REVIEW: FIGURE D’ARMEN
Montreal Gazette, QC, Canada
April 18 2013
Documentary gives voice to the lament of a people: ‘Armenia has always suffered’
By T’Cha Dunlevy, GAZETTE FILM CRITIC
Figure d’Armen
Three stars out of five
Documentary
Directed by: Marlene Edoyan
Duration: 74 mins.
Parental guidance: for all
Playing in Armenian with French subtitles at Excentris cinema
MONTREAL – As travelogues go, Figure d’Armen is not exactly upbeat.
But there is a weary dignity to Marlene Edoyan’s understated
documentary on the people of Armenia.
A Montrealer who grew up in Lebanon, Edoyan is a member of the
Armenian diaspora, displaced by years of unrest in the country. Eager
to connect with her roots, she heads off on a month-long trip to the
motherland, travelling through the striking yet desolate countryside
and stopping in Armenian-populated territories of the neighbouring
republics of Georgia and Nagorno-Karabakh.
Her goal is not to deliver an overarching expose of Armenia’s troubled
history, or the hows and whys of its current situation, but rather to
hear, first-hand, the experience of everyday Armenians.
She finds a family living in a trailer, on a mountain in the middle of
nowhere; a farmer, returning home with his donkey; a group of widows,
sitting in front of a mound of bales of hay.
Each tells a similar story. The country has been in limbo since
seceding from the Soviet Union in 1990. Independence has led to a
world of problems, mostly relating to the lack of employment and
infrastructure.
Young Armenians leave the country in droves to go work in the Russia.
Those who stay behind, or who have returned, profess an undying love
for their native land while lamenting how hard things are. Regional
and ethnic conflicts add to a climate of mistrust.
A woman farmer explains how she never has a free moment to herself,
always doing chores to make ends meet, collecting firewood, milking
the cows, making cream, yogourt and bread. But she can’t imagine
herself anywhere else. “What’s abroad?” she asks. “Nothing.”
Dressed in a suit and admitting to having had a few drinks, a farmer
stands with his donkey, telling of his life in the army. He explains
that “Armenia has always suffered,” enduring attacks by the Persians,
Turks and Georgians, among others.
In the small region of Nagorno-Karabakh, in southwestern Azerbaijan,
the Armenian community is shunned by the Azerbaijani people.
There are no solutions in Edoyan’s film, nor is there much in the way
of dramatic thrust; there are only stories – heartfelt tales from a
forgotten people for whom life is never easy. By lending them an ear,
she gives them a voice.
Figure d’Armen screens in Armenian with French subtitles at Excentris.
Director Marlene Edoyan will introduce the film Friday and Sunday at 1
p.m. and 5 p.m. There will be special screenings of the film with
English subtitles, April 27 and 28 at 5 p.m. at Cinema du Parc. Visit
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