Ararat

(so, one of the assignments in my film studies class is to keep a Film Journal to record my thoughts and impressions about the movies that we watch. I'm thinking that I'd encorporate my entries there into this blog of mine, since i'll probably be writing them in the same way that i write my usual rants. Welp here goes.)
I'd like to say that I'm an extremely trusting person. In that i trust almost everybody and everything they say. While watching this movie I noticed that there were a lot of...not quite lies, but rather unknowns. The first thing i wrote down in my notes after watching the movie was: Who is telling (believing) a lie? Ani & Cecelia, Ali & Raffi, and Raffi & David (the interrogation officer). Since there appeared to be more than one pairing I figured this was probably an important theme. In all cases both people believed they were right therefore the other person must have been wrong. To be able to see two people fight for their beliefs so strongly was pretty interesting but at the same time, kind of sad because that meant that at least one persons belief was probably wrong. Having said this, I also thought the movie was pretty interesting. It offered some insight to the truths(and lies) that certain people are willing to fight for. And also that there are certain people who are willing to forget and deny what might be the truth. The scene that i found most interesting was the one where Raffi and Ali are talking in the car after the filming of the movie. The two of them have different beliefs about whether or not the Armenian Genocide really occurred. So not only is there a barrier between them in beliefs, there is also a physical barrier in terms of the car seats. Compared to the similar scene of David and Philip's conversation where the two are sitting side by side, here Raffi is sitting in the front of the car while Ali is sitting in the back. I thought for a really long time trying to figure out who was the one in the position of power. But I guess maybe its meant that both of them could be. Raffi is obviously in the front indicating power, but he is unable to see Ali without straining to see. Ali, on the otherhand is in the back, but at the same time he is able to see Raffi's back, another possible position of power. Probably some of my favorite scenes in Ararat are the ones between David and Raffi. Like David notions at near the end of the film, even though Raffi is lying, he comes much closer to telling the real truth because of it. Raffi's cam-corder is constantly playing throughout the whole interrogation and is always juxtaposed next to his face. Since Raffi went to the city of Ani by himself he was probably able to think without distractions and say everything that was on his mind/in his heart. So basically it was like having his thoughts on display. Overall I felt Ararat was pretty good. I was however a bit confused about what i thought of Ani, Raffi's mom. I'm not too sure if the audience was supposed to empathize with her or not. But i found myself more drawn to Cecilia, Raffi's step-sister/girlfriend. Anyways, aside from that bit, i did enjoy watching this movie, and if given the time would watch it a second time to get a better understanding of certain parts.