Ararat Page #5

of this, I guess.

And then he died.

And now something in me

died too.

What am I supposed to feel

when I look at these ruins?

And do I believe

that they're ravaged by time,

or do I believe

that they've been

wilfully destroyed?

Is this proof of what happened?

Am I supposed to feel anger?

Can I ever feel the anger

that Dad must've felt when-'

- When he tried to kill

a Turkish diplomat?

- How did you know?

- You gave me your passport.

Files are kept.

You have to be

the son of a... terrorist.

Will you turn that back on,

please?

- 'He tried to kill that man.

Why was he prepared

to give us up for that?

Mom, what's the legacy

he's supposed

to have given me?

Why can't I take any comfort

in his death?

When I see these places,

I realize how much we've lost.

Not just the land

and the lives,

but the loss of any way

to remember it.

There is nothing here

to prove

that anything

ever happened.

[Turkish]

- Excuse me, please don't get

too close to the paintings.

- I like looking at the details.

Do you know anything

about this artist?

- Not really. I mean, I picked up

a little from that lecture

the other night.

The one you left.

- What do you remember

from the lecture?

- How much he suffered,

losing his family.

His mother dying of starvation

in his arms.

- When you look at this painting,

can you understand?

- Understand what?

- That he would kill himself.

His home was lost,

his family destroyed,

neverto be seen again.

This painting

shows his pain.

So much pain.

He couldn't stand it.

[Armenian music playing]

- What do you think?

- I haven't finished it.

- What you've read so far.

- Rouben...

l'm not the best judge

forthis kind of thing.

L've never read a script before.

- Did you get to the part where

Gorky rushes into the street

and grabs the rifle

from the wounded Turk?

- Yes.

- I know Edward's style

is a bit overthe top, but...

- It's really...

It's very... good.

Listen...

maybe l'II get more excited

when I actually see it.

It's...

it's difficult for me to...

imagine these things

Go retrieve the rifle! Run! Run!

As a boy involved

in the heroic defence of van,

Gorky was witness to one

of the most courageous moments

in Armenian history.

But the years

which were to follow

would see him lose a home,

his people,

and most dramatically,

his beloved mother.

In his most famous painting,

Gorky leaves

his mother's hand unfinished.

As if the history

of its composition,

like that of his people,

had been violently interrupted.

The earthly sensuality of

the mother's touch is no more.

Only pure, burning

spiritual light remains.

- Excuse me.

You said before that Gorky

worked on that painting

- That's right.

- Is it possible

to work on something that long

and leave it unfinished?

- The painting is finished.

The unfinished hands

of his mother

were left purposely that way.

- Yeah, but...

don't you think he finished

his mother's hands

and after,

decided to erase them?

That he needed to destroy

what he made?

Can we talk about his suicide?

- No.

- Why not?

- Because it was not

what I had intended

to read today.

- L'm just curious about the way

you described the suicide

in your book. You... you make it

sound as if Gorky was obsessed

with memories of the genocide,

but you don't talk about...

...coming to this event.

- Okay, okay. Ljust want

to talk about the suicide.

What's yourfucking problem?

- You... you said something

to my father.

Like what?

- That you were having an affair.

Don't get involved in things

that don't concern you.

Did you intend to destroy his life?

What are you talking about?

My father left my motherforyou...

my father gave up everything foryou.

I have nothing to apologize for.

My father loved you.

My father was suffering, if he knew

that you were having an affair...

I have no doubt that he would

have killed himself.

Yourfather died accidentally.

He tripped, and fell.

I don't have any other way

of explaining it.

It's a question of time.

There's no rush to separate...

Listen, I didn't see him fall.

You didn't see him fall, oryou don't

want to think you saw him fall.

I don't remember anything but the

fact that he slipped and he fell.

I can't remember it the way you want me to.

And even if I could remember what you

want me to remember...

...I wont.

I don't need to.

Do you understand?

- Hey! Hey, no!

Let go. Let go.

- She was carrying a knife.

- Yes.

- So there was a certain degree

of premeditation?

- It was a pocketknife,

something she always carries.

- Because she never knew

when she might need it.

- What do you mean?

- L'm talking about her job,

what she did for a living!

Oh, yes, I know

all sorts of things.

When she was arrested,

the police discovered

she'd dealt drugs, as well as

various credit frauds

on the Net. You were questioned

about your involvement;

she insisted you had nothing

to do with it.

It's all on yourfiles.

Was that true?

- What?

- That you had nothing

to do with it?

- L... I knew about it.

- Well, you didn't tell anyone?

- No.

- So you didn't have a problem

with the fact that your sister

was dealing in drugs?

- Step-sister.

- Ah, yes, step-sister.

Most people are...

obvious about the crimes

they commit.

By the time I get them

to this room,

it's just a matter of time

before...

it all comes out.

- What?

- Their sh*t.

- I don't understand.

- My job becomes pretty simple,

really.

I sit where you are,

I watch them on this toilet,

waiting forthe truth,

the compressed tablets

of heroin.

Sometimes they get so nervous,

the body acid breaks the package

and they overdose.

But that can take hours.

I sit and wait.

It's usually pretty silent.

They have time to think.

So do I.

You know what goes through

my mind, Raffi?

I wonder if I should

feel sorry forthem.

They're usually kids

around your age;

l'm about to destroy

their lives.

I know they're sorry

for what they've done

and they'II never

go through it again.

But the action has been taken.

It's too late.

- I had to go there.

- I have no doubt about that.

Aflame was lit in your heart.

You thought things

would be clarified by...

going there.

They weren't.

You lost meaning.

And people are vulnerable

when they...

Iose meaning.

They do stupid things.

- I didn't lose meaning.

It's more like the meaning

of things changed.

- What are you doing?

- There's something

I need to read to you.

- Ani, you're being ridiculous.

Her attacking the painting

had nothing to do

with this film.

- I won't go on with this.

- You need to. We all do.

- What does this mean to you?

- L'm sickened by it.

- Because you feel responsible?

- No, of course not.

L'm sickened because people

shouldn't do those things.

- What, attack works of art?

- What's your point, Ani?

- Rouben, you're sickened

because that painting

is a repository of our history.

It's a sacred code,

that explains who we are

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