ARARAT
Written by: Atom Egoyan

Reviewed by: Christopher Wehner

(10/28/02)

NOTE: The screenplays we review are often in development and may experience many rewrites, some could end up being completely different than what is reviewed here. It is our hope that our reviews generate more interest in the film. Thank you.

Born in Egypt to Armenian parents, writer-director Atom Egoyan has been a resident of Canada since the age of three. His mother and father were artists, and their artistic influence allowed Egoyan to take up playwriting. After a time as a playwright with moderate success, he tried his hand at filmmaking and became hooked. Atom started his filmmaking career in 1984 with Next of Kin, which won the Golden Ducat Award at Mannhiem. Much like M. Night Shyamalan, Atom returned to his ethnic homeland (Armenia) in 1993 to make a personal film, Calendar. Egoyan played the lead and improvised most of the dialogue and action, along with the other actors. He also directed Canadian shot episodes for American television series such as Hitchcock Presents and The Twilight Zone. In 1997, he wrote and directed the critically acclaimed film The Sweet Hereafter. He has explored themes such as voyeurism and exhibitionism, and desire and fear. A complicated artist, and one of the more gifted writer-filmmakers working today in the industry. Often in his writing the lives of characters who are at first unknown to one another, intertwine to reveal a greater respect of each other.

The central character (sometimes it's a group of characters) of an Egoyan film are often truth seekers who search to uncover what others refuse to consider or are incapable, for whatever reason, of understanding.

His latest screenplay (already finished filming and awaiting release), Ararat, deals with the discovery of truth once again. During World War I the Turks laid ruin, almost, to an entire race of people, the Armenians. Genocide as equally horrific as Hitler's ravaging of the Jewish people during World War II.

The story shifts back and forth between present and past, telling the story of Arshile Gorky, a famous painter who survived an attack on Van, Turkey where the city was overrun and the Armenian men were killed, the women raped, and the children marched off to their death. (as the script depicts it.) During the present-day narrative we follow the lives of several characters, most whom are of Armenian heritage, and their individual situations and struggles. The storylines of these characters at first appear to be independent of one another. But slowly they come together. There is a common theme among them: the struggle for understanding and acceptance. In a way the tragedy that effected their ancestors is still lingering.

Egoyan is a master when it comes to crafting a strong dramatic narrative with what at first appears to be such a chaotic structure. But the conflict and drama elevates ever so subtly, until a climax is reached that is resilient because of the script's even paced 3-act structure. But it's the characters that make it all work so beautifully. Without them the narrative would lose it's dramatic edge. The characters are driving this story. Each has a problem, an issue, fear, or a desire that is getting the better of them. They are on a journey of self-discovery. Unique characters with unique points of view.

First we meet David and Edward at a Toronto airport. David is a customs officer and Edward is a weary traveler who is reentering Canada. We learn in the next scene that David has a son (Phillip) who is divorced, who has his own son (Tony), and is living with his homosexual boyfriend (Ali). This gives you an idea for the complexity of the situations and characters. But it's not a "ploy" or device by Egoyan. There's a method to the apparent madness and in fact it's still a controlled environment and well structured.

David is very conservative and does not approve of his son, and his disdain for him is interfering with his relationship with his grandson. Ali and Phillip eventually tell David that he has to change or he cannot come to their house to see Tony.

Next we meet Raffi and Celia, who have the same mother but different fathers, and who happen to be in love. Their mother (Ani) is an author (the book is about Corky) who teaches history and art.

Edward is working on a movie that deals with the Genocide, and more specifically the siege of Van. One day Edward hears Ani give a lecture about her book and the life of Gorky. He then hires her to be an advisor on the film. During this time we learn Celia is at odds with her mother over the death of her father, who apparently committed suicide. But that is in question.

The driving force of the narrative is the story of Gorky, which takes place during World War I and into the 1930s. We catch glimpses of what he is experiencing which are intertwined with the lives of the modern day characters. The result is some striking context and a deeper understanding of the fragility of truth, myth, and personal beliefs. How sometimes people lie to themselves as a defense mechanism in order to survive painful memories. A very powerful and poignant story told with some sophistication and subtle undertones. A story that trusts it's reader (and the audience) to be intelligent and emotional.

When you've finished reading an Egoyan screenplay you realize what screenwriting can be as an art and craft. We need more writers and filmmakers like Atom Egoyan.

Until next time.

-- Chris