EMPIRES FALL. LOVE SURVIVES.

As the Ottoman Empire prepares to go to war in 1914, an Armenian medical student (Oscar Isaac) is caught up in the turmoil, along with an American journalist (Christian Bale) and his girlfriend (Charlotte Le Bon). The Hotel Rwanda (2004) director takes on another genocide that has never gotten proper attention (or even recognition from those responsible, Turkish authorities). An old-fashioned epic with a very international cast; fairly engaging and elaborately staged, even though the love story never really catches fire. The Turks come across as evil, but it’s an effective illustration of nationalist insanity.

2017-U.S. 133 min. Color. Widescreen. Directed by Terry George. Screenplay: Terry George, Robin Swicord. Cast: Oscar Isaac (Mikael Boghosian), Charlotte Le Bon (Ana Khesarian), Christian Bale (Chris Myers), Daniel Giménez-Cacho, Shohreh Aghdashloo, Rade Serbedzija… Jean Reno, James Cromwell.

Trivia: Most of the production costs were paid for by the late Kirk Kerkorian, an American billionaire of Armenian descent who had tried for decades to get the movie made.

IMDb