Film in Italian with English SubtitlesAs adapted from the book by Antonia Arslan and co-directed by Italian brothers Paolo and Vittorio Taviani, The Lark Farm marks one of the few international features to tackle the Armenian
genocide head-on. The story (with its thematic parallels, in the early
scenes, to De Sica’s 1970 Garden of the Finzi-Continis) concerns the
Avakian clan. An Armenian family living an affluent lifestyle and
periodically shuttling back and forth between their two comfortable
homes, the Avakians feel convinced that the rising tide of Turkish
hostility on the horizon means little to them and will scarcely affect
their day to day. Indeed, The Avakians ignore the warning signs, and set
about preparing for a family reunion with the impending visit of two
well-to-do sons – landowner Aram, who resides in Turkey, and Assadour, a
physician living in Venice. Lo and behold, these illusions come
crashing down when a Turkish military regiment crops up at the house…