RETURN OF THE NATIVE?
Armenian Exile (The Movie) Review
BY RICHARD HODGINS
Ho rizon Weekly, September 21, 2009
Asbarez.com September 11, 2009
ile-the-movie-review/
Armenian Exile is the least political product of Hagop Goudsouzian?s
obsession with diaspora identity. Exile is almost entirely free of any
reference to the genocide, of lament for the great loss, of the demand
for justice. Instead, its focus on the personal in the here and now is
all the more affecting for such avoidance. And, paradoxically, this
method makes it even more politically meaningful for non-Armenians
like myself.
Exile is not about how much has been scoured away but, rather, how
much has remained beneath a culture?s feet. Every stone still counts.
A Belgian archaeologist in Exile reminds us of as much when she
uncovers a 5,000-year-old artifact among the thousands of stone
markers at one burial site. The artifact and every one of those stones
mark the continuity of an Armenia from pre-history to the present. But
did you have to be there to get it? No. That?s what we have guys like
Goudsouzian for.
?What do you think of people like me who come here to search for
their roots?? Goudsouzian asks Armenians in their homeland. The
question seems overly self-conscious at first, but it turns out to be
exactly the right one. From simple farmers to some of the country?s
leading artists and artisans, Armenians answer the question not just
with disarming candor but with a surprising finality for the diaspora
Armenian.
It?s time to admit that I?m no big fan of identity issues for any
culture. They so often end up lethal for someone. Whenever I?m drawn
into a discussion of how much we?d lose if we were all the same, I say
it?s better to be boring and alive than interesting and dead. But,
unfortunately, every generation seems to be cursed to live in
interesting times. Cultural identity seems to be the only option for
so many oppressed groups to preserve their vitality against future
need. Still, I make very few exceptions for cultural or nationalistic
sentiment. The Armenians are one exception. I wouldn?t excuse the
preoccupation with identity if the vitality of the culture in question
weren?t something I believed to be special well beyond the customary
condescensions ?we? bestow. I believe Exile itself is and will remain
an important artifact of that self-same Armenian vitality for some
time to come.
There?s a certain easy movement, from what could be the compulsory
cultural comfort food to some, to big hefty ideas for others, in
Armenian Exile that one can never decide may be directorial cunning or
just dumb luck. For example, Exile begins with Goudsouzian and his
driver getting lost on their way to Saint Asdvadzazin Church. Why has
the driver become lost? He apologizes to Goudsouzian that he is
confused because he only ever walks to Saint Asdvadzazin. He knows
where he is when he can feel his Armenia beneath his feet. Every stone
counts. The paving stones in front of Saint Asdvadzazin, when we get
there, will be where we get our first good bearings. Obviously they?re
not just physical bearings. Exile is all about orientation and
Goudsouzian?s skill is in showing us that getting lost and then found
is just the way things unfold in Armenia.
Goudsouzian?s personal quest for his Armenian identity gradually
fades into a metaphorical shadow as the people of Armenia eloquently
prove that the diaspora Armenian, however many generations or nations
removed, may have as little problem finding a spiritual locus for his
identity as the indigenous Armenian does his physical one. In that way
Armenian Exile is, paradoxically again, pretty much free of the idea
of exile altogether. The Armenian exile is someone who can only be
away; he or she can never be gone.
Another confession: talking about how thoughtful Armenian Exile is
has let me escape how moving it often is as well. I?ll have to leave
that to you. The DVD is available from ,
where you can also see a trailer.
t/trailer.htm