Screamers (2006)

Director:

Carla Garapedian

Release Date:

19 July 2007 (Lebanon)

Genre:

Documentary | Music

Plot:

Internationally known director Carla Garapedian follows the rock band System of a Down as they tour Europe and the US pointing out the horrors of modern genocide that began in Armenia in 1915 up though Darfur today. |

Plot Keywords:

Band | Genocide | System Of A Down | Darfur | Rockumentary

Awards:

3 wins

Cast

Hrant Dink	...	Himself
John Dolmayan	...	Himself
Sibel Edmonds	...	Herself
Daron Malakian	...	Himself
Shavo Odadjian	...	Himself
Serj Tankian	...	Himself

MPAA:

Rated R for disturbing images of genocide and language.

Runtime:

UK:89 min | USA:91 min

Country:

UK

Language:

Armenian | English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:R

Filming Locations:

Amsterdam, Noord-Holland, Netherlands

Company:

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)

Soundtrack:

Chop Suey

Fascinating and important documentary that ironically is only weakened by the band themselves

I tried not to prejudge this film from its IMDb entry because the whole page seemed loaded with politics rather than viewing the film as a film. The voted ratings appeared to be slanted all the way to the negative, while the comments are on the other extreme, and seem to be mostly written by the converted who the film was preaching to. Regardless I thought I would watch it despite not knowing what it was really going to be about.

I found a film that was strong in some areas and weak in others. The strengthen is in its educational value as it discusses the secret genocide of the Armenian people by Turkey in the early twentieth century and how it also dovetails it into other genocides. Knowing almost nothing about this genocide I found these parts of the film to be quite fascinating and revealing as various experts contribution to the discussion of the past as well as the ongoing denials. The former is naturally shocking because of the diaries, stories and photographs paint a typically gutting view of how evil humans can be. However the latter sections are just as fascinating because it is very clear and critical about the powers that be that deny genocides (this one and modern ones); we know this of course but it is never less that shocking to see it.

System of a Down deserve credit for using their fame to try and bring the subject to a wider audience by making this film but the problem is that they do actually achieve the opposite effect. At the start of the film there is far too much of a focus on the band and their music and, while this is fine for fans, I personally found it quite off-putting, mainly because I didn't really care for their music. This meant that I found myself struggling to get into the film in the first 15 minutes. After this though, the film steps back from them a bit and gets better at balancing the mix between documentary on the genocide and less of a rockumentary. The approach does rather mean though that marketing the film is difficult and it is most likely to be watched by those politically aware (the converted) and the band's fan base, which is certainly a smaller audience than the subject matter deserves.

An interesting and informative documentary then thanks to the contributions of experts and the sense of history. Just a shame that it spends so much time on the band's performances because I imagine that would rather deter the casual viewer such as myself.