Cinema
America America
Elia Kazan · 1963
Synopsis
Anatolia, 1896. Stavros, a young Greek from Cappadocia, cuts ice on the mountain with his Armenian friend Vartan, in a country where Christians live under threat. After a massacre targeting the Armenians of the region, his father entrusts him with everything the family owns, money, jewels, carpets and the donkey, and sends him to Constantinople to a cousin who is a carpet merchant. Robbed on the way, he becomes a porter on the docks, then gets engaged to Thomna, the daughter of a rich merchant, for the dowry, with a single idea in mind: to pay for the crossing.
Context
The story comes from a book the author had published the year before about his uncle, who left Anatolia in 1896 and later brought over the whole family, himself included. He produced the film himself, which Warner took over after the withdrawal of two first partners, shot it in Istanbul and then in Greece, the Turkish authorities proving hostile, and gave the lead role to an unknown. He speaks the text that opens and closes the film himself, and called it his favourite film, the first entirely his own.
Who it is for
A film of two hours fifty-four minutes, in black and white. The background of the persecutions suffered by Christians under the Ottoman Empire sheds light on the story.
Prizes and reception
Oscar for art direction in 1964 and three other nominations, including best picture and best director; the public did not come.
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