The Cut

2014 2h 18m EN

😐

5.9

MID

★5.9TMDB · 109

HistoryAdventureMysteryDrama

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

In 1915, a man survives the Armenian genocide in the Ottoman Empire, but loses his family, speech and faith. One night, he learns that his twin daughters may be alive, and goes on a quest to find them.

“Some stories are better left unspoiled.”

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Cast

Tahar Rahim
Nazaret Manoogian
Simon Abkarian
Krikor
Makram J. Khoury
Omar Nasreddin
Hindi Zahra
Rakel
Kevork Malikyan
Hagob Nakashian
Bartu Küçükçağlayan
Mehmet
Zein Fakhoury
Young Arsinée
Dina Fakhoury
Young Lucinée

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Fatih Akin
Writers: Fatih Akin, Mardik Martin
Languages: Arabic, Armenian, English, Kurdish, Spanish, Turkish
Countries: Germany, France, Italy, Canada, Russia, Poland, Jordan, Turkey

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Earned back only 8% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 12 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 6 languages: Arabic, Armenian, English, Kurdish, Spanish, Turkish.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 8 countries: Germany, France, Italy, Canada, Russia, Poland, Jordan, Turkey.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Fatih Akin, shot by Rainer Klausmann. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Alexander Hacke. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Andrew Bird shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Tahar Rahim and Simon Abkarian and Makram J. Khoury carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Fatih Akin directs. Rainer Klausmann behind the camera. Alexander Hacke scores. Andrew Bird cuts. A commercial under-performer on release. Produced in Germany, France, Italy, Canada, Russia, Poland, Jordan, Turkey. Dialogue in Arabic, Armenian, English, Kurdish, Spanish, Turkish.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Earned back only 8% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.
2Released 12 years ago.
3Dialogue crosses 6 languages: Arabic, Armenian, English, Kurdish, Spanish, Turkish.
4International production across 8 countries: Germany, France, Italy, Canada, Russia, Poland, Jordan, Turkey.
5Directed by Fatih Akin, shot by Rainer Klausmann. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
6Original score by Alexander Hacke. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
7Editor Andrew Bird shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
8Tahar Rahim and Simon Abkarian and Makram J. Khoury carry the top of the cast.
9IMDB entry: tt2245171 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
10Classified under 13 themes, including "deportation", "genocide", "period drama", "armenian genocide".

The technical file

Cinematography: Rainer Klausmann
Original score: Alexander Hacke
Editing: Andrew Bird
Production design: Allan Starski
Costume design: Katrin Aschendorf
Makeup / hair: Karen Schembri Grima
VFX supervisor: Juri Stanossek
Stunt coordinator: Elaine Ford
Runtime: 138 min · 2h 18m
Status: Released
Budget: $16,000,000
Box office: $1,232,140
Return: 8% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): NR
IMDB: The Cut (2014)

Also by

Fatih Akin

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

Community reviews

What people are saying

CinemaSerf2026-08-19
★ 7/10
"Nararet" (Tahar Rahim) lives with his two daughters in what is a rapidly declining Ottoman Empire as the Great War rages around them. The authorities decide that all their Armenian peoples are too be moved out and he becomes separated from his young girls. Looking for them isn't going to be easy as the ensuing power vacuum is seeing both the Turkish army and some marauding opportunists vie for control of the territory and it's resources - and those also include people, too. Lucky to escape with his life - though not his voice - his travels now take him on a journey that is frought with danger, peppered with a little kindness, and destined to take him half way across the globe. Will he find his daughters - by now grown up? I like Rahim and am always impressed that his skills as a polyglot can imbue his character with an extra dimension of richness. "Nazaret" has unwillingly sacrificed his voice and gained a visceral purpose, and I thought Rahim delivered an engagingly aloof, almost automated, performance effectively as his trek lurches from frying pan to fire on more than one occasion but never deters him from finding his girls. Honestly, some of the story development might seem a little serendipitous, but then I wondered if "Nazaret" was really in that much of a minority as he traverses ancient Biblical lands and discovers that there are kindly people willing to help him out - many of whom have been dispossessed themselves, or have lost loved ones and who are keen to assist when they, too, have nothing. It is a slow burn, but I felt it benefitted from taking it's time to showcase just how ghastly the effects of ethnic cleansing are and the paucity of dialogue added an additional degree of vulnerability to a character that ages well beyond his years throughout. In some ways it reminded me a little of the second part of David Lean's "Lawrence of Arabia" (1962) as it illustrated the brutally of this failing regime and as a characterful study of a man on a mission, I felt it delivered well.

Production companies