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Ararat

Play trailer Poster for Ararat R Released Nov 15, 2002 2h 6m History Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
55% Tomatometer 78 Reviews 71% Popcornmeter 2,500+ Ratings
A filmmaker (Charles Aznavour) works on an epic movie about Turkish atrocities committed against Armenians in 1915.
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Ararat

Ararat

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Critics Consensus

Though Ararat radiates intelligence, its impact is diminished by an overly intricate plot and cerebral style.

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Critics Reviews

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Alexander Walker London Evening Standard It is a mess, cramming in every inflammatory ethnic item on this Canadian-Armenian director's agenda. Egoyan has dedicated so much time and feeling to the historical wounds of his race that the emotion is festering. Dec 14, 2017 Full Review Brandon Judell indieWire Because of Egoyan's astute, cool intellectual powers and directorial finesse, the film cannot be quickly dismissed, especially if you're an Egoyan disciple. You do become concerned about the characters . . and the issues. If only you could feel them. Mar 17, 2017 Full Review Empire Magazine Rated: 3/5 Sep 27, 2003 Full Review Emanuel Levy EmanuelLevy.Com A disappointingly convoluted attempt to present the 1915 Armenian genocide through an intergenerational family melodrama. Rated: C May 4, 2010 Full Review Jason Gorber Film Scouts Great idea. Execution poor enough to compare it to a Lifetime/VisionTV Movie of the Week. Rated: C Jun 21, 2007 Full Review Ken Hanke Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC) Verges on the brilliant and is a much more interesting work than Egoyan's admirable but over-praised The Sweet Hereafter. Rated: 4/5 Apr 19, 2006 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Audience Member Carefully plotted and intellectual experience centered around a fascinating occurrence in Armenian history. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/20/23 Full Review Audience Member A dreadful film with a dreadful plot. Rated 1 out of 5 stars 01/18/23 Full Review Audience Member Music congers up the mystic of the near east. Some famous names add depth to this movie with the strength of their characters. The story is harsh as it looks at past history from the making of a movie. Script is bitty at times as is the editing and direction making for a movie that lacks flow and gets confusing with the sub-plots that fail to complete. Nibbles: Meze. Rated 1 out of 5 stars 02/22/23 Full Review Frances H I loved Egoyan's film Adoration, but although this movie had a necessary message, it lacked the gut-wrenching punch that many films about the Holocaust during WWII have. For some reason, the film within the film comes across as very stilted and too didactic, reminding me of poor quality movies from Sunday school classes in my youth. There are also too many plot lines here that take away from the impact a single focus could have brought to the finished project. Some scenes were very effective, but not the film as a whole. However, it did bring some questions to the fore, such as why Hitler's genocide, the practical extinction of Native Americans, and the enslavement of africans all get so much attention, but the annihilation of the Armenians so little. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 05/18/13 Full Review Audience Member The Armenian Genocide have never been a shock to us as the Holocaust was which probably all have heard of. But very few is aware that it was an Armenian executed by the Turks where around 1.5 million Armenians died. To this day, the Turkish government denies that there ever where a genocide, which have shaken the relationship between the two once peaceful people. There's some countries that have accepted the genocide, and some countries that doesn't. It's a questions about facts. And that's probably why there isn't any Armenian Schindler's List. The Canadian-Armenian director Atom Egoyan's Ararat is probably the closes thing, and probably the closes thing to the truth, because it's a film about the making of a film about the Armenian Genocide directed by Edward Saroyan following the story of the young expressionist painter, Arshile Gorky and his struggles during the Genocide. And of course this film within the film is lavish and one dimensional that doesn't tell the truth. But our protagonist is the camera assistant Raffi, who's suppose to bring the film footage back to Canada from Turkey. But at the airport the custom officer (Christopher Plummer) suspect that there's other things inside the film cans besides film and Raffi tells him everything about the making of the film. Ararat is not a bad film, but it's far from great, thanks to all it's almost useless subplots that doesn't evolves the genocide at all. and a to theatrical meta film making, which makes the film within the film a propaganda film. But Ararat also show us the other side and the doubt within the characters, and how their fascination to the Armenian genocide, where we see in the relation between Riffi and his mother. I also liked Christopher Plummer's performance and the interrogation plot line, which is for the outsider's who never heard of the Armenian genocide. I though this film was in a way to pretentious and to naive. I'm you looking for the ultimate coverage of the Armenian genocide, then sadly this is the closes you get, because theirs few films about that subject matter. I would have loved if this film was provoking, but it isn't. It's a safe drama film. I hope this a real epic about the Armenian genocide is coming soon. But for now, Ararat is the best we got, and it's overall not that bad. Thumbs up. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/08/23 Full Review Audience Member This is a difficult film to follow. There are several stories being told, with the backdrop being the Armenian Genocide. Despite being difficult to follow, I found myself unable to pull away. I believe the film gets better with each viewing. It definitely left me wanting to learn more about the plight of the Armenians. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/18/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Ararat

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Movie Info

Synopsis A filmmaker (Charles Aznavour) works on an epic movie about Turkish atrocities committed against Armenians in 1915.
Director
Atom Egoyan
Producer
Atom Egoyan, Robert Lantos
Screenwriter
Atom Egoyan
Distributor
Miramax Films
Production Co
Serendipity Point Films, Ego Film Arts
Rating
R (Nudity|Language|Sexuality|Violence)
Genre
History, Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Nov 15, 2002, Original
Release Date (Streaming)
Jan 9, 2021
Box Office (Gross USA)
$1.6M
Runtime
2h 6m
Sound Mix
Dolby SR, DTS, Dolby Stereo, Surround, Dolby A, Dolby Digital
Aspect Ratio
Flat (1.85:1)
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