Ararat feels like a book report
Ararat (2002)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:74
Fresh:42
Rotten:32
Average Rating:6.4/10
Consensus: Though Ararat radiates intelligence, its impact is diminished by an overly intricate plot and cerebral style.
Rated: R [See Full Rating] for violence, sexuality/nudity and language
Runtime: 1 hr 55 mins
Genre: Dramas
Theatrical Release:Nov 15, 2002 Limited
Box Office: $1,378,159
Synopsis: ARARAT, Atom Egoyan's mysterious drama about the horrors of the largely unknown Armenian genocide in Turkey, unrolls through a film within the film (also titled ARARAT). Jumping back and forth in... ARARAT, Atom Egoyan's mysterious drama about the horrors of the largely unknown Armenian genocide in Turkey, unrolls through a film within the film (also titled ARARAT). Jumping back and forth in time, Egoyan weaves together the lives of several people. Ari (Arsinee Khanjian), an art historian, is an advisor on the film. Her son Raffi (David Alplay) is part of the film crew. When Raffi travels to Armenia to gather some additional footage, he is detained by a customs agent (Christopher Plummer) and remains in custody for most of the film. Meanwhile, Raffi's stepsister and girlfriend Celia (Marie-Josee Croze) is haunted by her father's suicide. These and other stories within ARARAT are ostensibly linked through the film within a film. Yet, it is each character's quest for truth which binds them thematically and drives the plot. The film is populated with thematic twins, as each character's individual struggle is mirrored in the plight of the other characters. Egoyan works from his own script relying heavily on references to Arshile Gorky's painting "The Artist and his Mother" and Clarence Ussher's historical document, AN AMERICAN PHYSICIAN IN TURKEY. [More]
Starring: David Alpay, Charles Aznavour, Eric Bogosian, Brent Carver
Starring: David Alpay, Charles Aznavour, Eric Bogosian, Brent Carver, Marie-Josee Croze, Bruce Greenwood, Arsinee Khanjian, Christopher Plummer
Director: Atom Egoyan
Director: Atom Egoyan
Screenwriter: Atom Egoyan
Producer: Robert Lantos, Atom Egoyan
Studio: Miramax Films
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Release:
Jul 22, 2003
Reviews for Ararat
Egoyan's movie is too complicated to sustain involvement, and, if you'll excuse a little critical heresy, too intellectually ambitious.
Atom Egoyan has conjured up a multilayered work that tackles any number of fascinating issues
The work of an artist tormented by his heritage, using his storytelling ability to honor the many faceless victims.
Impassioned performances and direction make this a riveting recreation of a reprehensible period neglected by historians.
Atom Egoyan may be our new Kubrick -- but his latest film's exploration of genocide and culture is the textbook definition of "ambitious failure."
There is a fabric of complex ideas here, and feelings that profoundly deepen them.
An impressive work in many regards -- the acting, the photography, the pace -- but it would've been even more so had Egoyan gone with his gut and been less indulgent of his brain.
Too much time is wasted showing how these people are joined, instead of what those connections mean and why these characters all belong in the same movie.
Egoyan uses outrage and curiosity to craft an enigmatic and shifting act of memory, his impression of an event and its repercussions.
The resulting project matters much and should be seen, but how much it'll be felt depends on your specific level of patience for a director who presumes audience comprehension to be at about a fourth-grade level.
Egoyan uses the inherent falseness of movies ... to achieve a truth his own.
A film that has many strengths, not the least of which is its towering ambition.
It's the type of stunt the Academy loves: a powerful political message stuffed into an otherwise mediocre film.
Egoyan is known for dense and sometimes inscrutable narratives, but here his abstruse sprawl seems deliberately evasive.
In a strange way, Egoyan has done too much. He's worked too hard on this movie.
Latest News for Ararat
September 07, 2005:
Trailer Bulletin: Where the Truth Lies
From Atom Egoyan, director of "Exotica," "The Sweet Hereafter," and "Ararat," comes Kevin Bacon, Colin Firth, and Alison Lohman in the already... More...
August 22, 2005:
Egoyan's "Truth" May Lie with an NC-17
ThinkFilm, distributor of the new Atom Egoyan film "Where the Truth Lies," plans to appeal what they believe will be an NC-17 rating from the MPAA, says The Hollywood... More...
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