About the only thing I know about Armenia is that it gave the world William Saroyan, Ross Bagdavarian and Alvin And The Chipmunks. Now Marseilles born but, it turns out, Armeniian extracted Robert Guediguian has shot his latest movie there so that theoretically we get a chance to learn something about the place. Essentially this is our old friend Heart Of Darkness under another name and instead of Kurtz we have that superb actress Ariane Ascaride ostensibly searching for her father and journeying of course not just geographically but spiritually to respectively Armenia and her own soul. Long thought of as a filmmaker dealing exclusively with his home town Guediguian has also produced lighter fare such as Crustaces et Coquillages and here he takes yet another tack with a vehicle designed for and co-written by his wife supported by regular Gerard Meylan and Jean-Pierre Larroussin the latter albeit in a cameo prior to the journey. Once again Guediguian and Ascaride deliver despite the fact that this may not be everyone's cup of tea. Whichever way it's a welcome addition to the canon.
Review of Le voyage en Arménie
