narrow path that takes him straight to Armenia, his home country. He goes and comes back but his friends naturally don't believe his story.

Eventually he realizes that being a taxi driver in Hollywood is better than being called a "starving" intellectual at home.

A story of friendship with an American woman, other immigrant's' problems, changed habits in USA, hardship in home country, all sum up in a little bit long, slow-moving movie. There is some preaching, direct messages which I think hinder the effect of this movie. Out of the many notions, symbolic camera shots, the idea of "missing homeland" is most striking. Dual belonging creates an ongoing conflict within the mind of the immigrant and makes him less happy even if he earns enough money to live a god life and support his beloved ones.

Also the affair (or love)with the American woman (Jina) doesn't seem realistic and is done in a demonstrative and artificial way. I did not understand why only him out of many immigrants was able to take the path (Arahet) and reach his country....in the end he loses the path, this time around he sees the exact area where he is standing (somewhere in California).

Anyway, on average it is a good, low-budget movie, a bit different than the usual Hollywood movies, Janetta Chase as Jina was OK, with few acting scenes, the main actor was not bad either. I gave it 8/10.