Dir. Atom Egoyan, 2002, Canada/France, 115 mins, some subtitles
Cast:
David Alpay, Arsinee Khanjian, Christopher Plummer, Charles Aznavour, Marie-Josee Croze
In a world of empty sequels and pointless remakes, Ararat is a breath of fresh air. In his latest work, Atom Egoyan takes a footnote from history and turns it into an absorbing, multi-layered exploration of personal and political truth.
Few people are even aware that the Turkish army killed thousands of Armenians, most of them innocent civilians, in 1915. If you are Turkish, the massacre was just one of many battles that made up World War I. If you are Armenian, it was deliberately planned genocide. But most modern cinemagoers wouldn't have even heard of the event, much less formed an opinion of it. And so Egoyan, who wrote and directed Ararat, took quite a chance in making this massacre the backdrop to the film.
The battle between the Turks and the Armenians is told through a conversation between a veteran customs official, David (Christopher Plummer), and a young man, Raffi (David Alpay), who is stopped at the airport returning to Canada. When David challenges Raffi to explain the presence of several reels of film in his luggage, the latter explains that he is helping on a film that is being made about the massacre of 1915.
And so we cut to the set of the film itself, where Raffi's mother, Ani (Arsinee Khanjian), is a consultant. Ani writes and lectures about an Armenian painter named Arshile Gorky, and her knowledge of this period of European history helps the authenticity of the shooting. Through the period recreation on the set, we learn the background to the killings. We also go even further back in time, to scenes showing Gorky as a young boy and then as an adult in North America, where he later fled.
But there's more. Raffi is sleeping with his stepsister, Celia (Marie-Josee Croze). Celia blames Ani for the death of her father, who (like Gorky) committed suicide. The tension between these three characters, a tension born of love and lust and guilt, is what gives this film its real vigour. And just as history (the life and death of Gorky) fuels this tension, so the history of the Armenian-Turkish conflict underpins David's growing suspicion of Raffi.
Combining all these subplots without losing the audience is a challenge many filmmakers would struggle with, but Egoyan's control is masterful. Wisely, he concentrates on only a few characters and keeps most of the story in the near present. At the same time, his jumps back through time are effective and contribute to the development of the central narrative rather than interrupting it.
There are fine performances throughout the cast. The scenes between Plummer and Alpay are terrific, and Khanjian gives an admirable portrayal of an unsympathetic character. Croze, however, overplays just slightly, particularly in the scenes where Celia challenges Ani.
Egoyan is of Armenian descent himself and so care should be taken not to accept his version of history as the truth. Ararat does offer a one-sided view of the conflict, and the Turks certainly aren't portrayed in a very positive light in Egoyan's screenplay. However, the film's surprising conclusion does suggest that all stories should be considered with a very open mind.
I have to confess that I haven't been a great admirer of Egoyan's work in the past, even critically acclaimed pieces like The Sweet Hereafter. However, after seeing Ararat I have had to revise my opinion. This film is certainly the work of a great talent.
Justin Whitton
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