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Prior to watching this film, it may have been in my best interest to watch the 2017 film “The Promise” that starred Christian Bale. Since I didn’t, the next best thing was to trust the review of our senior Film Yapper, Chris Lloyd. In his April ’17 review of “The Promise,” he noted that there had been an influx of poor reviews for this film (almost 80,000) on movie websites such as IMDb.com following three screenings at the Toronto Film Festival. Who were the culprits? Genocide deniers who do not acknowledge that the Armenian Genocide, circa World War I, occurred. The highlight of the film “Intent to Destroy” was documenting the long history of denial that comes with this very mention of this topic.
Academy-Award nominated director Joe Berlinger tells a portion of the story from behind the scenes of the “The Promise.” These scenes are coupled with expert commentary about the history of genocide which claimed the lives of 1.5 million Armenians.
“Intent to Destroy” gives an eye-opening look at the lengths the Turkish government has gone to continue denying that this event actually occurred. Berlinger uses witnesses, relatives of the situation, and experts to narrate the tale providing background/historical context, the PR campaign to keep people quiet, and what has happened to people who have spoken out.
“Intent to Destroy” seamlessly weaves a narrative in between the production of “The Promise.” Interestingly enough, the same denial that the Turkish government has used to deny the Armenian genocide, was the same fuel that interfered with production of the film. “The Promise” was a script that had sat on the shelf of movie studios for many years, unable to be released due to political interests and lobbying from the Turkish government. It wasn’t until a billionaire with his own personal interests in the topic, funded the film to be shot independently.
The lengths to which the Turkish government has gone to suppress this story will make your mind wonder, “What other types of alternative histories have we learned?” It is eye-opening and well put together. Give this movie a view while it’s being shown during the Heartland Film Festival.