Ruben Kochar about his winning film “My Name is Viola” and the cinema
In the annual prestigious American Film Festival held in Los Angeles, film director Ruben Kochar’s “My Name is Viola” feature-length film was recognized a winner in 2014 not only in the category the “Best Direction”, but also the festival was opened with this film. The film was mainly funded by the organizations in the US, and the cast members were chosen among Armenian and foreign artists. This film prior to being screened at the “Moscow” cinema for about 2 months in 2013 was even described as scandalous, moreover, some local NGOs acted with statements that it is about the lesbians and the screening should be immediately banned.
In the conversation with “Aravot”, Ruben Kochar said, “Perhaps, the 3-minute video of the film played a role in the formation of such an opinion, where there is no word, but only a music and two women are just lying in the bed. I think it is not right to express an opinion about the 2-hour film after watching the promotional video…” The film director was not discouraged, on the contrary, he said that the film was bought by a French company and posted on the Internet for a fee. Now, the Russians are interested in it. The film, as the author says, is a psychological drama that tells the story of a woman who fights for her rights and freedom.
However, why was not the film, actually, accepted by us? Our interlocutor’s answer was simple and clear. “I do not blame our women and men. The film has also focused on the Armenian genocide. This is what is called a Copenhagen syndrome. 6-7 years ago, a rich man’s daughter is kidnaped in Copenhagen and a ransom is demanded. While the father would deliver the money, the girl was raped. As a result, the girl does not return home but falls in love with the person who committed the rape. In fact, the Copenhagen syndrome is accepted today in the judicial processes. In short, when the woman is raped, she later begins harboring sympathy towards this man. Initially, the factor of fear speaks in this case. In the film “My name is Viola”, there are problems that refer to our genocide. Yes, the woman appeared in violence, forced by her actions, may do wrong moves, too, like during the genocide, the Turks married to Armenian girls, and what should the latter do by fear…?”
In Kochar’s words, “If our people could not stand to the film “My name is Viola” reasoning the open scenes in the film, while in abroad, I was urged the opposite about why I have not extended the so-called open scenes. He also added that he feels a pain that our viewer of the 21st century, in his words, does not know how to watch a movie. We reminded Ruben Kochar that he was invited to the Soviet Union at the age of 27 and received a membership ticket for the innovation in the Armenian films. To the question of whether this innovation referred to musical, mainly ballet films, and if yes, why he does not touch upon this genre lately, Ruben Kochar replied, “In the beginning of my career, mid-1970-ies, I referred to the feature-length documentaries and music films, I have screened Armen Smbatyan’s “Lilith” and Chick Corea’s “Hey, who’s there”, Mahler’s “Memories”, the film dedicated to the “Yerevan” quartet conducted by famous violinist Zare Sahakyants and so on, which won the main prize in Minsk and Latvia in the 1980s. This was the reason for my invitation to the USSR Filmmakers Union.”
Our interlocutor added that since 2000, a new phase began in his life. He screened a full-length film “Herostrat”, “Path”, “Metamorphosis” and finally, “My Name is Viola” films. To the point, the “Herostrate” and the “Path” were awarded the Grand Prix in Mexican and Brazilian film festivals. To the question why he has stopped shooting musical films, Ruben Kochar said that he has started working on a documentary film telling about the famous tenor Gegham Grigorian, and he has a strong desire to convert the “Two Suns” international project under Rudolf Kharatyan’s choreography, dedicated to the centennials of the genocide, the premiere of which is scheduled in the end of this month, into a full-length film.
Samvel DANIELYAN
“Aravot” daily 19.05.2015
