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CAIRO: 'The Lark Farm' Revisits Horrors Of Armenian Genocide

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  • CAIRO: 'The Lark Farm' Revisits Horrors Of Armenian Genocide

    'THE LARK FARM' REVISITS HORRORS OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
    Valentina Cattane

    Al-Masry Al-Youm (Egypt Today),
    http://www.almasryalyoum.com/en/news/lark-farm-revisits-horrors-armenian-genocide
    Nov 30 2010
    Egypt

    "We will kill all the male members of this deceitful progeny because
    if only one of them survives, he will take revenge on us tomorrow,"
    says a Turkish general to his soldiers. The Armenian genocide, or
    Metz Yeghern as it is referred to by Armenians, is portrayed with
    brutal reality in "The Lark Farm" (the original title of which is
    "La Masseria delle Allodole"), a 2007 movie by the Italian Taviani
    Brothers, inspired by Antonia Arslan's book, "Skylark Farm," published
    in Italy in 2004. The movie was screened last Sunday at the Italian
    Cultural Institute in Cairo as part of the institute's Sunday screening
    program, with "conflict" being the main theme in November.

    The movie tells the story of the Avakian dynasty, an Armenian family
    living in Turkey in two houses, one of which is in the countryside and
    called the "Lark Farm." It is 1915--World War One has been raging for
    a year and the Ottoman Empire has entered the conflict on the side
    of the Central Powers. The Young Turks dream of "a Greater Turkey,
    a Turkey for the Turks, not polluted by internal enemies."

    The Avakians live peacefully, organizing a family reunion following the
    death of the patriarch, confident that mounting Turkish hostility does
    not present a threat. But high-ranking Turkish conspirators, fearful of
    support among some Armenians for Russia forces, are secretly planning
    the annihilation of all male members of the Armenian community and the
    deportation of its women and children to Aleppo, starving them on the
    way and finally massacring the survivors at the end of the death-march.

    The systematic deportation and elimination of Armenians would last
    until 1916, resulting in the death of up to one million people
    (although the exact number is still the subject of debate).

    The book, as well as the movie, is based on the history of Arslan's
    own forebears, relating her family's attempts to escape to Venice,
    where one of the three brothers has moved to pursue his studies.

    The Taviani brothers, familiar with historical subjects and screen
    adaptations of literary works, present events in gruesome detail,
    portraying the cruelty of Turkish soldiers, who become the executioners
    of their friends and lovers. "Orders are orders," the soldiers often
    tell their victims, while the latter beg for mercy. The movie depicts
    incredible cruelty and violence, including beheading, castration and
    the systematic murder of Armenian men and male children.

    The movie is filled with images typical of the Taviani Brothers'
    style, which uses allusions to allow the viewer to experience events
    on a deeper level. The family patriarch has the first premonition
    of the coming tragedy on his deathbed, when he has a vision of a
    blood-soaked wall. Visions also come to the young nephew, who sees
    a Turkish general mourning his Armenian friend at a funeral.

    But the patriarch's warning remains unheeded as tensions mount between
    Turks and Armenians.

    When two Turkish soldiers break into the house to look for male family
    members, one of the soldiers, approaching an opulent table that has
    been set for lunch, slowly pours a bowl of soup on the table. It is
    the beginning of the end. The family is forced to flee Lark Farm.

    Despite the harsh and violent reality it depicts, the movie's wonderful
    direction illustrates the tragedy of a war between friends and people
    who are in love with each other. The overall historical reconstruction
    remains persuasive, albeit with some cinematographic modifications.

    The Armenian genocide remains a taboo subject in Turkey, which has
    outlawed any acknowledgment of the holocaust. Orhan Pamuk, a novelist
    and the first Turkish Nobel Prize winner, was accused of publicly
    denigrating Turkish identity for stating during a 2005 interview
    that, "Thirty thousand Kurds have been killed here, and a million
    Armenians--and almost nobody dares to mention that. So I am."

    He was sentenced to three years in jail for making the statement,
    but--thanks to support from sympathizers around the world--the charges
    were dropped in 2006.

    The Italian Cultural Institute Address: 3 Sheikh al-Marsafi St,
    Zamalek Tel: +20 (02) 27358791; 27355423




    From: A. Papazian
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