ARARAT
There are so many different impressions; I don’t know where to begin. First of all I’d like to say that I was deeply touched by the dedication and most importantly the drive of all those people who were involved in making this movie. (I feel like I’m giving a speech at the Oscar’s). The truth is, without these people’s interest and hard work the views and impressions I will share would not be possible. I know I waited so long to see this movie, but now that I have seen it I don’t quite know how to analyze my feelings and thoughts. It’s everything I knew it would be and then some.
Being familiar with Egoyan’s unique style, I tried to pay attention to all the details in the movie. The way all the characters come together… and how each of them in a way is a piece of how Armenians feel. Aznavour, with his pain as the son of a survivor. Raffi, as an Armenian of the new generation who not only realizes why we remember, but also understands the exact meaning of why his father was willing to sacrifice everything for the cause. Even the half-Turkish character Ali, who challenges Raffi. He too represents some Armenians (among others) who believe the past should be left there.
I don’t want to say too much about the details of the movie… but I want to talk about some of the feelings it evoked (in a quite random fashion because that’s how they are coming to me). When the movie was over I felt like I needed to take several deep breaths, and would have liked to sit there listening to the music as the credits rolled. (joke: Possibly the only movie to date where there are actually more than one or two Armenian names in the credits.) I felt as though there was something heavy resting on my chest. I was all of a sudden hit by the realization that I was not in an Armenian center or classroom watching all that. I was in a movie theatre. Non-Armenians would see that movie, just as I had. What would they take from it? The music was incredible. It absolutely MADE the movie. It was almost as if the music was the key to open your heart and mind to understand and accept the movie. To feel each character from within. Excellent!
To have made the movie and have brought it this far is already a huge success. Egoyan was able to capture my feelings as a Diasporan-Armenian dealing with the denial. Speaking of denial, I wanted to mention that towards the end, when Raffi takes Ali home and they are having a discussion in the car, Ali says that Raffi was supposed to hate his character before he even saw the movie… he was conditioned to do so. At that moment I caught myself feeling that exact same thing. Right there, I realized though that I didn’t dislike his character because of who he was portraying in the movie within the movie, but because he was the character that challenged everything I have known to be real. He represents all those people that we, Armenians have to overcome in order to get our cause heard and recognized.
The movie showed how different generations of Armenians are dealing with the issue of Genocide and most importantly denial. The theme of denial is apparent throughout the movie. Not just as the denial of the Genocide, but also Raffi’s denial that his father’s cause could have been so important for him to have sacrificed so much for it. The denial that Celia felt, not willing to accept the fact that her father committed suicide (or did he). Even Christopher Plummer’s character denying the fact that his son is gay, and finally coming to the realization that he must accept and move on. An interesting twist on denial comes when Raffi denies that the cans are filled with drugs. I think that maybe Egoyan was trying to show us the other side as well. When someone believes something so strongly, and denies it…they can actually convince themselves that it is indeed TRUTH. All these bits and pieces people see tie into the major idea of the movie which is, how the denial of the Armenian Genocide affects us Armenians today. Perhaps Egoyan was subconsciously encouraging viewers to compare the denial of such an inhumane act in 1915, to the denial that all of us face in our lives today, whether it is with our work or family.
\De*ni"al\, n. The act of gainsaying, refusing, or disowning; negation; -- the contrary of affirmation.
I’m sure there is so much more that I could say… I plan on seeing it at least once more. I must say however, that from the people I’ve spoken to, it seems as though Armenians of older generations are not quite understanding the movie as the younger generations are. Granted, Egoyan is not always easy to understand. He is one of those filmmakers who challenge you to search for meaning within. So I must conclude that the movie is not for everyone. You need to go in without expectations and with an open mind. File everything you see in your brain, so that during the next couple of days you can put them all together piece by piece. I believe this is a huge success, because it keeps you thinking about the movie and what it means to you.
Thank you!
TSUH! :)~
p.s. - thanks Armen for the link to the K & B interview! :)
There are so many different impressions; I don’t know where to begin. First of all I’d like to say that I was deeply touched by the dedication and most importantly the drive of all those people who were involved in making this movie. (I feel like I’m giving a speech at the Oscar’s). The truth is, without these people’s interest and hard work the views and impressions I will share would not be possible. I know I waited so long to see this movie, but now that I have seen it I don’t quite know how to analyze my feelings and thoughts. It’s everything I knew it would be and then some.
Being familiar with Egoyan’s unique style, I tried to pay attention to all the details in the movie. The way all the characters come together… and how each of them in a way is a piece of how Armenians feel. Aznavour, with his pain as the son of a survivor. Raffi, as an Armenian of the new generation who not only realizes why we remember, but also understands the exact meaning of why his father was willing to sacrifice everything for the cause. Even the half-Turkish character Ali, who challenges Raffi. He too represents some Armenians (among others) who believe the past should be left there.
I don’t want to say too much about the details of the movie… but I want to talk about some of the feelings it evoked (in a quite random fashion because that’s how they are coming to me). When the movie was over I felt like I needed to take several deep breaths, and would have liked to sit there listening to the music as the credits rolled. (joke: Possibly the only movie to date where there are actually more than one or two Armenian names in the credits.) I felt as though there was something heavy resting on my chest. I was all of a sudden hit by the realization that I was not in an Armenian center or classroom watching all that. I was in a movie theatre. Non-Armenians would see that movie, just as I had. What would they take from it? The music was incredible. It absolutely MADE the movie. It was almost as if the music was the key to open your heart and mind to understand and accept the movie. To feel each character from within. Excellent!
To have made the movie and have brought it this far is already a huge success. Egoyan was able to capture my feelings as a Diasporan-Armenian dealing with the denial. Speaking of denial, I wanted to mention that towards the end, when Raffi takes Ali home and they are having a discussion in the car, Ali says that Raffi was supposed to hate his character before he even saw the movie… he was conditioned to do so. At that moment I caught myself feeling that exact same thing. Right there, I realized though that I didn’t dislike his character because of who he was portraying in the movie within the movie, but because he was the character that challenged everything I have known to be real. He represents all those people that we, Armenians have to overcome in order to get our cause heard and recognized.
The movie showed how different generations of Armenians are dealing with the issue of Genocide and most importantly denial. The theme of denial is apparent throughout the movie. Not just as the denial of the Genocide, but also Raffi’s denial that his father’s cause could have been so important for him to have sacrificed so much for it. The denial that Celia felt, not willing to accept the fact that her father committed suicide (or did he). Even Christopher Plummer’s character denying the fact that his son is gay, and finally coming to the realization that he must accept and move on. An interesting twist on denial comes when Raffi denies that the cans are filled with drugs. I think that maybe Egoyan was trying to show us the other side as well. When someone believes something so strongly, and denies it…they can actually convince themselves that it is indeed TRUTH. All these bits and pieces people see tie into the major idea of the movie which is, how the denial of the Armenian Genocide affects us Armenians today. Perhaps Egoyan was subconsciously encouraging viewers to compare the denial of such an inhumane act in 1915, to the denial that all of us face in our lives today, whether it is with our work or family.
\De*ni"al\, n. The act of gainsaying, refusing, or disowning; negation; -- the contrary of affirmation.
I’m sure there is so much more that I could say… I plan on seeing it at least once more. I must say however, that from the people I’ve spoken to, it seems as though Armenians of older generations are not quite understanding the movie as the younger generations are. Granted, Egoyan is not always easy to understand. He is one of those filmmakers who challenge you to search for meaning within. So I must conclude that the movie is not for everyone. You need to go in without expectations and with an open mind. File everything you see in your brain, so that during the next couple of days you can put them all together piece by piece. I believe this is a huge success, because it keeps you thinking about the movie and what it means to you.
Thank you!
TSUH! :)~
p.s. - thanks Armen for the link to the K & B interview! :)
posted by shooosh at 9:19 AM
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