Egoyan covers story from only one angle
National Post - 5 Septembre 2002

By Barrett Hooper

ARARAT

Ararat is one of those controversial films that is often judged before it is even seen. It has the feel of being an important
film. And to the degree that it is concerned with a horrific moment in our not-so-distant past that isn't found in most history books, it is important.

But the film is fairly one-sided about the nature of the Armenian genocide between 1915 and 1923 (there is one half-Turkish character who is briefly allowed to present some of the genocide deniers' arguments). It portrays the Turks as sadistic killers, and it does so in such an over-the-top way that it defeats its own purpose.

This is just a symptom, however, of the film's essential flaw. Egoyan, who is of Armenian decent, has wanted to make this film since he was 18 years old. It is his Schindler's List. But Ararat is not Schindler's List, as its emotional impact is
diluted by a complex structure that skips us from the past to the present and a few months into the future in an attempt to provide a multi-generational perspective on the event.

The main story is set in present-day Toronto, where a movie about the genocide, also called Ararat, is being directed by Armenian Edward Saroyan (Charles Aznavour).

It's through this film within the film that Egoyan weaves his way to the past, often depicting some long-ago moment, like the torture of a child, before pulling the camera back and revealing Saroyan and his camera crew.

While the intent may have been to confront the malleability of history, it has the undesired effect of pulling us away from those characters and out of what might have been a powerful moment.

It is this need of Egoyan's to use the genocide as the context for a more sweeping exploration of the nature of truth that ultimately weakens the narrative. Egoyan has too many pots on the stove. The thoughts and feelings of each character are presented baldly, and often too forcefully, as though to hit the audience over the head.

You can see Egoyan stretching to convey the pain and suffering the genocide has caused, but he ultimately comes up short.