What a freaking movie. So many twists and turns. Absolutely intense from start to finish.

Clever, believable, and super fun to watch. It totally has replay value.

There is just so much movie here. For some it may be too much. But in the same secretly sarcastic way most telemarketers say the phrase, the title of this one is particularly apt.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

I have seen other film by Atom Egoyan. I respect him as an artist.This film, Ararat, is lovingly made and very sensitive to a horrid subject. I found the acting very good, especially that by Christopher Plummer and David Alpay. I am shocked to see how limited the release was in the U.S. 6 screens, in the whole country? This film deserves far better treatment.I am also dismayed by the official IMDb blurb "Interrogated by a customs officer, a young man recounts how his life was changed during the making of a film about the Armenian genocide claims." Very good until the last word, "claims." Political correctness has no such place here. The only country in the world which continues to deny the Armenian Holocaust is Turkey.

About past. About its murders. The silence is only solution. Or the words with dust taste. A crime, few stories, a people and the fear. And the gestures of present. Past like present. History as continuous struggle. "Ararat" is a testimony. And a poem. More didacticist. Too cold. Theatral and subjective. It is a manifest. It is a demonstration and lesson and accusation and page of chronicle. The life of a people like a chain. The existence of an artist as root of subtle and eternal accusation. In fact, a film about a man who believe in his memories like in a religion. For who the time has one nuances, one voice, one face. It is not an anti-Turkish film. It is not the story of Armenocide. The story of Saroyan may be of Romanians, Georgians or Jews. It is a piece of East. A story of a petrified space of Europe, for who present is part of huge past. A film as a isle. Or desert. Or evening. The silhouettes. The silence. The night. The new day.

This is an excellent film, and one that truly shows the thematic power and artistic depth that springs from Egoyan's sensual style and non-traditional narrative.The story's plot follows the production of a fictional film, a conflicted son in search of meaning, a retiring Canadian customs official, the artist Gorky, a scholar, and an entire history of a people plagued by genocide. Each plot line and most of the central characters are woven together in the most adroit, symbolic, and meaningful fashion, making the film a comprehensive study of truth, family, art, culture, history, and identity.If you are interested in a specific, historical account of the Armenian genocide or a biography of Gorky, this is not necessarily the film for you, since each character and topic is filtered through the cinematic prism of Egoyan's more personal vision. However, if you're a fan of Egoyan's work, you will likely enjoy it immensely. Many of the fine actors that repeatedly appear in his film are present, giving performances that each fall somewhere between good and great. Those relatively new faces that appear also fit well into Egoyen's familiarly styled tapestry. While it is true that some scenes come across as somewhat emotionally and psychologically untrue, it is a very intentional part of the film.Many of the cornerstone's of Egoyan's work are active in Ararat with great force and exceptional detail. There's a deep Existentialist angst and keen awareness of the postmodern condition. The film is overloaded with symbolic and abstract meaning, at the direct expense of concrete, tangible truths. Emotion and history, accompanied by acrimony and taboos, permeates every aspect of dialogue and character so that even inanimate objects fail to convey exact, firm meanings. Egoyan's knack for keeping his films superficially neat and stylish, despite tumultuous inner struggles and an often troubling cinematic picture is at its most compelling.If you're searching for a film with few questions, easy answers, a conventional story with even more conventional artistic devices, then this is not the film for you. However, if you're searching for a film that questions the very fundamental structure of society, history, and art, and one which provides infinitely more questions than it does solid answers, then this is a good film for you.

I wanted to see this movie because of 2 reasons-one, to learn more about the Armenian genocide and second, I've been told that Atom Egoyan is a very good director. Unfortunately i must say I've been disappointed in both cases. First of all even thou the movie is about the Armenian genocide, it's not focused on it but constantly shifting to some characters that don't contribute anything to the story(like the step sister and the custom officer)and half of the film just dealing with and developing this characters. And about Atom Egoyan's abilities as a director I've been disappointed the same, the acting is pretty bad, the music isn't good either.