Protraph
Lack of good storyline.
Teddie Blake
The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.
Yash Wade
Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.
Payno
I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.
Armand
justice.revenge.an old and painful trauma. Turkish and Armenian confrontation in France. importance of roots, family and duty. result - a gray movie about victims, politics and form of survive. only problem - ambiguity of story. and ambition to explore all in Manichaian style.circle with broken organization, it is one of pledge for basic values.in harsh way, precise but to difficult to be real universal. Aram is hero, killer,guilty brother and prodigal son, enemy of state and piece of political machine but it is not a deep picture. only drawing of a world in few lines. to tell much is not just tell exactly. and this is the error of movie. some suggestions. and a lots of doors.
ma407
Plenty of violence. The movie is about Terror not about corny one line jokes or how menacing you can look. This is a movie well done, that will only get better in the sequel. It is as if there is more to be told about this intriguing and unknown gangsters. No night clubs where everyone knows your name. Family people with an agenda...so refreshing... excellent. This movie can be compared to Bourne Identity and Ronin where those movies were full of meaningless banter about who is to who and what is to what. None of that here. Very simple gangster life. Except the emotion is portrayed in the family of the lead actor. I can see a sequel to this movie on the level of GodFather II. With the budget and the right script these are the movies that are sleepers that can become big big hits!
armanditto
When i was watching this movie, i was feeling the same, as i was watching a spy film. Nevertheless, some of the clues are not comprehensible at first sight, but it's not annoying. It's very notable, that Kechichian don't actually focus on Armenian-Turkey politics issues, however, it is insufficient action thriller. Kechichian managed to make unglamourized spy film, but it can be considered only as an alternative movie. I've found lots of similarities with such masterpieces of John Frankenheimer 'Ronin' and Doug Liman 'The Bourne Identity'. It's pity that i haven't found in "ARAM" auto chases, a real street skirmishes and a pair of famous actors as Robert De Niro and Al Pacino. On the contrary, where could we find such emotionless and equanimity of Simon Abkarian's face when he was killing turks...
Ruben Malayan (RubenMalayan)
The film just finished screening on cable TV Hot in Israel (February 26, 2005) which is in itself surprising, due to the content of the film which deals with subjects such as Armenian genocide and the assassination of Turkish secret agent in France by an Armenian freedom-fighter with the help of Kurds. With Mossad being the one behind the Turkish secret service's arrest of Abdullah Ochalan (Kurdish leader) in Europe - and with this film being shown in Israel - in itself makes an interesting statement. It is also a personal story of a man who's torn between the cause he is fighting for and his family. I must say I don't have an impartial opinion on this film because I am an Armenian, and the story relates to me in a special way. The film is certainly very well made, with cuts between two story lines, beautiful cinematography and acting. Its a rare piece of cinema, especially because not that many films are being made about the tragedy of Armenian people in Ottoman Turkey (over 1.5 million perished), with Ararat of Atom Egoyan and Mayrig by Henri Verneuil being the exceptions. I think more films should be made about this, especially if they are as good as "Aram".
