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Sept 1 2014
Tales of war, genocide darken Venice film fest
By ELLA IDE, Agence France-Presse
VENICE - The race for the Golden Lion in Venice took a dark turn on
Sunday with stories of war and genocide including an ambitious tale
that has drawn death threats for German-Turkish filmmaker Fatih Akin.
The mass murder of Armenians by the Ottomans in 1915 is the theme of
Akin's latest film "The Cut" --a hugely controversial subject
particularly in Turkey and one that has sparked a violent reaction
from extremist groups.
"I had seven or eight years to prepare myself for the reaction to the
film, it's something I'm not surprised by. For art it's worth to die,"
he told journalists in English in Venice, adding that he tries "not to
take it too seriously."
In the film an Armenian blacksmith (played by French actor Tahar
Rahim) is separated from his wife and two young children in what is
present-day Turkey when the Ottomans join the First World War, and he
is called up for military service.
When bandits attack his group of conscripts, the blacksmith is the
only survivor. One of the aggressors stabs him in the neck rather than
slitting his throat, leaving him alive but mute, with his vocal chords
severed.
As the years pass he becomes obsessed with finding his daughters and
sets off on a quest which sees him treck through Syria, Lebanon and
America.
The brutal slaughter of Armenians and the flight of survivors to
far-flung lands are evoked in gut-wrenching scenes, only slightly let
down by a drop-off in emotional intensity in the film's second half.
The film's co-writer Mardik Martin, who worked with Martin Scorsese on
such classics as "Raging Bull" and "Mean Streets", told Venice he'd
come out of retirement for "The Cut" because it tackled a historical
event barely addressed in cinema.
"Hitler said 'Why not kill Jews? The Armenians were annihilated in the
First World War and nobody said anything about it'," the 77-year-old
said.
"Which just goes to show, if you don't say anything about genocide, we
don't learn anything," said Martin, who was raised in Baghdad in an
Armenian family.
Death of an adversary
Up against "The Cut" for Venice's top prize is "Far From Men," a tale
of honor and friendship set at the start of the Algerian war of
independence.
The film, inspired by Albert Camus's short story "The Guest", stars
Viggo Mortensen of "Lord of the Rings" fame as an Algerian-born,
French-speaking schoolteacher who puts his own safety at risk to
defend and protect an Arab farmer accused of murder.
Set in 1954, the men embark on a journey fraught with danger through
the inhospitable Atlas Mountains--captured in some breathtaking
widescreen shots--as freedom fighters and the French army fight in the
rocky outcrops.
French director David Oelhoffen's movie is less a depiction of the
bloody uprising than an exploration of existential questions posed by
Camus, played out on a hostile and isolated terrain far from the
reaches of the law.
"What I love is that this movie is not an ideological take on the
historical period, place or people. It's subversive because it does
not take sides," Viggo told journalists, before heading off to sign
autographs for screaming fans.
The actor, who learnt Arabic for the movie, said he had travelled to
Algeria to prepare for the part and "read everything Camus ever
wrote," adding that he was particularly inspired by one of the Nobel
Prize-winning author's phrases in particular.
"The phrase is: 'I'm not cut out for politics, because I am incapable
of desiring or accepting the death of my adversary', and I thought
that captured perfectly my character's attitude and the film's soul,"
he said. -- AFP
http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/377316/lifestyle/artandculture/tales-of-war-genocide-darken-venice-film-fest
Sept 1 2014
Tales of war, genocide darken Venice film fest
By ELLA IDE, Agence France-Presse
VENICE - The race for the Golden Lion in Venice took a dark turn on
Sunday with stories of war and genocide including an ambitious tale
that has drawn death threats for German-Turkish filmmaker Fatih Akin.
The mass murder of Armenians by the Ottomans in 1915 is the theme of
Akin's latest film "The Cut" --a hugely controversial subject
particularly in Turkey and one that has sparked a violent reaction
from extremist groups.
"I had seven or eight years to prepare myself for the reaction to the
film, it's something I'm not surprised by. For art it's worth to die,"
he told journalists in English in Venice, adding that he tries "not to
take it too seriously."
In the film an Armenian blacksmith (played by French actor Tahar
Rahim) is separated from his wife and two young children in what is
present-day Turkey when the Ottomans join the First World War, and he
is called up for military service.
When bandits attack his group of conscripts, the blacksmith is the
only survivor. One of the aggressors stabs him in the neck rather than
slitting his throat, leaving him alive but mute, with his vocal chords
severed.
As the years pass he becomes obsessed with finding his daughters and
sets off on a quest which sees him treck through Syria, Lebanon and
America.
The brutal slaughter of Armenians and the flight of survivors to
far-flung lands are evoked in gut-wrenching scenes, only slightly let
down by a drop-off in emotional intensity in the film's second half.
The film's co-writer Mardik Martin, who worked with Martin Scorsese on
such classics as "Raging Bull" and "Mean Streets", told Venice he'd
come out of retirement for "The Cut" because it tackled a historical
event barely addressed in cinema.
"Hitler said 'Why not kill Jews? The Armenians were annihilated in the
First World War and nobody said anything about it'," the 77-year-old
said.
"Which just goes to show, if you don't say anything about genocide, we
don't learn anything," said Martin, who was raised in Baghdad in an
Armenian family.
Death of an adversary
Up against "The Cut" for Venice's top prize is "Far From Men," a tale
of honor and friendship set at the start of the Algerian war of
independence.
The film, inspired by Albert Camus's short story "The Guest", stars
Viggo Mortensen of "Lord of the Rings" fame as an Algerian-born,
French-speaking schoolteacher who puts his own safety at risk to
defend and protect an Arab farmer accused of murder.
Set in 1954, the men embark on a journey fraught with danger through
the inhospitable Atlas Mountains--captured in some breathtaking
widescreen shots--as freedom fighters and the French army fight in the
rocky outcrops.
French director David Oelhoffen's movie is less a depiction of the
bloody uprising than an exploration of existential questions posed by
Camus, played out on a hostile and isolated terrain far from the
reaches of the law.
"What I love is that this movie is not an ideological take on the
historical period, place or people. It's subversive because it does
not take sides," Viggo told journalists, before heading off to sign
autographs for screaming fans.
The actor, who learnt Arabic for the movie, said he had travelled to
Algeria to prepare for the part and "read everything Camus ever
wrote," adding that he was particularly inspired by one of the Nobel
Prize-winning author's phrases in particular.
"The phrase is: 'I'm not cut out for politics, because I am incapable
of desiring or accepting the death of my adversary', and I thought
that captured perfectly my character's attitude and the film's soul,"
he said. -- AFP
http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/377316/lifestyle/artandculture/tales-of-war-genocide-darken-venice-film-fest