Ararat

Movie Information

In Brief: To commemorate Armenian Genocide Day, World Cinema is showing Atom Egoyan's much misunderstood Ararat (2002), which deals with the Turkish government's 1915 genocide of its Armenian population. This is heady stuff. It's also heavily layered and told in an unusual manner, presenting the story from the perspective of an Armenian filmmaker and linking past and present so that the characters cross storylines. It is, however, rewarding if you're willing to accept its structural challenges. Classic World Cinema by Courtyard Gallery will present Ararat Friday, April 24, at 8 p.m. at Phil Mechanic Studios, 109 Roberts St., River Arts District (upstairs in the Railroad Library).  Info: 273-3332, www.ashevillecourtyard.com
Score:

Genre: Drama
Director: Atom Egoyan
Starring: David Alpay, Charles Aznavour, Eric Bogosian, Brent Carver, Christopher Plummer
Rated: R

ararat

 

From my 2006 review: Atom Egoyan’s 2002 film, Ararat, met with very mixed reviews and a less-than-enthusiastic push by its distributors, Miramax. The film didn’t play in Asheville, which was understandable to some degree — not so much because the topic of the film is a volatile one, but because the film is so heavily layered in its construction and in the themes it explores that it can be viewed as needlessly convoluted and too deliberately difficult. In fact, a number of reviewers found it to be so. Frankly, I think Ararat verges on the brilliant and is a much more interesting work than Egoyan’s admirable but over-praised The Sweet Hereafter.

 

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Yes, the subject matter is heavy: Turkey’s genocide against its Armenian population in 1915 (an event the Turkish government still has not admitted to). It’s also personal: Egoyan and quite a few of his collaborators on this film — Charles Aznavour, Eric Bogosian, Arsinée Khanijan (Egoyan’s wife) — are of Armenian descent. Rather than simply telling the story, Egoyan chooses to tell the reasons behind telling it. He presents the historical story as a film being made by an Armenian filmmaker (Aznavour) in Canada, connecting the present to the past and the effects of the past on the present. Characters from the film story cross over into the story of the film’s making, yielding a sense of connectivity that’s almost tangible. Egoyan’s point has much to do with why he needed to make the film and how this part of history impacts the world even today. It’s challenging and ambitious, but it’s also richly compelling and thought-provoking.

Classic World Cinema by Courtyard Gallery will present Ararat Friday, April 24, at 8 p.m. at Phil Mechanic Studios, 109 Roberts St., River Arts District (upstairs in the Railroad Library).  Info: 273-3332, www.ashevillecourtyard.com

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About Ken Hanke
Head film critic for Mountain Xpress from December 2000 until his death in June 2016. Author of books "Ken Russell's Films," "Charlie Chan at the Movies," "A Critical Guide to Horror Film Series," "Tim Burton: An Unauthorized Biography of the Filmmaker."

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