The Turkish genocide of two-thirds of the Armenian population is one of the most controversial, yet relatively unknown, mass atrocities of recent history.

The present regime in Ankara adamantly denies there was a rigorously planned slaughter of more than one million of the Christian minority group.

Yet countries as diverse as Argentina and Russia, where there are sizeable expatriate Armenian communities, have officially recognised the genocide.

Director Egoyan, a Canadian-bred director of Armenian descent, had always cherished the hope of making a film about his forebears' unique history.

However, he also wanted to root it in the present day and so trace the effects of the chilling events on the present generation.

So we have 18-year-old Raffi (Alpay), to all intents and purposes an all-American kid, showing an adolescent thirst for knowledge about his Armenian forefathers.

He is working on a film helmed by veteran Armenian director Edward Saroyan (Aznavour), which explicitly portrays the brutality of the slayings.

On his way back from shooting clandestine footage in Turkey, he is stopped by Canadian customs officer David (Plummer), who subjects him to a tough line of questioning.

It is through this interrogation that a gallery of characters - Raffi's family, the film-making fraternity and witnesses to the genocide - are introduced.

However, the contemporary relationships touched on here have the effect of trivialising the brutality of what unfolded in 1915.

So one minute we have David attempting to come to terms with his gay son and, the next, an Armenian mother being raped while her daughter cowers under a wagon.

The dialogue often falters and takes the form of a series of statements, while the swelling score belongs in a melodrama.

Rather than illuminate, the dramatic devices (particularly Plummer's curious customs man) distract the attention.

The only emotional sub-plot that really resonates is the casting of an American of Turkish descent as the villain who orchestrates the Armenian slaughter.

"This is a new country. Let's drop the history and get on with it," he says, only for Raffi to warn him that those who choose to ignore the past are doomed to repeat it.

Tim Evans