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  • The Lark Farm

    THE LARK FARM

    China Post
    http://www.chinapost.com.tw/movie/drama/2009/05/0 1/206350/The-Lark.htm
    May 1 2009

    The Lark Farm is set in a small Turkish town in 1915. It deals with
    the genocide of Armenians, looking closely at the fortunes, or rather,
    misfortunes of one wealthy Armenian family. The movie starts as the
    Avakians have a family gathering in their house to honor the patriarch
    who has just passed away. The local Turkish military official (Colonel
    Arkan) and his wife, who are friends of Aram and Armineh, also attend
    the gathering.

    Aram then invites his brother, who has been living in Italy since age
    14, to come to the ancestral home, the Lark Farm, for a reunion. While
    the family prepares for the event, the Turk soldiers are getting
    orders to eliminate the Armenians. Their orders are to kill all the
    men, deport the women and seize the property. The goal is to reclaim
    "Turkey for the Turks." Twisted into the story is a dangerous romance
    between Aram's sister Nunik (Spanish actress Paz Vega) and a Turkish
    soldier (Egon).

    The happy family seems to ignore the early telltale signs that danger
    is approaching. When they do decide to do something, it is that the
    whole clan should take refuge in the Lark Farm. However, the once
    joyful scene at the farm soon turns bloody. The family is betrayed by
    a Turkish beggar (Nazim) whom they had been kind to. Soon, without
    a warning, a military detachment arrives to carry out the orders,
    in spite of Arkan's instructions to the contrary.

    The Taviani brothers touch on controversial issue in this film,
    showing brutal scenes that are not easily forgotten. After the men are
    beheaded, castrated, mutilated and left to die outside the farmhouse,
    the women are marched into the desert, doomed to die as well. The
    slaughter continues there, as the young women are used for the pleasure
    of the soldiers who are escorting the group. There are more gruesome
    scenes of women being stripped naked, of torture, burning, and more
    beheading. And of course, one romance is not enough for our leading
    lady. A relationship soon develops between Nunik and a young soldier
    (Yussuf) who does not fully agree with his orders.

    Nazim, now feeling guilty about what he has done, tries to save what
    is left of the family with the help of their Greek nanny (Ismene).

    The directors commented that they had been searching for some time for
    a story that looks at "the darkest tragedy of our times, massacres
    between peoples who have been friends, between ethnic groups living
    side by side." They continue, "The film is inspired by a sense of
    guilt. Three years ago, almost by chance, we discovered the Armenian
    tragedy." The movie is based on a book by an Italian author of
    Armenian origin, Antonia Arslan's, "Skylark Farm." "It is something
    like an indirect autobiography, as she narrates the holocaust of her
    family. It is both a novel and a document." However, the directors
    have not tried to build a historical framework with this work,
    but instead tried to follow specific characters, their particular
    unique destinies, and then project them in a huge collective event -
    one which reveals itself with all its horror today, but which has its
    roots in the past. The story of Nunik, Armineh, Aram: the Armenians;
    and Nazim, Arkan, Egon, Yussuf: the Turks. While the movie boasts a big
    cast from different countries, and shows characters who are Italian,
    Armenian, Spanish and Turkish, it does seems strange to the audience
    how all the characters manage to speak such fluent Italian! Thanks to
    the dubbing, the characters seem to lose their individuality. There
    also does not seem to be focus on any particular characters, but they
    all just represent victims and eyewitnesses, rather than main roles.

    Past masterpieces of the militant Italian directors, who are almost
    80, include Padre Padrone (1977) and Notte di San Lorenzo (1982),
    both tackling political or controversial issues of the time. "The
    Lark Farm," a joint production of Italy, Bulgaria, France and Spain,
    is also on a controversial issue, and is the first movie on this topic
    made by a non-Armenian director. The previous one was Armenian director
    Atom Egoyan's "Ararat." Although there have been talks of making a
    Hollywood movie about the events, it has still not happened due to
    political reasons. "The Lark Farm" was premiered in 2007 during the
    Berlin Film Festival. According to the Taviani brothers, this movie is
    not anti-Turkish. In fact, it is Turks who try to help the survivors
    in the movie. But the directors hope that Turkey can come to terms with
    and publicly recognize the historical truth of the Armenian tragedy.

    From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
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