As Armenian-American rockers System of a Down wage a heated musical campaign for the Turkish government to finally acknowledge the 1915 Armenian genocide that is still denied by the powers that be, filmmaker Carla Garapedian explores the origins of the crime often considered the 20th century's first act of mass slaughter. System of a Down are the rarest of the rare in contemporary music -- a band with a true cause. Now, as Garapedian follows the members of the band to rallies staged specifically
to get the U.S. government to acknowledge this long-forgotten tragedy, music fans will finally find out just what an impact the actions of one band can have on the modern interpretation of history. With powerful concert performance footage intercut with sobering political commentary, Garapedian's documentary proves without question that, even in a world where the Dixie Chicks are castigated for their "controversial" comments, some bands are still willing to take a stand. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
Armenian-American director Carla Garapedian, who got a doctorate in international relations at the London School of Economics, presents a wide-awake, high-decibel briefing on foreign policy.
The Armenian genocide and the continuing Turkish denial of history. The film offers damning evidence that the highly civilized European Union should do everything it can to keep the highly uncivilized Turks from becoming equals in EU membership.
The film's composite testimony, from the charismatic band and more-metaphorical screamers such as politicians, scholars and eyewitnesses, is both scary and motivating.
A documentary about the Armenian genocide of 1915 and the fight to have it acknowledged by the U.S. and U.K. governments. The film focuses in particular on the activism of the heavy metal band System of a Down regarding this issue. In particular the film focuses on the importance of acknowledging history, on the
issue of genocide in general, and the challenges that governments face when addressing genocides. The film?s ultimate message is that the world must be completely ill-equipped to deal with the type of genocide going on today in Darfur if they cannot even acknowledge something that occurred 90 years ago. The film does feature extensive interviews with System of a Down and some concert footage, it was probably made to reach fans of the band (like myself), but it mostly stays focused on their activities related to the issue at hand. It?s about 30% SOAD, and 70% completely unrelated discussions of the genocide, which is probably just the right ratio.
December 22, 2008
MJS MJS
Super Reviewer
Bad music, boring band clips, meandering story, random strangers. Not exactly bad, but not successful or good by any standard. The Armenian holocaust deserves a better recounting, and better accompaniment.
No quotes approved yet for Screamers. Logged in users can submit quotes.
Submit a Quote from 'Screamers'
A quote can be a single line from one character or a memorable dialog between several characters. Please make your quotes accurate. Quotes will be submitted for approval by the RT staff.
Example:
Luke: Alright. I'll give it a try. Yoda: No. Try not. Do or do not. There is no try.
Top Critic
