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"There are times when you will want to shut 'The Gendarme' and just walk away from the despair and disgust that this account of genocide engenders. Don't. Ultimately this tale of an old Turk revisiting his terrible past is both touching and important - an exploration of memory and forgiveness that shouldn't be missed.
Emmett Conn has a brain tumour which gives him dreams, dreams which he comes to realise are memories of a previous existence as a gendarme escorting Armenian civilians from their homes in what amounts to ethnic cleansing. Set in the actual events of the First World War, this harrowing account of the thoughts and emotions of this rapist, torturer and murderer is carefully controlled and paced so that while revolted at his actions we also see his motives and emotions. And the device of Emmett's memory loss that Mustain uses enables us to have at least some sympathy with Emmett as he discovers more of the harrowing truth.