The main focus of Atom Egoyan's "Ararat" is the Armenian Genocide. Beyond that it addresses the nature of truth and its representation through art (such as the issue of whether a movie should recreate historical events). The genocide itself is also the subject of the recent movie "The Promise".
We may never know the full extent of what happened in April 1915, or why the genocide faded from memory. What we do know is that suppressing the memory of a tragedy creates the risk that it will get repeated. Indeed, it was only thanks to the reports from some witnesses - among them Clarence Ussher - that the Armenian Genocide came to light.
I recommend the movie, and I hope that in addition to drawing attention to the genocide, it draws attention to how World War I caused much of the bloodshed that has happened since.
We may never know the full extent of what happened in April 1915, or why the genocide faded from memory. What we do know is that suppressing the memory of a tragedy creates the risk that it will get repeated. Indeed, it was only thanks to the reports from some witnesses - among them Clarence Ussher - that the Armenian Genocide came to light.
I recommend the movie, and I hope that in addition to drawing attention to the genocide, it draws attention to how World War I caused much of the bloodshed that has happened since.