If I were to ask you if we would could go to a movie that has not had any marketing or very little marketing, I would expect the answer will be "No." because you have never heard of the movie and the title is sort of generic and not as exciting. Well, I would not blame you. I have never heard of this movie to be honest and I have not seen any trailers for this at all but I had to take the opportunity to go into a screening to see what Oscar Isaac and Christian Bale are up to in this type of epic WWI film. However, the movie is a crossover between a love triangle and also the true story of the Armenian genocide, which was a subject I have never heard about. The movie does cross into some corny territory surrounding the romance and trying to fit it like an old-school epic, however, this movie boasts enough political influence and solid performances that I got invested in this movie, a reminder how tragic an event like the Armenian genocide has become.
Michael (Oscar Isaac) is a kind-hearted Armenian who arrives in Constantinople to tell his uncle that he will be attending medical school. Michael starts medical school and becomes friends with Emre (Marwan Kenzari), who gave him an ultimatum to go to medical school or enlist in the army. Ana (Charlotte Le Bon) is a dance instructor that is courted by Chris Myers (Christian Bale), an American journalist, that has been courting her. Ana and Michael are infatuated with each other but come out off as friends in the mean time. However, even though, Michael's uncle thinks that Ana is a good match but Michael cannot because he is a fiancée waiting for him in his hometown, and made a promise for him to return and marry her.
Meanwhile, during this happy and eventful chapter, war is declared as the Turks are rounding up men to massacre the Armenians, which spells trouble for Michael and his family. Michael and Ana want Chris to help them out but he is busy reporting the genocide. They try to get Michael's uncle ot of the clutches of the Turks. Emer wants to help them once more but his father disapproves and sends his son into the army to restore his honor. Michael is arrested by the Turks. He escapes months later from a labor camp and goes back to his home where he meets his mother, father and fiancee, whom he later marries.
The movie has the feel of a Biblical epic but it also has the feel of an epic romance. However, the movie tries to soak in our interests into the love triangle a little too much and becomes a bit corny and a bit like a soap opera. But, the aspect that I liked about that romance is that it does not dial in too much into sentimentality because both Oscar Isaac's and Charlotte Le Bon's characters are in peril, trying to save each other, their families and other Armenian innocent bystanders. It is not like Pearl Harbor where Ben Affleck, Josh Hartnett and Kate Beckinsale is surrounded by terrible dialogue and an unnecessary love triangle that had nothing to do with the event of the Japanese attacking the harbor.
Oscar Isaac gives an illuminating performance about an everyday man who wants to enter another chapter of his life and have his life become fruitful. However, events halted his life and he becomes a participant of the whole chaos. Charlotte Le Bon is quite fantastic in her individual performance as she and Isaac has a good spark between them. Christian Bale is a great actor but he is ill-fitted in his character in this type of setting as he does not have same type of sparkling chemistry between he and Charlotte Le Bon's character. His name feels more like a recognizable addition to the movie than adding any juice into the movie.
Director Terry George knows how to film pain and suffering real well. It is well-noted that he directed a great movie, Hotel Rwanda, that shows the same themes but also create a portrait of a businessman-turned-savior that helped many Rwandans into safety and longevity. He creates the same portrait with Isaac's character as a savior who helps out himself and some people out of Turkey in the later stages of the movie. The political and sweeping war sequences are a perfect representation and background for both a historic portrayal and also the romance for all three characters and that is what made the movie better for me and that was particularly involving and sad. This is an impeccably produced and well-orchestrated movie (by Gabriel Yared) that will suck you into witnessing a tragic event.
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