Ruben, Joseph, dir. The Ottoman Lieutenant (2017)

The American-Turkish film (2017) (TOL) follows Lillie Rowe, an American nurse in 1915 who travels to Van, the Ottoman Empire, where she begins to work at an American war hospital. The Empire struggles with external conflicts (World War I) and internal ones (the killings of marginalized communities such as the Armenians). The film is framed as an historical romance wherein Lillie has to choose between the Ottoman lieutenant Ismail Veli and American doctor Jude Gresham, who represent the Ottoman Empire and the Western world, respectively. Choosing one means picking one historical narrative over the other. Both WWI and the Armenian genocide serve as the historical backdrop for the film where the former serves as a justification of the latter. TOL is a propagandistic work by American-based Turkish production company Eastern Sunrise Films. It denies the genocide and frames it as an act of self-defense where the Armenians sided with the Russian troops against the Turkish and attacked them unprovoked. Ismail and Jude often argue about the Empire targeting the Armenians with Ismail defending himself, saying he has no knowledge of such plans and that he “would never support [the killing of Christians]” (00:43:21). Ismail dies in the end after sacrificing himself for Armenians under threat by Ottoman soldiers, turning him into a casualty of war, similarly to the Armenians. Earlier, Lillie chose him over Jude which only further cements the narrative that the Ottoman Empire, and thus the Turkish Republic, is innocent. As opposed to Jude who actively helps Armenian “rebels” (01:03:47), causing further disruption in Van.

Important to note is that the movie underwent some changes during post-production, unbeknownst to the director, Joseph Ruben, that serve Turkey’s victim narrative regarding the genocide (Buckley; Ritman & Galuppo). Though it has never been officially confirmed that the movie had ties with Turkish financiers, it has been speculated due to the association with Eastern Sunrise Films. Moreover, Ruben refused to promote TOL after, among others, a scene was removed from the film with a speech that characterized the Turkish as perpetrators and the Armenians as their victims (Buckley). The movie was a complete box office fiasco and has been called out for its denialism of the genocide by many viewers online. Critics have compared this film to The Promise (2016) (TP), which acknowledged the genocide, and considered TOL to be a propagandic response to it (Buckley; Ritman & Galuppo). The Promise had no screenings in Turkey (Buckley). It did not see any financial success either and received a large number of one-star ratings on its IMDb page after only three promotional screenings (Ihrig; Lang). While it cannot be confirmed that all those ratings came from Turkish sources, TP being called Armenian propaganda in some of them and the movie not being officially released at the time does point to deliberate review bombing of genocide deniers.

On a technical level, TOL is a weak and poorly executed story. It feels like loose scenes are strung together without real intent, making character development feel forced and the plot convenient. Lillie’s actions mostly serve Ismail’s character arc to illustrate his innocence as an Ottoman soldier. Moreover, her frustrations aimed at Jude make it easier to gravitate toward Ismail as the romantic choice. There is also no clear antagonist—the threat of the Russians invading Val looms near but hardly used; Christapor, an Armenian ‘rebel,’ supposedly steals a truck of medicine supplies and is aided by Jude with weapons to defend Armenians with, but, again, this plotline is left open; and any high-ranking officer in the Ottoman army who gives out orders to attack Armenians phrase it as an act of self-defense. Though the genocide is never explicitly denied, its rephrasing as an act of self-defense does not help its credibility either.

The propaganda is mostly notable in Ismail’s character who never once acknowledges Ottoman involvement in the killings of the Armenians and is ordered by superiors to defend himself and his regiment from Armenians when they are attacked by them. While Lillie is set up to be the main character, there are various elements that show Ismail as the lead—the movie’s title, his death, and him being the romantic choice. Showing an Ottoman soldier, someone who has to follow orders, who had no knowledge of the killings of the Armenians and having him eventually even give his life for the Armenians, refutes any intentionality of the Ottoman Empire behind the killings. The censorship behind the scenes of the movie and the misinformation it spreads about the Armenian genocide perpetuate the discussion about who the perpetrator is in this conflict. Many countries, including the U.S., have acknowledged the Armenian genocide as such, but Turkey’s denialism runs too deep in its nationalist ideology to convince it of anything else.

Works Cited

Buckley, Cara. “Battle Over 2 Films Reflects Turkey’s Quest to Control a Bitter History.” The New York Times, 2017, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/20/movies/the-promise-the-ottoman-lieutenant-turkey-armenian-genocide.html. Accessed 23 March 2024.

Ihrig, Stefan. “Genocide Denial Goes Viral: ‘The Promise’ and the IMDB.” Forbes, 2016, https://www.forbes.com/sites/realspin/2016/11/14/genocide-denial-goes-viral-the-promise-and-the-imdb/?sh=339d62575880. Accessed 31 March 2024.

Lang, Brent. “‘The Promise:’ The Armenian Genocide Epic Kir Kerkorian Spent a Fortune to Make.” Variety, 2016, https://variety.com/2016/film/news/promise-film-armenian-genocide-1201892838/. Accessed 31 March 2024.

The Ottoman Lieutenant. Directed by Joseph Ruben. Eastern Sunrise Films, 2017.

Ritman, Alex, Mia Galuppo. “‘The Promise’ vs. ‘The Ottoman Lieutenant’: Two Movies Battle Over the Armenian Genocide.” The Hollywood Reporter, 2017, https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/promise-ottoman-lieutenant-two-movies-battle-armenian-genocide-996196/. Accessed 23 March 2024.

Author of this entry: Helenie Demir.

Ruben, Joseph, director. The Ottoman Lieutenant. Eastern Sunrise Films, 2017. 1hr., 50 min.